(urth) Swanwick and others

[dunnaaa .]

The world-building is very similar - we are aware that there is a lot going
on out there, but we are only teased brief details which let us attempt to
construct the larger picture.

I definitely got a BotNS vibe off of Anathem - mostly for this reason. I
think the difference lies in the explanations that we are given by the
authors - for instance, I would have been perfectly happy reading the first
half of Anathem and then leaving it be, with all my questions unanswered,
but the possibilities I could create still out there. Whereas with Wolfe, I
am much happier with the world and the answers that he provides.

So I guess I'm saying that Wolfe is the better writer, but I can definitely
get that Anathem evokes some of the feelings that I got when reading BotNS.

Cheers,
Sean
On Jun 17, 2014 10:05 PM, "Andrew Mason" <andrew.mason53 at googlemail.com>
wrote:

> Michael Thayer wrote:
>
>>
>> I am a big fan of Anathem, but I just don't see the New Sun
>> parallels/connection -- what specifically do you see as the similarities?
>>  I'm intrigued.
>>
>
>
> Set on an Earth-like planet in the far 'future' (though not as far, nor as
> blatantly Earth-like)
>
> Lots of unusual words (in Wolfe real words: in Stephenson made-up ones,
> though not too mysterious if you know Latin; but the effect is similar).
>
> The hero begins in an enclosed community and then goes on a journey.
>
> And, most importantly, the idea of alternative worlds and a choice between
> them.
>
> Well, it may not add up to much, but Stephenson was rather absurdly
> accused of plagiarism (with the mistaken claim that the planet is called
> Orth), so clearly others besides me have noticed a similarity.
>
> As I mentioned a little while ago, Paul Witcover's _The Emperor of All
> Things_ seems to acknowledge a debt to Wolfe, though perhaps a negative
> one, as the character Wolfe is a villain; (but then, Umberto Eco made
> Borges a villain, and I don't think that was meant in a wholly hostile
> way).
>
>
> --
>>
>
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