(urth) The Apu-Punchau Eclipse

[Jeff Wilson]

Roy C. Lackey wrote:
> Jeff Wilson quoted and wrote:
>>> Dan'l is correct. The Ship has seven sides, the decks covered by "masts
>>> beyond counting". (URTH, I, 2) Some of the masts are "separated by tens
> of
>>> leagues at least". (I, 6) Many sails are improbably *huge*:
>>>
>>> "Rising over the topmost sail as the New Sun of Urth
>>> might someday rise above the Wall of Nessus (yet far, far
>>> larger and more beautiful than even the New Sun can ever
>>> be, just as that smallest and uppermost sail was an entire
>>> continent of silver, compared to which the mighty Wall of
>>> Nessus, a few leagues in height and a few thousand long,
>>> might have been the tumbledown fence of a sheepfold),[...]
>>> (XIV, 103)
>>>
>>> The Ship's overall size has to be on a planetary scale.
>> I don't think this is supported by "Masts sprout from every deck, a
>> hundred times taller than the Flag kepp of the Citadel," or by Severian
>> being able to leap clear the distance from the deck to the startop
>> wihtin a few minutes of indulging himself. (At least, he does not remark
>> on the passage of time or become concerned over needing to eat or drink.)
> 
> Then your quarrel is with Wolfe, not me. The text says what it says. Like I
> said before, the Wall of Nessus just can't be that tall and not be visible
> from ground level virtually anywhere in the city, either.

Perhaps a hill or other rise of land intervenes?


>>> This eclipse business just isn't that hard. All the Ship has to do is
> travel
>>> in a straight line between the sun and Urth, at the appropriate distance
> to
>>> achieve eclipse, and veer to one side to uncover the sun at the right
>>> moment.
>> A straight line with a sudden veer require the removal of gravity and
>> inertia from the picture. Not that the Yesodis can't do that if they
>> need to, but why bother with sails at all if you can do that?
> 
> Indeed. And why bother manning and operating the Ship at all when they can
> use a "dimensional portal" (your term) to move people (and maybe planets)
> from Yesod to Briah, and time-walk to anywhen?

Food for thought, indeed.

-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >