AEG: a Wolder on Earth

Dave Tallman · 02 Jan 2009, 14:06 · from 2009-January.txt.gz

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From: davetallman at msn.com (Dave Tallman)
Date: Fri, 02 Jan 2009 07:06:06 -0700
Subject: (urth) AEG: a Wolder on Earth
In-Reply-To: <20090102093940.D577B48043 at diego.dreamhost.com>
References: <20090102093940.D577B48043 at diego.dreamhost.com>
Message-ID: <495E1F4E.9030004 at gmail.com>

Mo Holkar wrote:
 > Hmm, I think these are mostly pretty vague or else disputable (was
 > Jackie Onassis really notably Irish?) apart from the last one, which
 > needs too much guesswork to be conclusive. I'm not dismissing them,
 > just feeling that by Wolfe's standards there should be a clearer
 > pointer than these, if the theory is true.

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was her maiden name, and despite the French sound 
of that she was primarily of Irish, Scottish, and English ancestry. 
Kennedy is a well-known Irish name. The crew of the ship that rescued 
Cassie spoke a language that she was sure was not French (perhaps it was 
a language of the same family, like Greek). The captain was American (p. 
287), which suggests that is the nationality of Madame Pavlatos as well.

The location clue is tricky. The island where Cassie ended up was 
outside the Takanga group (p. 268). Reis chose it to avoid being spied 
on by his enemies; he wouldn't tell even Cassie where it was 
specifically. It was uninhabited and remote; Cassie saw no other ships 
when she lived there for a year. It's not a place that anyone would come 
for business related to Reis. Other than Ries, the only character who 
knew the location seems to be the Volcano God.

There was also a volcano on Takanga Ha'i, the king's island (p. 249), 
and it's the only volcano mentioned in the Takanga group. The islanders 
have a Volcano God (associated with their local volcano, but no doubt 
the same god as the one on Cassie's island). The islanders say the high 
king was chosen by the gods, or by certain gods (p. 266). The high 
queen's head was on fire (a reference to Cassie's red hair, but also 
literally true of the Volcano God as he appears to Cassie). Thus there 
is a strong connection between the Volcano God and Reis (not to mention 
that he included the god as a major character in the musical he wrote).

Could the Volcano God have communicated to someone to look on that 
island for a castaway? In "The Tree is My Hat," Hanga is able to fly and 
to follow his blood brother in an airplane a long distance from the 
island. It seems plausible that  the Volcano God could fly and get a 
message to someone of Reis' blood, like Rian. He might be able to use 
Vince Palma for this, if the possession theory is true.

The Volcano God asked Cassie to "leave flowers," i.e. he expected her to 
be leaving there (p. 286). Besides the gift of fire, he might have 
provided this additional service. In conclusion, the arrival of the ship 
of Madame Pavlatos may be no coincidence at all. Her connection to Reis 
isn't a throw-away, but an essential part of the plot.

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