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RichardAbbott
About
- Username
- RichardAbbott
- Joined
- Visits
- 6,372
- Last Active
- Roles
- Member, Administrator, Moderator
- Games I like
- Sundry, mostly board
- Books I like
- Science fiction, fantasy, some historical fiction
Comments
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> @clash_bowley said: > ... the unexplained non-presence of Dorcas. He should be wondering where she was, what she is doing. Instead he does not even think of her. Out of sight, out of mind. I begin to wonder if he is human at all, and whethe…
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I agree with @dr_mitch that the gap was hard to process, and it disoriented me as well. And with @NeilNjae that I just didn't know whether Dorcas et al were absent or just not talked about. When I reconnected with the story, I thought these chapter…
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Just finished this earlier in the week - I'll write a review sometime soon :smile:
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> @Apocryphal said: > > @RichardAbbott and @NeilNjae might also find this interesting. Yes I am, though don't have a lot to contribute :smile: A comment was made about how you get people to "buy in" to the culture, which …
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> @clash_bowley said: > Actually, they spoke Pictish, which was a Brittonic language related to Welsh and Cornish. ... And indeed Cumbric, here in what is now Cumbria, though aside from place names there are exactly three words generally a…
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More to the point, the three levels of meaning in a tale that Severian talks about in ch 32 are very standard in the interpretation of sacred texts. For example, biblical exegesis, especially of Hebrew Bible narrative portions, recognises three leve…
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> @Apocryphal said: > > Also, that's a pretty high wall. Why so high, I wonder. To keep out the free folk of the North? :smile:
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On anything like those timescales we should probably include deliberate terraforming as a reshaper of land masses
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Now I'll have to listen to it and find out 😁
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I just reread the last couple of pages before going on to the next section and noticed "Is it far to Thrax, Severian?" "A long way... at the foot of the first cataract." Now, the only river I can think of which is routinely div…
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(Quote) I'm sure I saw a post bt @Apocryphal a while back but can no longer find it
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(Quote) And another way in which Agia was economical with the truth, presumably in order to at least immobilise Severian.
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I can't see why you'd call it "precursor to" rather than just "SF"
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> @NeilNjae said: > Gorm doesn't present himself as being acting for the good of anyone except the Old Ones, but people are happy to accept that he's generally against the Unclean and willing to help out Hiero for the time being. That could…
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> @clash_bowley said: > @RichardAbbott - Agilus was executed for killing bystanders, which was not planned, and not part of the conspiracy between himself and Agia, therefore she was not punished. I have no idea if their conspiracy is an actu…
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I've been wondering how your music has been getting on of late!
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A bit of a let down for Agia, who rapidly descends from apparent equal and helper to would-be thief and conspirator. I guess what struck me about what Severian called justice was that Agilus got executed but Agia walked away, though both had conspir…
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(Quote) No real connection between the plot lines, I think - at least, none that I can see. But the styles do share something in common, even though Lensman goes back to the late 1930s and Hiero is from the late 1970s. They both have the same space…
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> @Apocryphal said: > ... the House - which, by the way, what an odd name for a fungus monster. I presume that he meant house as in "great family", as in House Lancaster or House York. Or, in modern drama, House Lannister or Hous…
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(Quote) I suppose one might speculate that the pre-Death scientific exploration included attempts to deliberately mutate creatures, so that the possibility was already active. But I don't think Lanier gives any such suggestion.
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(Quote) In a strange quirk of coincidence, I have just been rereading Lensman, in order to get my occasional fix of space opera...
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(Quote) As I recall, it was human biological research gone awry, rather than war or external threat.
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Well, Hiero has regular times of prayer, especially in crises (which, admittedly, many people do whatever their faith or lack of it - as has been said, "there ain't no atheists in foxholes") and also at day's end. He appears to have habits…
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Does Hiero get anywhere close to your part of Canada?
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The main thing seemed to me that Agia (who had previously seemed to be an ally for Severian) turned out to be on the opposing side, and Dorcas (who we knew nothing about) seems to be on his side. For me that put a rather different complexion on Agia…
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OK, I am putting up some discussion starters now... it's a holiday weekend here in the UK so plenty of time to sit back and enjoy chatting about Hiero's Journey...
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Intending to post discussion starters later today (Friday) so people can join in as they please.
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The antlers would be a problem...
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(Quote) I've been meaning to say that this - like the print version - is excellently done. Thanks so much :smile:
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(Quote) In passing, I rather enjoyed the snide comments about a race that hadn't realised that the plane's lift could come from the body shape and need not come from its wings