Agia/Hypogeon/Inire

Roy writes:

Cyriaca, who spent long hours with her special, very knowledgable uncle, forces us to question whether Father Inire is the humble vizier and servant of the autarchs. I think I'm not the only one to consider that the chain of autarchs might be puppets to the (nearly) immortal Inire. The autarchs might command the man-apes but I don't think they created them. And the disturbed, subterranean behemoth? We know that Abaia is beneath the ocean but he is not the only megatherian. I see little evidence that Father Inire is working FOR the New Sun...in 1000 years only three autarchs make the trip to Yesod? And quite a gap in the middle of that millenium...There is something special about the three who went. Possibly a streak of independence from Inire. Why does the old autarch, Appian, have his own set of mirrors? The parable of Ymar shows he is not so easily swayed by women and wealth (like the corrupt autarch in the play). Rather he, (like Severian) is happy to follow a dog.... Roy asks:

I am currently finding it fruitful to interpret almost everything in the BotNS within a framework which describes the rise of Christianity in replacement of earlier pagan religions (in the Western world anyway). To answer Roy's question I would ask, "were Apollo and Jupiter (and Ra and Anu, etc.) working to prevent the coming of Jesus?" To answer I would say no, these pagan gods were just pursuing their own goals which might be beyond human understanding. But the followers of these gods were definitely fighting the rise of Christianity. I think true believing Christians would assert that God allowed these pagan religions to flourish as part of the preparation of the Earth for Christ. So too I think Father Inire, the master manipulator, has himself been manipulated by higher powers to help prepare Urth for the coming of the New Sun. Like the Greek Gods I think Inire (et al.) is near-immortal, animal-associated and shape-shifting (in the way of Tzadkiel). Like the Greek gods he amuses himself with dalliances with human women and enjoys getting involved in human wars. Appian seem to cynically realize they are being manipulated by the gods for fun, asking Severian if he'd like to switch armies...or maybe have both... If we wonder what happened to Father Inire and the others of his kind on Urth, I think it was the same fate that befell the pagan gods who were swept away by Christianity; the same fate of all gods who find themselves without any believers. -bsharp

I think I read on the mailing list a while back that some people had already got their advance copies of Sidon to review. If so, then can we have any general impressions please :-) (spoiler free of course) What's the front cover like? In Mist and Arete I always hoped Latro would venture beyond Greece and Thrace. In an IRC interview Wolfe said that the 3rd book was set in Persian occupied Egypt, which is bound to be fascinating, though I sure hope that Latro travels to the Levant at least. Any of Sidon/ Tyre/Byblos/Gaza/Jerusalem would be great to visit. Anticipation!!!! --- HHR

ARCs usually have plain paper covers with only some type giving the publishing information and noting that it is an ARC.

This is indeed what my copy is like though the interior (minus a few typos) seems finished. The chapter heads are illustrated like the Wizard Knight. It's as good as the other two, and that's all I'll say. Don