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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=dstockhoff@verizon.net
href="mailto:dstockhoff@verizon.net">David Stockhoff</A>
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<DIV
style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none">This
is certainly a debatable point. But I return to the narrator's <BR></DIV>
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<DIV
style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none">purpose:
why drop such strong and "classical" hints that Typhon can send <BR></DIV>
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<DIV
style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none">his
mind forth to commune with aliens under the sea, and that he can <BR></DIV>
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<DIV
style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none">seize
other's minds, in a universe where <BR></DIV>
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<DIV
style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none">telepathic/projection/possession
powers are demonstrated to exist, <BR></DIV>
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<DIV
style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none">without
accounting for the fact that the alert reader will proceed to <BR></DIV>
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<DIV
style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none">interpret
this as "super-telepathic powers"? This needs explanation, but <BR></DIV>
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<DIV
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is none.</DIV></DIV>
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<DIV
style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none">I
consider myself a reasonably alert reader, and I drew no such conclusion.
Indeed, I assumed that Typhon’s awareness of the undersea monsters (did he say
that he actually communicated with them, or did he just describe them, in which
case he might just have accessed an archive of old news reports?) was
technologically mediated.</DIV>
<DIV><BR>As for magic and the comparison between Typhon and Decuman, I had meant
to mention the coin given to Severian by Vodalus at the start of the
story. Recall Severian’s observation that the power to instill loyalty
must be present in the coin, because – as he points out very scientifically –
things act of themselves or not at all.</DIV>
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<DIV>My conclusion is that there is room for interpreting these events in ways
other than Severian would interpret them...</DIV>
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<DIV>- Gerry Quinn</DIV>
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