Father Inire as Dionysus

Lee Berman · 24 Oct 2011, 19:11 · from 2011-October.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:11:44 -0400
Subject: (urth) Father Inire as Dionysus
Message-ID: <SNT123-W589409C4A9F14D2861F0B6CFEF0 at phx.gbl>

>Sergei Soloviev: I think it is mentioned several times in BoTNS that FI is an 
>alien. 

Oh, that actually makes me kind of sad. If robots (not just Jonas but also Sidero)
can have human emotions, why can't aliens? Especially, as some have suggested,
these aliens are evolved forms of humans who went out into space many millennia
ago.

>Of course you need not trust there "rumours" inside the book.

Can't you? Remember these are not really "rumours" just as the dreams in Wolfe's
books are not really dreams. They are consciously created story elements with a 
purpose.

>Each time we meet Hethor his character is immediately recognizable.

I think it is important to remember that in all the appearances of Hethor 
(save one) he is fawning and sycophantic toward Severian, wishing to serve him
and calling him Master. He seems especially adoring of Severian's torturer skills.
(the only exception is toward the end of CotA in his final appearance where he
simply appears clutching Agia's breasts). I think there is a lot more to this 
Hethor character than you are giving him credit for.

Perhaps we should remember that Tzadkiel claims that he was, in a previous creation,
an acolyte of Severian's. Doesn't that suggest that we should be able to spot
Tzadkiel as a worshipper of Severian earlier in the story?  Or later if he is an
acolyte of Severian as Conciliator. Actually, I think he can be found in both places.

Was it Ryan who asked, "how deep does this rabbit hole really go?"

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