(urth) The Ship

[Lee Berman]

>Gerry Quinn: I would say the opposite: stopping the Moon in its orbit would be a 

>cataclysmic event.  And while the Ship is large, it is indicated to be about the 

>size of an island ruled by a minor lord, which seems much smaller than the Moon.


Hm..who would be a major lord, in this case?

 

Anyway, I'm curious where you get the comparison in size to "island". I'm curious 

because in Severian's first view of Tzadkiel he is island-sized. The Ship is 

described, once or twice, as being like a living thing. I've sometimes wondered if

the Ship itself is a version of Tzadkiel. That would be some mighty, mighty shape-

shifting.

 

Anyway, if the ship was much smaller than the moon it would have to be a lot closer

than the moon to Urth to cause an eclipse. I think gravity would become an issue, 

especially since the Ship would have to remain parked, stationary over one particular

spot on Urth for hours (a normal total solar eclipse only lasts a few minutes). I

don't see mirror sails being a very effective way of accomplishing this and no other

means of propulsion is mentioned.

 

You could say, "well, maybe they have backup impulse power.." or whatever. But it is 

similar to the issue of inhumi flying through space. You have to pile on speculation

atop of speculation to make it work, when a much simpler answer is available.

 

(I disagree that a stationary moon over the course of a few hours would cause cataclysms.

Why would it? I think it would just maintain high tides for a while. Maybe change wind

patterns. Far less cataclysmic than adding a second moon. And I still think Apu PUnchau

works better as a real sun god, rather than a fake, Twainsy one.