Revealed at Last! What (Would Have) Killed the Inhumi! (Maybe...)Whorl

They're cold-blooded. And they hibernate. Best, Jim P.S. Do I need a Whorl name now? I'm thinking "Plasma"... *This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun.

I think so, Tom. Happily, David Liebling already gathered most of it for me (http://www.moonmilk.com/whorl/archives/#59) so I hope I can be permitted to merely summarize. 1) all the reptilian imagery used to describe Krait et al. Not least, "It's just occurred to me that you inhumi are rather like a kind of lizard I've noticed in my garden..." IIRC, the Rajan uses a lot of snake figuration to describe Krait at the pit. 2) It explains why the Rajan expects to find Jahlee alive under the stone - he knows that they can slow their metabolism in unfavorable conditions. 3) Green is full of jungles and dinosaurs. I infer that it is warmer than Blue. I'm inclined to think that the Rajan even describes it as warmer, but I could be misremembering. (One other thought: cross-reference jungles, dinosaurs, swamps and hot green planets in The Big Book of Science Fiction Tropes and you find the entry for - Venus.) 4) They must be able to essentially shut down their metabolism on the trajectory from Green to Blue. And it could be that it's the heat of early reentry that revives them. 5) It's a perhaps slightly more practical secret to have than, "Hey, if we start loving each other, you guys are dead meat!" Put in list form, it doesn't look quite so impressive as it did in my brain. But I'm sticking with it for now. Other business: Let's just suppose for a minute that Bue is Ushas. That means that Lune is either Green or it's gone. If Green is really Skuld/Venus (as I think), then where is that pesky moon? Gone. Circumstantial evidence? When Sev brings the New Sun, Urth floods. Okay, fine. But where do Dr. Talos' "new continents" come from? From the tidal stress of Lune being peeled off. cf "We All Die Naked," by James Blish. Very strange thought I can't shake: What if Horn just sees these extra legs on everybody, because of his eye or something (esp. the Neighbors)? No, I can't point to a single thing that would "prove" this. I'm possessed! "Better Place" = Corridors of Time? Best, Jim *This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun.