An Evil Guest: Random *** SPOILERS ****

Andrew returning with a new email address, in another attempt to avoid spam deluges. Just some quick random thoughts after a couple of readings .... - The bat people surely assisted Gid to bring out Cassi's latent mojo on the mountain. Dark wings were in evidence on that occasion, and one of them later says she is their "cub" (or "pup"? can't remember). Their interest in her is parental. - Gid I think must be the product of a union between his human mother and a Woldercon-ish seducer. Wolderconians can alter their semen for hybridization; we are told their males try to seduce human women; he was born there; he's doesn't seem fully human. - I think India, Ebony, Sharon, Zelda and Margaret have all been suborned by one or other of the players or agencies. I'm not going to go through all of the reasons in this quick jotting but I think the relationships go like this: India: Squid God Ebony: Gid Margaret: Bill Sharon: FBI Zelda: ATF - Wolderconites are good at sociology, genetics, alchemy and optics. Bill has learned the last two; Gid the others. - Gid's agenda is to arrange Bill's death ("blow the man down"). He wants to do this so that he has leverage with the president. He wants this leverage so that the president will make him ambassador to Woldercon and give him lots of money. The president wants alchemy & perhaps invisibility. While Bill is alive, he can potentially get these from Bill. With Bill dead, Gid can demand the ambassadorship as his price for delivering them. - Bill has been "raised up" in the same way that Cassie has. A signature of people who have the latent ability to be raised is strong desire for something. Another is occasional flashes of the raised characteristic. For Cassie, it was desire to be loved. For Bill, power. Most likely, Gid raised Bill. - Gid is a "consultant" - a gun for hire to the highest bidder. He is probably working for everybody to some extent. No doubt he has contact with the Squid God and presumably his position at Miskatonic has helped in this. - Cassie is surely going to Woldercon at least partly to get Gid to "raise" her up once more. She tells the ex-ambassador that she hopes to find the "raised" Cassie again. - Why the constant descriptions of what kind of sandwiches people are eating? Is this just a lapse into weak writing by Wolfe, or is there some purpose? Descriptions of food seem to occur every couple of pages.

Clearly the most important of your questions. Perhaps it's a reference to the vice of some thirties' writer? As I mentioned in an earlier post, there's at least one reference to Nero Wolfe (Rusterman's, where the overweight detective sometimes eats), but I haven't read enough of Rex Stout's books to know whether or not such description is common in his work. I THINK it is, as the detective apparently eats quite a bit and is very much a gourmet. I somehow doubt Nero Wolfe would share Cassie's love of deli sandwiches. -Matt