(urth) Baldanders' dream

[Gerry Quinn]

On 22/08/2014 15:55, Lee wrote:
>> Gerry Quinn: Note the plural in "characters".  It seems to bear out
>
>> what I said; snakes and caves do not uniquely identify a character.
>
> It is a human bias to assume that "identity" is uniquely identifiable.
> But, as characters like Tzadkiel illustrate, other sorts of beings may
> not be locked into a single body, shape or identity.
>
> Looking to mythology and the Bible and other sources from which Wolfe
> draws inspiration, we can see that Greco-Roman gods, Judeo-Christian
> angels and other non-human beings can assume a plural identity, able
> to change their size, shape, species and even to appear in multiple
> places at once.
>
> The Cumaean is not a human being. Given Wolfe's mythological/Biblical
> inspiration, I think she follows the Tzadkielian plural identify pattern
> and she shares an identity with other snakey, cavey Sun Series characters
> such as Echidna and perhaps certain extremely large, false god-like
> creatures on Urth (and Blue).
>
> Tzadkiel is an angel who resides in "heaven". But some angels have fallen
> to Earth and Urth (making them "demons").
In mythology, snakes and caves also did not uniquely identify a 
character.  And the Cumaean is not indicated to share the characteristic 
of multiplicity with Tzadkiel (who, by the way, appears only in a book 
in which neither the Cumaean nor Echidna do).  There are other problems, 
given that it is questionable whether scanning - the origin of the 
Whorl's Echidna - works on non-human monsters.
>
>> As for personality characteristics, I mean things like the Cumaean's
>> interest in witchcraft and archeology, and Echidna's rather prudish
>> interest in the virginity of the priesthood, and her killing of Pas to
>> preserve her rule over the Whorl.  They don't seem at all like the same
>> person.
> I don't see why witchcraft and archaeology exclude prudery and power-
> hunger in a personality.

No, and for all we know they could both be champion footballers too.  
But we can only identify positive aspects of characters in books given 
by the author, and no common personality characteristics seem to be 
given to Echidna and the Cumaean.

Their speech patterns are also completely different - and these are 
something that Wolfe worked extremely hard on in Long Sun.  Had he 
wanted to identify Echidna with the Cumaean, he would have made her 
speak like the Cumaean.

- Gerry Quinn