Book of the New Sun -- Severian's mother

Kevin Maroney · 28 Mar 1987, 01:08 · from sf-lovers.1987.mbox

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From: dg_rtp!kjm at rutgers.edu (Kevin Maroney)
Subject: Re: Book of the New Sun -- Severian's mother
Date: 28 Mar 87 01:08:45 GMT
Message-ID: <sflovers-v12-118-11 at digest.sf-lovers>
X-Digest-Issue: SF-LOVERS Digest V12 #118
X-Urthmirror-Source: https://archive.org/details/sf-lovers-digest-vol-12a

I feel fairly confident in stating that Catherine was not in any way
connected with the other characters of the novel. Although with the
bizarre folds in time, there's always the possibility that Catherine
is Saint Katherine, the patron of the Order of Seekers of Truth and
Penitence. But I'd have to see some real, textual evidence for this
before I would accept it. Maybe there's something about her in
_Castle of The Otter_ (or maybe one or the other Catherine will be
mentioned in _The Urth of the New Sun_, which is due out in November
from Tor).

Is there anyone else out there willing, as I am, to make the claim
that this four-volume novel is the crowning achievement of
S(peculative)F(iction)?  I read these as they came out, and thought
highly of them; but when I re-read them in one sitting earlier in
the year, I (figuratively) saw God.

Kevin J. Maroney

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