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dr_mitch
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Comments
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That's fascinating!
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I don't think Severian is being completely honest with himself (or with the reader). His views on justice reflect his obedience to his upbringing. I don't get the impression the older Severian writing agrees with the younger Severian's thoughts- and…
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@NeilNjae for me there was just _barely_ enough nuance. The Eleventh Commandment came from a scientific background. The Metz sent Hiero on a quest for a particular piece of technology, one that's notably there for knowledge and not a weapon (though …
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12: Brief Cases (Jim Butcher) I enjoy the Dresden Files series. Kitchen sink urban fantasy with appealing recurring characters. So I enjoyed this collection of short stories. Some were fan service, but still fun, others were darker or did more clev…
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I'm tempted to read the sequel. It sounds like there's more in the way of world building and fantasy politics. And reading more about the societies sounds more interesting to me than more about the lives of the characters. That said, this book w…
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The title is surely not a coincidence. But as @NeilNjae said it only represents part of Campbell's structure. The beginning--the call to adventure and initial refusal--are absent as is the middle and second half of it.
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Cartoon villains! Though I did like the fact that they were the technological faction, without the book being a big bash on science and technology.
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For me it was an over the top fantasy world, loosely anchored in our own. All part of the fun. There was almost nothing realistic about it- and after a bit I didn't want there to be. In terms of people understanding the concepts of 5000 years…
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It seemed to work out well enough to me. Some Christian modes of thought tend to be mystical, and psionic powers are a natural enough extension of that in fantasy. Besides, warrior monks with psionic powers are a firm trope and used elsewhere (eg…
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Oh, everyone and every culture was stereotyped tropes. That's not intended as an insult- it was part of the fun. The most credible was perhaps the sailors, as there was some nuance there, but their suggested society was heavily troped as well.
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I had trouble getting into it at the start, but it grew on me. I think much of this was the number of people around Hiero growing; it was more readable for me with more interaction. It had a certain vividness in its sheer over the topness. I enjo…
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I can see all sorts of AD&D 1e inspirations. The psionics system, where only psionicists are vulnerable to psionic attacks. The philosophy of the druids (as expressed by Aldo). And yes, kill a monster, level up, get stronger! I'm no…
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> @clash_bowley said: > Just letting you all know I plan on commenting on the questions, but I am not finished reading yet! Ditto. I lost my Kindle for a few days. But I should finish tonight.
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I'll go back to the advice I called out at the start, namely not to stop and look things up. Infer meaning, even if it's slightly wrong. The characters in the book, including Severian, seem often slightly wrong too. On the other hand looking thi…
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@RichardAbbott if there's one thing I've learned from the book, it's that a trained riding Moose (or Morse) is much better than a deer.
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I think for me, it's less a sense of exoticism this time round, and more a sense of archaicism. The world does feel ancient, with layers upon layers of tradition and cultures forgotten and distorted, at times almost comprehensible, with parts of it …
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Things which are clear to me on this read, but which aren't spelled out. Severian has the Claw of the Conciliator on his person. One of its powers is resurrection,,,and contacting a dead body in the depths resurrects her. That's Dorcas. She's the s…
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Of course speculum is the Latin word for mirror.
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To be fair to Severian, it sounds like in the Botanic Gardens it's very easy to lose track of time. Not just in the time spent there, but in the "what year is it?" sense. There's sort of a pun. The jungle garden seems larger than it could …
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It's a fascinating passage. There's a merger of something which reads as Confucian or Buddhist, mixed with the militant Christian symbolism of the oriflamme. Another interesting thing is Severian comparing himself with the Autarch in that enigmatic …
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Oh, the gaps are definitely deliberate. Severian does not lie, but he leaves things out. He's sometimes wrong with his surmises. For me some of that is coming together on this read.
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One interesting touch with Father Inire's mirrors-- without rubbing it in, it was a story within a story within a story.
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> @clash_bowley said: > And shouldn't the title of this be "chapters 17-20"? I assumed this was the same as the post from last week originally. Yes it should. Corrected. I can't count.
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And thoughts: (*) Severian seems to be mainly reacting to events, with a few arbitrary decisions as he understandably doesn't trust Agia's suggestions. He's out of his depth. (*) It seems pretty clear that Agia took the treasure of Pelerines and p…
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I like that @RichardAbbott. Another point about Vance's Dying Earth...the people are indeed individualistic, and also thoroughly selfish. It feels like Vance is just as pessimistic about individual prevailing as Wolfe is about organisations prevaili…
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Oh, we have a lot of interesting things for me in these chapters and over the next group. Things which never quite "clicked" before are clicking into place for me with this slow read. When I first read the book, it felt like a picaresque w…
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Another thought is Talos. In Greek mythology, Talos was a giant bronze automaton protecting Crete, who strode around the island's shores. It's interesting that it's not Talos but Baldanders who is the giant. Talking of that, I find something rather …
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Yes, there's a lot of time dedicated to Dr.Talos and Baldanders...too much time for that encounter to be all.
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(Quote) Yes, my mistake. Title corrected. Apologies for the confusion.
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Thanks @Apocryphal I love the Lexicon. I've been mostly estimating the meanings of the unusual and repurposed words (or in a couple of cases I know them). My success rate is about 50%.