Osterlings

Dan'l Danehy-Oakes · 10 Dec 2005, 21:00 · from 2005-December.txt.gz

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From: danldo at gmail.com (Dan'l Danehy-Oakes)
Date: Sat, 10 Dec 2005 13:00:32 -0800
Subject: (urth) Osterlings
In-Reply-To: <20051210040458.17255.qmail at web32415.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
References: <1f7617370512080930v76f50040kbdcb9ccaf2151001 at mail.gmail.com>
	<20051210040458.17255.qmail at web32415.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1f7617370512101300y66ebff87va9149b42fc258d8f at mail.gmail.com>

> I agree. The Osterlings are analogs of the inhumi and,
> farther back, of the Ascians in the NS books who seek
> to devour the commonwealth.

Not to mention the alzabo and those who use the elixer
made from its glands. This is an _extremely_ common
theme in Wolfe: rising to become something higher
(Severian, Able); seeking to rise but becoming a
perversion of the higher thing (Typhon, the Gods of
the Whorl); doing so but then being raised anyway
(some of the inhumi, Kypris); falling from your station
to something lower (the beastmen in NS, apparently
the Osterlings); etc. A lot of it has to do with (a) who
you serve (b) why you serve them and (c) what you
eat.

And there's bits of it in other books, notably 5HC...

--Dan'l

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