Typhon's folly?

matthew.malthouse · 09 Sep 2003, 15:03 · from urth-v0309.mbox · original

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From: matthew.malthouse at guardian.co.uk
Subject: Re: (urth) Typhon's folly?
Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2003 16:03:44 +0100
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On 08/09/2003 06:52:33 "Andy Robertson" wrote:

>The Sun is rather bigger, of the order of a million miles across, 100=20
times
>wider than the Earth.  No perceptable fraction of its energy could have=20
been
>needed up to reshape the Whorl or indeed to vaporise it.

Roy suggests that Typhon's tampering might have done the damage - the=20
means emplyoyed to draw off energy rather than the amount of energay=20
actually utilised.

In the venerable tradition of SF wand waving say a "string" taking energy=20
from the sun to your asteroid working facility.  Job done have  shutdown=20
failure that collapses the string into a singularity.  Scientifically it's=20
nonsense yet plausible with a vigorous enough wand.  In human terms it's=20
entirely consistant with the type of mind that built nuclear power=20
stations leaving shutdown and cleaning solutions to be developed when they=20
might be required.

As a narrative I like the concept.  Within Wolfe's Urth I'd find it akward=20
because it implies a technological sophistication that I don't believe=20
Typhon had.

Matthew

--=20

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