Long Review Essay on Wizard Knight

David Duffy · 23 Sep 2007, 06:22 · from 2007-September.txt.gz

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From: David.Duffy at qimr.edu.au (David Duffy)
Date: Sun, 23 Sep 2007 16:22:22 +1000 (EST)
Subject: (urth) Long Review Essay on Wizard Knight
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Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.64.0709231611360.22498 at orpheus.qimr.edu.au>

On Fri, 21 Sep 2007, Adam Stephanides wrote:

> The idea of Able as a Mary-Sue (the technical term for a male specimen 
> is Gary-Stu) hadn't occurred to me, but it makes sense. It had crossed 
> my mind that Able may have been wish-fulfillment on Wolfe's part. 
>

I think that TWK is written (as perhaps _The Devil in a Forest_ is) as a 
traditional boys own adventure.  It's supposed to be alluring to us young 
folks, didactic, and morally uplifting ;)

Able is a perfect knight within that milieu.  Just as anyone in the 
military hierarchy does, he frequently teaches uppity inferiors a lesson 
or two (one might recall Severian then Roche? as chief of the 
apprentices).

David Duffy,

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