/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.10649014]

I found this book really good, but a lot of things aren't explained at all (like, what are Abaïa and Erebus, what is the use of the wall of Nessus, who was Typhon,etc...)

[Anonymous No.10649037]

>>10649014
bump. i didnt read OP since im almost finished and i dont want to get spoiled. hope some discussion takes off in the meantime though.

[Anonymous No.10649060]

>>10649037
Good reading mate

[Anonymous No.10649534]

>>10649014
Bumperino

[Anonymous No.10650427]

>>10649014
The answers to these questions are in the text, they just take some work unravelling; it is worth the effort. If you just want these things answered outright then read Urth of the new sun, and the Long sun series.

[Anonymous No.10650482]

>>10649014
>>10650427
Saying that, I really do recommend reading BOTNS a couple times before reading Urth. I actually prefer the slight ambiguity that individual interpretation leaves, which only adds to the already magical quality of this book. Every time you reread it you notice something you missed before.

[Anonymous No.10650534]

>>10650482
Oh ok.

[Anonymous No.10650989]

>>10649014
Books for grown-ups don't spoon-feed you everything. In fact they expect you to be equipped with an education, so that you can catch references and allusions.

[Anonymous No.10651015]

>>10650989
I have my own hypothesis, but im unsure of it.

[Anonymous No.10651152]

>>10649014
What book is that?

[Anonymous No.10651216]

>>10651152
The Book of the New Sun by "le moustache pringles walrus man" aka Genre Wolfe aka Meme Wolfe aka Big Gene

Arguably the greatest SFF novel ever written

[Anonymous No.10651288]

>>10651216

Ah, I see, I'd never heard of it before.

>Arguably the greatest SFF novel ever written

I can't tell if you're serious or just memeing. Thank you anyway, anon.

[Anonymous No.10651423]

>>10651288
Name a SFF better than BotNS. I'll wait.

>what are Abaïa and Erebus
They are Megtheridons. Members of the Group of Seventeen who are actively trying to stop the coming of the New Sun. They are genetically modified humans and/or extraterrestrial entities who took over Urth after the Age of Typhon, with the Commonwealth (seemingly) the only somewhat 'free society' left to oppose them. Baldanders is trying to become one through his experimentation,
which is why his castle was on the Lake Diuturna, so that when his mass exceeded what his body could support he would live in the water to alleviate the pressure his body would put on him. It's also why Baldanders is opposed to and actively tries to kill Severian,
because he recognizes him as the bringer of the New Sun and thus an end to his rise to power.

>what is the use of the wall of Nessus,
The wall was originally used to protect the original Autaurch from his angry subjects. It's gigantic height may also have been built as a protection against the Megatheridon's, as discussed above, though I have yet to find solid textual evidence to support this theory, it seems to add up given what we know about the Megatheridons and their size.

>who was Typhon
Typhon was the last great monarch of Urth and had ambition to see Urth rule the galaxy. The Book of the Long and Short Sun get a lot more into Typhon...it's bretty gud TBQHFAMALAMADINGDONG

[Anonymous No.10651486]

>>10651288
>I can't tell if you're serious or just memeing.
I was being serious fyi

[Anonymous No.10652319]

>>10651423
wtf is a megdetherin

[Anonymous No.10652811]

>>10649014
I'm pretty sure it was clearly stated that Erebus was the leader of the Ascians, and that Typhon was a past Autarch who died.

[Anonymous No.10653280]

>>10649014
>humming through pages nicely
>some archaic idiom mid paragraph
>adds nothing to moment besides excess reinforcement
>breaks my reading groove

[Anonymous No.10653300]

>>10652319
The guy Grom Hellscream sacrifices himself to kill after the third campaign of Reign of Chaos

[Anonymous No.10654264]

>>10651423
Thank you.

[Anonymous No.10654269]

>>10651423
was the big lady who stopped Severian from drowning in Gyoll not a Megtheridon then? why did she save him?

[Anonymous No.10654347]

>>10654269
It was a servant (reffered as a "wife") of Abaïa

[Anonymous No.10654365]

>>10654347
shouldn't she be helping her husbando?

[Anonymous No.10654444]

>>10654365
Her goal was to make severian going on their sides, so he couldn't bring back the New sun .

[Anonymous No.10654447]

>>10654269
now that you bring it up it does seem questionable, but maybe they understood he was getting brought back by the aliums anyway

[Anonymous No.10654462]

>>10654444
quad 4s acknowledged and checked but still don't buy it, because he can't bring back the new sun if he's dead

>>10654447
then why not just let the aliums save him

the answer is probably in the books i should stop being lazy and look for myself...

[Anonymous No.10654490]

>>10651423
That sounds like trash

[Anonymous No.10654541]

>>10654444
It's not certain that the New Sun will be bad for Abaia.

The "New Sun" is a massive object that, when passing through the Solar System towards the Sun, causes civilization-destroying extensive flooding because of its gravity and the effects on the tides. The sea-dwelling Abaia quite conceivably benefits from this. Why Abaia rather than Erebus? Well, Erebus is said to be the master of the land-dwelling Ascians. Presumably Abaia has fewer interests on land compared to Erebus.

nice get

[Anonymous No.10654571]

>>10654541
If that's true, then why does Baldanders want to stop Severian if he's preparing to become massive and sea-dwelling, like Abaia?

[Anonymous No.10654694]

>>10654269
>>10654447
>>10654462
The undine Joturna saved him because Abaïa and co. wanted to make a torturer autarch, thinking he would be an awful Tyrant, not knowing he would bring the new sun. It is a main theme in BOTNS that the 'evil', essentially demonic forces keep unwittingly doing good, will attempting to do evil.
" 'Say at last - who are thou?'
'That Power I serve
Which wills forever evil
Yet does forever good' " - Goethe's Faust

BOTNS should not just be read as a story that has mysteries, that once unravelled you now know some fantasy history; but as religious propaganda, in which all actors fulfil some cosmological role. I think this obvious considering the whole Typhon scenario, and Dr Talos' play 'Eschatology and Genesis'.

[Anonymous No.10654725]

>>10654571
Baldanders wants to become like them, but he do not want to ally with Abaïa and Erebus. He just want to be on his own.

[Anonymous No.10654732]

>>10654462
You'll do yourself a favor, they're very good no matter if you already read them

[Anonymous No.10654735]

He raped his sister, Jolenta.

[Anonymous No.10654738]

>>10654541
The decline of the old sun would have served the goals of Abaïa as it would have weakened the power of the autarch

[Anonymous No.10654752]

>>10654735
This meme need to end

>>10654541
Also, erebus is said "too big to live on earth" and controls the Ascians from the sea.