On top of the airship

Rich Skrenta · 04 Jan 1997, 01:17 · from whorl-v0001.mbox · original

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From: Rich Skrenta <skrenta at rt.com>
Subject: (whorl) On top of the airship
Date: Sat, 4 Jan 1997 01:17:47
Message-ID: <whorl-v0001-0024 at digest.urth.net>
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[Posted from Whorl, the mailing list for Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun]

>> And again, what is the culmination of this scene, when Horn
>> appears to fall?
>
> Yes, I'm still totally mystified by that scene. I originally got the
> impression that Horn was pushed--by Mucor, and Silk grabbed him at the
> last instant. But that doesn't really make a whole lot of sense.

I assumed that Horn fell simply as a result of being possessed by
Mucor.  Balancing on the edge would require some effort and
concentration, and this would be disrupted by the possession.

We were expecting the risk of sitting on the edge to come from
turbulence.  Mucor's appearance has the same risk-effect, but is
from an unexpected source.

What kept me wondering was whether an airship would actually function
normally in a false-gravity environment created within a spinning
cylinder.  I vaguely recall reading in one of the earlier books a
mention that floater drivers had to take care, as they would lift
off if they flew too fast anti-spinward, or slam into the ground
if they flew quickly spinward.  Would a balloon actually rise
normally in that kind of environment?

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