planetary problems

James Wynn · 28 Dec 2010, 19:02 · from 2010-December.txt.gz

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From: crushtv at gmail.com (James Wynn)
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2010 13:02:51 -0600
Subject: (urth) planetary problems
In-Reply-To: <SNT123-W50600B56ACDBC6F3CFAF9FCF010 at phx.gbl>
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Message-ID: <4D1A345B.5070201 at gmail.com>

>> James Wynn: There has been no word from on high about the existence of inhumi on Urth.
>> If Wolfe intended to retcon them in, then we should expect to see one or two during the
>> Rajan's travels to Urth.
>
> Lee-
> It seems to me that we do. Jahlee and...can't remember the one who looks like a little bald
> guy.

Well, that's not really what I meant, and I suppose you know that. But 
for clarity, I meant that if Wolfe had intended to imply that inhumi 
were _active_ on the Urth of Severian, apart from the Rajan's trips, the 
Rajan should have met some of those others--especially if they were 
descendants of the inhumi who traveled with him. (I "should" in the 
Rules of Good Story-telling sense.)

> And both of them want to do one thing on Urth- mate with humans. It seems like there
> HAS to be a thematic purpose to that.

The thing is --and the Rajan makes this quite clear to Hide-- an inhumi 
in dream travel is human. Every bit human. Because they have a human 
soul. So IF an inhumi in dream-travel can reproduce with with a human, 
then the children would be human. Not blood bats, you see. There's no 
guarantee that they CAN reproduce. I believe that Hyacinth is just such 
a being, but Silk and Hy's marriage does not seem to have produced children.

> (Wolfe is American, meaning he might put gratuitous violence in his stories but not gratuitous
> sex ;- ) )

Hmmm...you and I seem to have been reading different Americans.

> I don't think we are supposed to think that the dream-travel we actually see involving inhumi
> is the only dream-travel any of them ever engage in.

As you know, I don't believe it is. But, if they are extensive and 
common I would expect to see such travelers encountered by the Rajan's 
party, as one meets other tourists when he vacations on a cruise ship. 
Perhaps, Merryn? Wolfe says she's human, which I always thought strange. 
If she's an inhumi in dream-travel, though, then she is human.

u+16b9

Free Associating: You know, I wonder if Wolfe is implying that the Rajan 
IS Dionysus? If he can Time-travel, he can go as far as he likes into 
Urth's history and become the original figure of the mythology. That's 
the trouble with Time-travel: Where does it end?

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