do the Hierogrammates care about the megatherians?

Jeff Wilson · 20 May 2011, 02:36 · from 2011-May.txt.gz

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From: jwilson at io.com (Jeff Wilson)
Date: Thu, 19 May 2011 21:36:42 -0500
Subject: (urth) do the Hierogrammates *care* about the megatherians?
In-Reply-To: <SNT123-w518FBCEADCE8F106693561CF8E0 at phx.gbl>
References: <SNT123-w518FBCEADCE8F106693561CF8E0 at phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <4DD5D3BA.4090907 at io.com>

On 5/19/2011 3:34 PM, Lee Berman wrote:
> I find it difficult to follow Jeff's ideas. I wonder, which came first to Wolfe's mind when writing this story,
> the ocean bound monstrosities or the idea of a Flood? Either way, conceiving Megatherians and a Flood to
> destroy them just doesn't make sense to me. The Flood is a highly disguised, central theme of the story (as
> I think Short Sun reinforces). How could such a central, important theme rely on such a wimpy premise as,
> "well, maybe there were nutient current changes"?

Let me try to serve it up in your terms: Peter is the rock on which the 
Lord's house is built, right? All other ground is shifting sand? How 
then would those fare whose presume to built not just their homes but 
their empires on pillars of water? The waterbourne powers outgrow their 
places in the world until their own skeletons can no longer support 
them, so when all the Urth trembles with the Increate's judgment, their 
quicksilver kingdoms are the first to fall:
"I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart 
is like wax; it is melted in the middle of my bowels."

-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
Computational Intelligence Laboratory - Texas A&M Texarkana
< http://www.tamut.edu/CIL >

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