(urth) AEG: Margaret

[Tom Foster]

I wrote:
> My impression from this scene was that the man leading
> the wolf on a 'ludicrously thin leash' (I'm
> paraphrasing as I don't have the book with me) was the
> human element of the werewolf, and that Cassie was seeing
> through the werewolf's 'charm', or whatever.
> Presumably the other diners just saw a man walk up to Scott,
> but Cassie can somehow see the true dual nature of the
> werewolf, perhaps because she has been 'raised up'
> herself.
> >
> > If this is the case, then surely she'd also be
> able to identify other werewolfs, i.e. Margaret, if indeed
> she were one (heh, heh). 
> >   

Dave Tallman corrected me:
> No, Ebony said "A woman tried to pet it. Did you see
> that?" (p. 190). 
> The petting woman must have seen a wolf or dog, and so did
> Ebony. Cassie 
> didn't see anything different than the others.
> 
> The werewolf was smart enough to carry out Wally's
> orders by himself. He 
> was to come in, tell Scott he was wolf food, and lead him
> out. The other 
> man with the thin leash was window dressing. A huge wolf
> coming into a 
> restaurant by itself would cause a panic. The leash would
> allow people 
> to tell themselves "Oh, it's just a dog."

That's what you get for relying on memory alone, I guess. You're quite right about the woman trying to pet it; I had forgotten that bit.  I guess I was thinking of the Short Sun books, and the way different characters manifest their real natures in their appearances at times. 

Has anyone commented on the various notes Cassie receives throughout the novel from Gid and Wally? They all seem gushingly, embarassingly OTT and somewhat out of character for the senders. Are they just supposed to signify her amazing magnetism? I must admit that I didn't find Cassie to be an especially sympathetic character.

Did it strike anyone else as slightly suspicious that Cassie insisted on going for a walk on the beach with Wallace, then making out half in the sea, after being asked by the Storm God's emissary to do just that? I know Wallace had explained that there were lots of beaches in the area, and the Storm God couldn't watch them all, but it still seems almost like tempting fate...

As others have commented, the way Cassie is transformed by Prof Chase seems very reminiscent of the Dr Talos/Jolenta thaumaturgy (love that word!) and the idea of going up/down a level seems very similar to 'The Wizard Knight', not to mention sea monsters and werewolves! Wolfe certainly has his recurring tropes.

As a great Lovecraft fan, I agree with an earlier post that AEG shouldn't be sold as a Lovecraftian novel - the few Lovecraftian elements seemed a bit tacked on, and the book wouldn't really suffer if the Storm God was just the plain old Storm God.

Apologies for rambling - I'm still thinking my way through it, and could do with re-reading it soon, I suspect. I wish I'd brought it to work with me today! 


Tom