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dr_mitch
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- dr_mitch
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My short description absolutely did not get at any of the meat of it, and I'd like to discuss, but it's hard for me to work out how to phrase my observations. There's a lot, both in delivering the message, and in both Dorcas and Dr. Talos/Baldanders…
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I liked the story from the brown book, though the relevance also escaped me. Some thoughts there: (*) It's interesting that it's a narrative coming from several fairy tales, but with it's own twist, and the fight is between a ship with guns and an …
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Just a reminder that next time we break the pattern and have four chapters, before going back to three.
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Now updated... and some content! This was a set of chapters about noticing small things... Severian's pleasure and relief at seeing Dorcas. Him deliberately and almost casually using the Claw. Jonas' familiarity with the Notules. His meta…
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My current theory is that the grave robbing suggests the eating of the flesh is at least somewhat literal, though the amount of actual, um, meat, might be very much diluted. In any case, I certainly don't blame Jonas for avoiding eating, There's als…
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Hmmm.... I can think of a few possibilities... (1) He's working for Vodalus. Though one would have thought taking him captive might have been preferable. (2) He's carrying the Claw of the Conciliator. This seems the most likely, somehow. (3) Right,…
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Interesting... I wonder what they suggest, Abaia in particular. And the Abaia is new to me, though I knew about Erebus, primordial darkness (and a link to the fulegin of the torturers, or is that reading too much into it?).
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Oh, and something's clicked about Severian and his memories, and why he skirts over some things of importance, leaving gaps, not mentioning important things (eg: his relationship with Thecla) until much later on...he's not just remembering things as…
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I took winged steed to be a reference to its speed, but leathery to be literal.
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* Babylon's Ashes (James A. Corey) I broke my rules for the Expanse and went straight on to book 6, which follows on immediately from book 5- the two form a two part story within the greater story of the Expanse series. Good stuff, scope again expan…
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Oh yes, the letter's seems like it's very likely to be a fake from Agia. For all Severian felt he was powerfully attracted to Agia, he spent an awful lot of time in her company talking about Thecla. And I agree, he's an idiot. I agree his attitud…
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Up there now!
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I already have it on my "to read" pile, so it sounds good to me!
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@RichardAbbott that's an interesting way to take things. So thinking in terms of alternate history we're talking a schism in the Church between Catholic and Celtic Christianity. Maybe the Celts follow something like the Pelagian heresy. And the Chur…
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Time to belatedly join in the fun! I like the idea. I suppose one thing I'd want to draw from early Scottish history is a certain clash of civilisations. And being fantasy, different time periods could be mashed up for inspiration. So you could hav…
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At the moment, though I'm interested in Severian's story, I don't like the man himself very much.
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> @Apocryphal said: > If Dr Talos was anything like Robin Williams, it wouldn't matter if anybody else could act. Okay, that's my mental casting of Dr. Talos done. For the record, I've cast a younger Russell Crowe as Severian, and Andre th…
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> @clash_bowley said: > Apparently waitresses and torturers and formerly dead people with no memories make superb actors! Who woulda thunk it? And with no rehearsal time in two cases!
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Yes, I've heard everything gets more soapish in the Falco books, but I don't think that's an issue for me. I have the next couple lined up. My next couple are: * Shadow of the Torturer (Gene Wolfe) Our slow read! And for me it's a fascinating boo…
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(Quote) That was more or less my thought. I imagine there are superior entertainments around, but probably ones out of reach of most of the members of the audience. I've also seen a good few amateur plays, some surprisingly good, and some dreadful.…
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Sounds very suitable for a book club read. I'm interested.
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That's true. Look at what's been done to the Moon, for instance. I think my hypothesis is that there has also been deliberate stellar forming, and that's what's now failing, meaning the Sun is growing dim.
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Well... In about 5 billion years the sun will go red giant, expanding dramatically. Even before that it will markedly brighten; in a mere 3 billion years it's due to get hot enough to boil off Earth's oceans. I don't think the sun here is followi…
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I'm looking out for clues about the South American location. I've picked up it's in the southern hemisphere (the reference to jungles in the North) and a little wildlife. Also the drink. But it doesn't yet seem definite going by the text, and I've n…
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Do we have a book for May? I feel like I've somehow missed it.
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I also agree with @NeilNjae that it's cool to see the Avern being far stranger and more dangerous than it first seemed.
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I'm pretty sure the city is the cathedral of the Pellerines, heading for another destination. Though the "how" and "why" are unclear, as is who saw it (we only know Severian and Dorcas for certain; can we extrapolate? I'm not sur…