(urth) Long Review Essay on Wizard Knight

[Matthew King]

On Sep 25, 2007, at 12:39 PM, brunians at brunians.org wrote:
>>> It is an afterlife to which has gone a decent kid (of, English,  
>>> Norse
>>> and Irish descent, I believe) who is not a Christian. He's  
>>> managed to
>>> write a letter to his brother by stimulating Gene to write this  
>>> book.
>
>> Certainly an interesting theory, though I think you're wrong about  
>> the
>> "stimulating Gene" part -- doesn't he say that he has seen Ben in
>> Mythgarthr?
>
> Might be. Don't remember.
>
> Able definitely talks about writing Ben a letter.

In the opening of The Knight, Abel mentions seeing Ben by the fire on  
the battlefield, with no further explanation.  The explanation only  
comes in the closing scenes of the Wizard, where the tarnhelm-ish  
thingy gives Abel the power to see things as they truly are.  He  
looks at Bold Berthold and sees Ben.

>
>> At any rate, it being an afterlife does explain some things, but  
>> it leaves
>> others hanging. Can you elaborate?
>
> Not at this time. I think it is pretty obvious.

Because the dream of the ambulance means Arthur Ormsby is dead?

>
>> FWIW, I didn't (and don't) see the worlds of the _Commedia_ in the
>> Seven Layer World; I see the worlds of the Edda.
>
> On second thought, I agree that there is not really too strong a
> correlation between Dante and TWK. I don't think anyone is going to  
> argue
> that TWK does not resemble the Edda.

I like the idea that the entirety of the seven layer universe is  
Purgatory, but I don't think that is what Wolfe had in mind.