(urth) Ansible Interview

[Tim Walters]

James Wynn wrote:
> 
>> And I should add that even in this unlikely scenario you wouldn't see
>> the shadow from Nightside, you'd see the topside of the overhang.
> <snip>
>> Which shade would be invisible from almost anywhere in the Whorl, even 
>> if shiprock is strong enough to enable such cliffs.
> 
> This premise is only true for areas directly on the other side of the 
> Long Sun. In the cases of areas just on the edge of Nightside (from 
> Silk's perspective, deep in Nightside) the shaded areas would be 
> perfectly visible.

You're assuming that he's at the same "latitude", and that the overhang 
is pointed directly at him. And even in that case he won't be able to 
see much of the latter scenario (a valley with two steep sides and no 
overhanging mountain).

The real problem, even if you're right, is that your theory involves 
Wolfe making a much bigger aesthetic mistake than getting the geometry 
wrong.

"Hmmm... lessee... by default, nothing in the Whorl will cast a shadow. 
Maybe I could use that as a subtle part of the description, to enhance 
the atmosphere of being in a artificial world different from the earth. 
Nah... there's a really convoluted way in which it's theoretically 
possible for shadows to exist. I'll just write as if I'd forgotten the 
whole thing, and let people construct the epicycles to rationalize it."

-- 

Tim Walters | The Doubtful Palace | http://doubtfulpalace.com