What is _Urth of the New Sun_ about?

jack starr · 07 Jan 2004, 03:00 · from rec.arts.sf.written.2004.mbox

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From: jack starr <*****@***.***>
Subject: Re: What is _Urth of the New Sun_ about?
Date: 6 Jan 2004 21:00:53 -0600
Message-ID: <06tmvv8ktdn1hkqhfbvh83dorj6li21hte at 4ax.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
References: <bss663$593$1 at panix1.panix.com> <20031230142326.07934.00001902 at mb-m16.aol.com> <Xns946188F9C4513mss2mediaonenet at 130.133.1.4> <qemIb.1404$Is5.488 at bignews4.bellsouth.net> <bteo4e$30n$1 at news01.cit.cornell.edu>

On Tue, 6 Jan 2004 11:35:24 -0500, "Ron Henry"
<ronhenry at blahblahblah.clarityconnectcom> wrote:
>> > > Back to the original subject....That in turn reminds me how that
>> > > in 'The book of the new sun' Severian would always refer to the
>> > > "Great jungles of the north" or something similiar....did Wolfe
>> > > ever give a scientific explanation for this reversal of the
>> > > Urth's environmental make-up or was it something I missed?
>> >
>> > Severian lived in the Southern Hemisphere.  (South America,
>> > specifically, from clues in the text that I don't currently
>> > remember.)
>>
>> I remember one passage talked about the southern lands being made up
>of
>> individual islands while the north is one large continent. I guess I
>always
>> took it to be the eastern hemisphere. The southern lands being
>Indonesia,
>> Philippines, New Zealand and Australia* and the north being Asia
>(wasn't the
>> enemy called ascians? Their system of government was kind of a take
>off on
>> communism). I don't know enough geology to know if the above mentioned
>land
>> massed are drifting north or south so I don't know what the globe will
>look
>> like thousands of years from now.
>
>No, really, It's pretty clear from references in both the New Sun and
>Long Sun series that Severian and the people of the Whorl who come from
>the same Commonwealth as Severian, were South Americans. (One off the
>cuff reference I can think of is that they drink maté.)
>

Shit, I dink mate and live in New Jersey

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