Path of Air

Jeff Wilson · 18 Aug 2010, 17:48 · from 2010-August.txt.gz

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From: jwilson at io.com (Jeff Wilson)
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:48:34 -0500
Subject: (urth) Path of Air
In-Reply-To: <SNT123-W389CFBE3DA9A541A8D5A2CF9D0 at phx.gbl>
References: <SNT123-W389CFBE3DA9A541A8D5A2CF9D0 at phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <4C6C1CF2.5030902 at io.com>

On 8/18/2010 6:58 AM, Lee Berman wrote:
>
>> Jeff Wilson- Light and gravity are common and cheaper than dirt on Urth, while time
>> travel requires a huge undertaking.
>
> Ah, now I understand your reluctance to invoke time travel. That kind is a huge undertaking.
> But how much effort did Severian spend to travel to the future to see Ragnarok? A flight or two
> of stairs.  He actually WAS in the future, not just observing it, since the upper levels of the
> Last House, are in the future, making them invisible from the present.

This sort of transcendental architecture may be more suitable for 
research and monitoring than meddling with causality, especially 
regarding Master Ash's fade from existence and the subsequent detachment 
of the lower stories from the altered timeline. The Corridors of Time 
likewise seem unsuitable on their own, as Severian never changes history 
despite randomly blundering into new eras repeatedly, he only ever 
confirms what was already suspected.  It seems to be the Hierogrammates 
and the sea-beasts that have the superhuman perception of time required 
to judge which changes can be made and how best to make them, and to 
direct their minions accordingly.

> Valeria's tower, off the Atrium of Time,  is also invisible from the present, suggesting its upper
> levels exist in the future. About 60 years in Severian's future, if I am correct. Valeria lives in
> the lower levels of her tower, thus in the past, hence her antique appearance.
 >
> To understand the Path of Air I think we not only have to connect it to the Last House but to other
> Commonwealth structures, specifically Ultan's library and Rudesind's art gallery. Both are said to
> extend from the Citadel all the way to House Absolute. A while back someone suggested that these
> structures truly physically extend for 100 miles or whatever in underground tunnels. I find it more
> plausible that Father Inire-built portals are involved.

I'm in agreement on the existence of physical corridors that bridge time 
and space like the Corridors of Time, but I see no evidence that 
Valeria's tower itself is a time-bender. Since it's immediately adjacent 
to the Atrium of Time and the tunnels passing the dial-filled rooms, you 
get the same effect if the tower is entirely in the past, or if the 
tunnels curve through space so that the tower seems to be in one place 
rather than another.

It's also the sort of thing you'd find on a certain university campus, 
but that's a theory for another time.

-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
IEEE Student Chapter Blog at
< http://ieeetamut.org >

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