From: merritt@provolone.bchem.washington.edu (Ethan A Merritt)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Gene Wolfe's New Sun stuff
Date: 2 Oct 92 17:48:08 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Oct2.174808.29891
Reply-To: merritt@u.washington.edu
Organization: University of Washington


In article <1ahugbINNjct@agate.berkeley.edu>, joak@ocf.berkeley.edu
(Jonathan A. Kung) writes:
|> I remember a thread from a month or so back where Wolfe's stuff was
|> being discussed, and various people claimed to know most of what was
|> going on.  Well, I am not one of those people.  If anyone could e-mail
|> me or post on the following, I will surely die of gratitude.  My brain
|> is under too much strain as it is.
|> 
|> There may be spoilers below, and I STILL don't know how to ^L with JOVE,
|> so I'll be seeing you in a few...
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> 
|> 1.  Who Severian's mother is.  I have a hunch that's she's Dorcas,
|>     tortured by the Guild for some reason, so they took Severian in.
	Yes, Dorcas would appear to be Severian's mother.  I don't recall
	whehter there was specific indication that she was tortured by the
	Guild other than the general explanation of how apprentices were
	often acquired.

|> 2.  Who that servant that ran away after passing the warning note
|>     in the inn by the Sanguinary Fields is.  Is he the one that
|>     married Dorcas at the end?
	He says in the note (in regard to Dorcas) "You are my mother come
	again" - so the implication is that he would be Severian's brother.

|> 3.  That old man Dorcas was mourning at the end of the Book -- was
|>     that her husband?
	I presume so.

|> 4.  That business with the aliens from the other universe -- in which
|>     universe does Book take place, and in which ones does Urth take
|>     place, and how are they related.
	Huh? I don't think I understand the question.  All the action in
	BotNS takes place in "this" universe.  In "Urth" Severian travels
	to the "other" universe and returns.  I'm not sure exactly what
	you mean by "aliens from the other universe".  I believe that all
	the "aliens" in BotNS are from "this" universe.

|> 5.  The first Claw that Severian got -- was it really "magical"?  Or
|>     did it glow because of previous contact with the past Severian?
|>     Or did it glow because Severian wanted it to?
	Tenses will do you in here. It's past contact was with a future
	Severian.  But Severian'a access to the power of the New Sun seems
	to transcend linear time, so I think you could explain it either
	way.

|> 6.  Why I always fell asleep after reading every hundred pages or so.
	Too much to think about???

|> 7.  Is Severian the first Autarch with his kind of memory?  I had at
|>     first thought that each Autarch had perfect memory, and each one
|>     would wait until the next person with perfect memory came along,
|>     and then groom him for the Autarchy.
	Interesting question.  I pass on that one.

|> 8.  Book takes place in the VERY far future, right?
	Can't really say.  As someone pointed out earlier, the decay of
	good 'ol Sol is artificially induced, so the natural lifetime of
	the star is not relevant. 

|> 9.  Was the Citadel originally a "space ship"?  There were some
|>     references to "cabins" for the journeyman with "portholes", and
|>     Severian once says, I think, how wonderful it would be if the
|>     tower just blasted off into space like it was meant to.
	Definitely.  This is abundantly clear in a number of places.

|> 10. What happened during the time between Shadow, I think, and the
|>     next part, at the Wall, that separated Severian and Jonas from
|>     the rest?
|> 11. Did that guy who helped Severian and A-wozname and Dorcas out
|>     in the lake of the dead (or whatever it was called) die in that
|>     episode at the end of one of the books with the witches and Apu-
|>     Punchau?
|> 12. What the HELL is the deal with Apu-Punchau?  I don't think I can
|>     get it straight without a bit of help...
	[direct spoiler ahead: >>>>>>>>]
	This is part of the narrative in "Urth".  Severian returns from
	the other universe into the past of this one, where he lives as
	Apu-punchau. However, due to time loops he ends up being present
	more than once at the same time/space coordinate.  It is explained
	that this can cause multiple "copies" of the personality so
	duplicated to merge into a single copy.  The "copy" of Severian 
	which continues on into the rest of the narrative has absorbed
	the Apu-punchau copy as I read it.

|> 13. Typhon -- why didn't he remember Severian's face from before and
|>     kill him when he had the chance the second time (for Typhon) they
|>     met?
	What makes you think he didn't? Typhon certainly seemed to think
	he would gain something substantial from control of Severian. He
	certainly made believable threats to kill Severian if he didn't
	capitulate.

|> 14. What was the deal with the fights in space on the ship that sailed
|>     between universes?  I was kind of unclear on this (along with
|>     everything else I'm asking about).
	Well some of them were instigated by Abbaia's agents in an attempt
	to kill Severian.  Others may just be ongoing politics as usual.

|> 15. Whose crypt does Severian lie in?  It's from one of his past lives,
|>     right?
	yes.

|> 16. Severian dies several times, but is cloned by the Hierogrammates,
|>     or something, right?
	Again I'm not sure exactly what your question is.  If you mean are
	Severian's multiple lives due to cloning then no, I don't think this
	is the case.  If you mean did Severian die in the ship travelling to
	the other universe (Yesod is it? I can't keep the two names straight)
	then I think the answer is yes, or almost, but whether his resurrection
	was courtesy of Zak or his own power I can't quite follow.

|> 17. Terminus Est was originally the property of that one guard in the
|>     past, right?
	You have finally hit a totally new one to me! What guard????


					my two cents worth,
					Ethan A Merritt
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written