AEG: a Wolder on Earth

Dave Tallman · 24 Dec 2008, 18:47 · from 2008-December.txt.gz

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From: davetallman at msn.com (Dave Tallman)
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 11:47:57 -0700
Subject: (urth) AEG: a Wolder on Earth
Message-ID: <1bf4dd40812241047v54539820nf7f4289e61d32b45 at mail.gmail.com>

Mo Holkar wrote:

I must have missed something here. Why do we postulate any connection
between Mme Pavlatos and Reis's first wife? Other than general
suspicion of Wolfean reluctance to create new characters when he can
subtly re-use others referred to earlier, what is there to link them?

 By the same logic, Dorcas was just a random woman Severian happened to pull
out of a lake. We know Wolfe loves to do puzzles like this. The clues match
up well:
1) Rich -- Rian's mother had to be rich to afford to consult Chase.
2) Beautiful - Reis liked to marry beauties.
3) Motherly.
4) The Jackie Kennedy Onassis parallel, which hints at an Irish background
(for Rian's name).
5) In the credits even though she has only a small paragraph in the
narrative.
6) Present in the vicinity of the islands soon after Reis' death. A mere
pleasure-cruise in an area that had a recent hurricane? Or maybe inheritance
issues concerning Rian?

Wolfe goes out of his way to say that Reis was married twice, which invites
us to find his other wife, too. Who in the credits makes the best candidate?
1) India -- gay.
2) Ebony -- likewise ("How is life in India?").
3) Margaret -- not glamorous enough.
4) Alexis -- not much money from the divorce, if she wound up as a waitress.
5) Sharon -- has too little info about Reis.
6) Norma -- the only one who admits to a prior marriage with a strong Reis
connection ("I used to be married to the volcano god").
7) Tabbi -- Took over the role of Reverend Brown's wife from Norma, so she's
a possible.
8) Zelda -- her story of starting her own agency doesn't fit
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