(urth) AEG clones...send them in
Dave Tallman
davetallman at msn.com
Thu Dec 18 20:51:26 PST 2008
Henry Eissler wrote:
> You were the one that pointed out that Gideon may have infused her
> with the spirit of the banshee - the Washer at the Ford. I think the
> Cassie part of Cassie came close to dying on the Volcano God's island,
> but that last line at the end shows that she's not gone- she's the one
> that liked to call him "Wally."
> As to why Dr. Chase would have wanted to put the spirit of a
> mountain god's wife into her... who knows.
>
I don't think Cassie was infused with a different spirit. Chase speaks
of energizing her innate star potential (p. 41). I pretty much gave up
on the "Washer at the Ford" theory after I found another reference that
fit better. Here it is, as I wrote it up for WolfeWiki:
* "A mountain whose wife washed clothes?" (pp. 41-42, 83) is a
reference to Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town
<http://craphound.com/someone/Cory_Doctorow_-_Someone_Comes_to_Town_Someone_Leaves_Town.htm>
by Cory Doctorow. The protagonist Alan's father was a mountain and
his mother was a washing machine. Credit for discovering this
belongs to Marc Aramini. It's a perfect match:
1. The mountain quakes when it's angry.
2. There are gnomes and golems in its caves.
3. The setting is near Toronto, Canada. (The protagonist goes to
Willowdale, a suburb of Toronto, at one point).
4. The nearest large mountain to Toronto is Blue Mountain. There is a
trek to the summit which takes about 2.5 hours on foot.
I now see a better banshee connection with the winged creatures one
chapter title calls "Death's Visitors." Each time they to speak to
Cassie it is right after a violent death (Norma Peiper, Florence McNair,
and Bill Reis). They call Cassie "our cub" (p. 235), so she is a
banshee by adoption, at least.
* The winged "Death's Visitors" (pp. 182, 234-236, 284) are probably
harpies
<http://www.angelfire.com/realm/shades/demons/harpies.htm>, winged
Greek death-spirits also associated with storms. Banshees are also
a form of harpies.
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