Whorl <> Second Empire

Michael Buice · 19 Aug 2003, 01:05 · from urth-v0308.mbox · original

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From: Michael Buice <mabuice at uchicago.edu>
Subject: Re: (urth) Whorl <> Second Empire
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 20:05:47 -0500
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On Monday, August 18, 2003, at 07:38 PM, Alice K. Turner wrote:
> No, you haven't. It'a just a consequence of GW's having tried to cobble
> several sf traditions together that sensibly shouldn't be cobbled. NS=20
> not
> only has FtL effects, but the ship, through some post-Einsteinian=20
> doodah
> that makes my head spin can get there before it started. LS has=20
> tradional
> (in sf) generational travel, and seems pretty well thought out. SS has
> instantaneous magic flights to other planets that hark back to=20
> Burroughs.
> What's not to be confused about? Sometimes I think you guys spend a=20
> lot more
> time than the author did trying to make sense of all this.
>

IMHO, Wolfe "cobbled" rather well.  One of the many things I appreciate=20
about Gene Wolfe's writing is the way he deals with science.  Since=20
none of the major "authors" in the Sun universe are scientists=20
themselves, we're to expect some confusion in the relation of the=20
deeper workings of things.  I've always been impressed with how=20
realistic most of it seems, having been filtered through the=20
"lay-brains" of Severian, Horn, etc.  Ever read a "popular" book on=20
Quantum Mechanics?  I've yet to see one get it right.  I've NEVER seen=20
any science fiction in which it's down right (that is, when people try=20
to dig deeper than Severian ever does).

In this particular case, however, I'm neither surprised nor confused=20
about the existence of these different technologies.  In our own world,=20
we have rockets yet I've still seen the occasional horse and buggy=20
plopping down the road.

Michael

--=20

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