Hy-nappingWhorl

Gene Wolfe responded to Q. 22 as follows: 22. "Why did Auk . . . kidnap Hyacinth, and why . . . did he let her go?" Because Tartaros had told him to bring a woman. He released her as he recovered from his brain injury, was able to think more clearly, and realized that Hyacinth was not the woman he should bring. (Putting it another way, he released her because Tartaros told him to. These answers are not as disparate as they may appear.) Now, as I recall, Tartaros' command included something like "..a woman is crucial, this is not". Just musing aloud, but is this because Tartaros is already gathering the potential colonists and is mindful of the fact that a viable colony needs women to bear children? Is the apparent reference to [brain injury=Tartaros] equivalent to Dr. Crane's [Outsider enlightenment=Silk's anuerism] ? Also, I can't admit to being too happy that the explanation of the motivation of one of the central characters, Quetzal, remains beyond the scope of the Long Sun books. Tune in next year, when the foul plans of the malignant inhumi become..........less opaque. lasrach. ----------

lasrach, the simple answer to your question, I think, is "yes." But this was my question originally, and I think Wolfe's answer is somewhat disingenuous. Consider: Tartaros has been at Auk's side for quite a while, stays with him while Hy is imprisoned for the better part of a week (mantis can supply time-line), while food is brought for her etc.---it sure as hell wouldn't take that long to realize that she's the wrong woman. No, I fear the real answer is that the novelist needed her off-stage to give Silk some freedom of movement, and that he didn't construct an alibi for himself as neatly as he usually does. Though it would have been fairly easy--a sighting of or even an adroit reference to Chenille could have done it.

Agreed. If -Long Sun- is taken as an self-contained entity, it truly isn't fair to the reader. But I guess we, this group in particular, can't take it that way. -alga-