more questions on Sorcerer's House (spoilers)

Stephen Case · 11 Apr 2010, 17:24 · from 2010-April.txt.gz

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From: scase at olivet.edu (Stephen Case)
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2010 12:24:26 -0500
Subject: (urth) more questions on Sorcerer's House (spoilers)
Message-ID: <4BC1BF7A020000EF00047FD1 at azrael.olivet.edu>

I?ve been following the discussion on The Sorcerer?s House here with
interest.  This is the first Wolfe book I?ve read through and then
immediately re-read.  A few things I?m still wondering about after the
second time through:

-I think it?s pretty clear that Ted is Ambrosius and that the ring Doris
gives Bax is Ambrosius? item of sorcery.  What?s not clear though is
Doris?s intentions in giving Bax the ring.  I don?t buy the reasons she
gives.  Plus, in the conversation in letter 5 in which she gives him the
ring and explains why she wants him to wear it, she knows his first
name.  Then almost immediately she acts like she doesn?t yet know it and
refers to him again as Mr. Dunn.  

-If Ted is Ambrosius, can we figure out from the text who Goldwurm is? 
For some reason I found myself suspecting Jim Hardaway.  There?s a lot
that doesn?t make sense if that?s the case (for example, Emlyn says that
their father doesn?t want Goldwurm to know he?s not around, but Hardaway
knew the Black House was unoccupied).  A couple things that make me
suspicious of him though: in letter 41 Martha tells Bax to watch out for
Hardaway.  Why?  Also, the first time Bax wanders out of his house into
Faerie (letter 20), he gets a call from Hardaway, who says he must be
far from the tower.  We can assume he meant cell phone tower, but for
some reason this made me think of Goldwurm?s tower.

-Who is Mary King?  She?s mentioned twice (letters 21 and 25).

-In letter 26, when Bax meets Kate Finn?s mom, they make a big deal
about calling each other Bax and Biddy instead of Mr. Dunn and Mrs.
Finn.  So much so that it seems to be hinting at something, though I
don?t know what.

-What?s the deal with the dwarf?s name in letter 31?  He calls himself
Quorn but Baxter says he knew him as Quilp.  A quick search on Wikipedia
reveals that Daniel Quilp was a dwarf in Dickin?s The Old Curiosity
Shop.  I skimmed the plot synopsis, but no immediate parallels jumped
out.  I?m also curious at the name?s similarity to Dick Quist, the
jeweler who?s so interested in Bax?s ring.

-Finally, something still bothers me about the chronology regarding
George?s activities once he?s in Medicine Man.  According to Baxter, he
arrives, ends up in prison, makes bail, comes to Bax?s house and
releases Nicholas, and then gets lost in the house.  Then he?s suddenly
?picked up? on the street.  Then he?s back in the house again
and?along with his father, Doris, and Madame Orizia?gets Nicholas
back in the trunk.  This just seems weird.  What would make George come
back to the house and solve the problem of Nicholas being loose?

-Maybe we shouldn't make too much out of this, but are we sure that Bax
replacing George means that George is definitely dead?  We had Mrs.
Naber saying that if one twin died, the other usually died soon after. 
Sure this isn't necessarily always the case, but it seems like it would
be more likely for "magic" twins.  Maybe Bax duped me as well, but I
figured George had been taken into Faerie at the end of the book to
spend some time with his parents and maybe get straightened out. 
Something like this is hinted with the partial reconcilation between
Emlyn and Ieuan at the end of the battle by the river, maybe.

I?m sure there?s much I?ve missed, but that?s what sticks out to me now.
 Any thoughts?
-Steve

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