Fairies and Wolfe

Gerry Quinn · 28 Mar 2012, 17:39 · from 2012-March.txt.gz

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From: gerry at bindweed.com (Gerry Quinn)
Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2012 18:39:23 +0100
Subject: (urth) Fairies and Wolfe
In-Reply-To: <SNT123-W378B9A07BABE63B0A7BEABCF4B0 at phx.gbl>
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Message-ID: <3CAE2553E46C4275BB863F277DCF8DC0@Rover>

From: Lee Berman 

> > Gerry Quinn: Fairy-like races have been a continual thread throughout 
> > Wolfe, but the details vary. They are usually small, they are usually 
> > attuned to the natural environment; they are always distinctly non-human 
> > and mysterious, and difficult for humans to understand. 

> An insightful observation. Is this a departure from a previous position in 
> which it was asserted there are no fairy references in the Sun Series 
> (and 5HoC, i.e. Shadow Children)? 

As far as I remember, I stated that there seem to be no significant fairy references in the Book of the New Sun.  I do not recall extending it to the other works you mention.  In fact I have never disputed that the Neighbours in the Short Sun have some fairy-like characteristics; what I rejected  in one discussion was the idea that they are completely interchangeable with fairies, and that arbitrary characteristics of fairies can be assigned to them.

The Shadow Children in the second part of 5HOC are an interesting inversion of the trope, since they are the devolved descendants of humans, and the viewpoint characters are the aliens.  In the third book the ?natural order? is restored as the Abos become the mysterious ?fairies?.  The Fairy is the Outsider, in other words: in the world ruled by abos (Sandwalker?s people and the Marshmen), the humans are the fairies.  After the second wave of humans takes control, the abos become the fairies.

> As part of the aspect of "attuned to the natural environment" I'd add an element 
> of being primitive in tool use and social structure (like Shadow Children, abos 
> [half-fairy?] and Neighbors and perhaps an animalistic quality like inhumi. 

That seems a bit of a grab-bag of unrelated characteristics and beings.  In particular the Neighbours are, or at least recently were, accomplished tool-users who built spacecraft among other things (and there is no reason to think they are not still equally accomplished in their own dimension or whatever), and the inhumi are not especially fairy-like; among mythological beings their most obvious resemblance is to vampires.

> > It occurred to me that perhaps (in Wolfe) robots think of humans the same way 
> > humans think of fairies. 

> I don't think this idea is worth discarding. As David observes, it is a theme
> which can commonly be found not just in Wolfe but across SF and Fantasy. It
> relates to the basic nature of robots, humans and fairies. Robots, through 
> electronic programming, are naturally more rule-governed than humans but are
> often portrayed as being fearful and/or envious of human freedom and emotions. 
> Likewise humans, through tight family and social structure, are more 
> rule-governed than fairies and are often fearful and/or envious of their wild 
> and free nature. Perhaps fair to claim the reverse: fairies view humans a bit
> the way humans view robots.    

Yes, that  might work.

- Gerry Quinn
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