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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=andrew.mason53@googlemail.com
href="mailto:andrew.mason53@googlemail.com">Andrew Mason</A> </DIV>
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Another piece of evidence that may be relevant is 'The God and his<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">Man'
- published, I think, before _New Sun_, the very first work to<BR></DIV>
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style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none">mention
Urth - which begins 'A long time ago, when the world was old',<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">suggesting
that the story comes from a previous cycle.</DIV></DIV>
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style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none">I
thought it might be a nod to the intro to the then recently-released ‘Star Wars:
“A long time ago in a galaxy far away...”. Whether it was or not, they are
both set in a hi-tech universe at an uncertain point in space and time.
[There may also be a nod to Star Trek, in that Man’s ‘ascension’ looks very like
he is beamed up to Isid’s vessel.]</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">The
most interesting thing about Isid is that he persishes “in smoke and blue
fire”. The god, one of a dwindling number, is clearly a machine set to
watch over the development of planet-bound humanoids. This resembles BotNS
somewhat, and also fits the introductory sentence you mention.
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style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none">Anyone
ever figure out a meaning for “Isid Iooo IoooE”?</DIV></DIV>
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Gerry Quinn <BR></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>