(urth) GUT's and so on

[Mo Holkar]

At 20:42 05/09/2010, you wrote:
>Africa is okay but the other possible homelands leave me very 
>suspicious about the true
>Earthly origins of Shadow Children.


In Classical times Africa was seen as a land of mythic wonders, hence 
"ex Africa semper aliquid novi". So I think this fits into the 
fantastical pattern of the other suggested homelands.

I take all this to be flagging the Shadow Children up as analogous to 
the various fay myths that humans have cherished on Earth. Perhaps 
Wolfe is hinting at a galaxy-wide settlement of fay-analogues before 
humans came along -- like in Poul Anderson's 'The Queen of Air and 
Darkness', if I'm remembering that correctly.


>Poictesme is a fictional province of France in the work of a 
>somewhat obscure fantasy writer, James Branch Cabell.


Sad to reflect that Cabell is now fairly described as "somewhat 
obscure". He was hugely influential on a wide range of SF & F 
authors, and I think much of his work is still very worthwhile and 
interesting. Lots of it can be read on Project Gutenberg, as it's out 
of copyright -- I recommend starting with Jurgen: 
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/8771

Mo




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