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Apocryphal
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What was the purpose of the Hermit interlude, in the end. It's got to be a journey, rather than a quest. He fails to bring back the hermit, and in the end the person who sent him on the mission is dead or gone, and nobody cares that he went, or even…
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@WildCard was one of our earliest new joiners when we moved to G+, but he went by a different name there. For a time I thought you and @Michael_S_Miller were related because of the amazing insights you could both bring to the table.
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@WildCard See this comment for notifications. It's easier on a PC than a phone, but should be reachable from either. https://www.ttrpbc.com/discussion/comment/2037/#Comment_2037
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(Quote) Yes. Here's the etymology: New Latin, from Greek mērykasthai to ruminate + New Latin -hippus (horse)
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LEXICON (Quote) Merychip: We've had this before, maybe in the first book. Merychippus is an extinct proto-horse. (Quote) Theologoumenon: Wikipedia and various dictionaries rather unhelpfully say that "A theologoumenon is a theological stateme…
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LEXICON (Quote) Armigette: We've possibly had 'Armiger' in the lexicon before - it is a person entitled to bear a coat of arms. An Armigette is a female armiger. Exultant: I think we've had this one in the lexicon before, too. In English, the word…
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Yes, sorry to hear about your partner. You mentioned once before she's undergoing scheduled treatments - hopefully that's the case here. I didn't make many notes on these chapters, apart from the quip by one character that marriage is a form of sla…
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(Quote) Wow, that's awesome! Pretty catchy tune in there. @WildCard you need to take up playing drums.
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I’m an ent which means I’ll tell you my choice after we’ve read all three books.
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Each of the three stories so far seems to convey a life lesson: Loyal: Perseverance is rewarded Melito: Spirit trumps all Hallvard: The truth will out, maybe?
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We had a software update and I’ve tested the notifications with someone posting a new thread in a category I bookmarked, with someone commenting on a thread I started, and someone commenting on a thread I bookmarked but haven’t posted yet. I receive…
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Having a twin sister would be interesting. I thought Thecla was older, so I’d guess not her. Agia is an interesting speculation. To fit the theory, her name must be Severa. Severa and Severian seem like playful names for Siamese twins separated at b…
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I really didn't know what it would be like when I picked it. I knew it was 'inspired' by the Wizard of Oz, than that Sarah could be seen as an alien while wearing the right goggles. I knew it was late 1800s Pacific NW, and expected it to be well wri…
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Perhaps the true events in this story actually inspired Baum? There’s the recursion you were looking for in the last book. I don’t even know where to start with the Dickinson excerpts.
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Even a failed first contact is still a first contact. And what reason do we have to believe a first contact should succeed in drawing two civilizations together? Even in the Martian Chronicles, the very first contact between humans and martians was …
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Well spotted re: the dress and the ruby slippers.
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Well, if you read the rest of my replies it will be obvious that I liked it a lot. I thought the writing was really wonderful. I like the characters, even the bad ones for being bad. I really enjoyed trying to tease out some of the deeper meanings. …
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(Quote) Yes, I especially liked this last bit. I'm not sure I could have drawn the conclusions I have about this book had we not first read The Book of the New Sun together. I've learned a lot from that exercise about how to read more deeply into a …
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I see Sarah Canary as a McGuffin, more than a character. I certainly don't mind that we don't know what she is - in fact, I've read several books where I felt the author offered too much explanation about some aspect of the book that was best left t…
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I see it as both a Picaresque novel and historical fiction and Speculative fiction. I like the possibility of Sarah Canary as an alien, or possibly an angel fallen to earth. This could be read as a 'first contact' novel, which is how it was introduc…
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I don't think this is a re-working of the Wizard of Oz, but I definitely see inspiration. If I were to attempt to equate the characters, I'd say Chin is the Cowardly Lion - he admires Burke's courage, later admits to lacking any of his own, continuo…
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I agree the wider world didn't change much. The degree to which characters changed after contact with The Zone/Sarah Canary was mixed - some changed a lot, others not so much. I don't remember there being a lot of change in the characters in Roadsid…
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I definitely feel some of them changed. Harold certainly changed, and even reported as much to Chin. He wore the dress (walked a mile in another person's clothes?) afterall. I also feel that Chin changed - at one time he was hiding behind B.J., eve…
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As I mentioned elsewhere, I'm wondering if the phrase in the question has to do with women somehow not recognizing themselves - or with certain women (wild women) not recognizing other women when they see them. It's a bit too subtle for me to quite …
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Sorry for posting four comments in a row - I just wanted to explore each of these in its own post. One more motif that just occurred to me - B.J. has frequent conversations with inanimate objects. Is that because he's more comfortable with them, or…
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A for the dress, Harold seems to think it's some sort of armour: (Quote) The dress is mentioned very often, and it's usually how they can pick Sarah Canary out of a crowd. It never seems to be wrinkled, or get torn. It's so tight about the next tha…
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Mirrors are also a big motif. As @RichardAbbott pointed out, each person sees something of themself in Sarah Canary, so in a way she is a mirror, herself. It's also mentioned more than once that 'the wild woman cannot see herself in a mirror'. I'm w…
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My take on the one wing The bird with one wing - it seems obvious that this is a reference to something not being whole. I'm not sure I'd say 'useless'. Sarah herself is likened to a bird quite frequently, and it's right there in her name. She sing…
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What's this prophecy you keep speaking of?
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LEXICON (Quote) Antepilani: First or second line formation infantry. Korseke: A spetum or polearm. However, we learn in the next chapters that korsekes are actually energy weapons. Demilune: Literally 'half-moon', an Awl-pike, which is a very long …