From: David_Lebling@avid.com
Subject: (urth) Re:  q: "How Old Mount Typhon?" a: "Old Mount Typhon fine!"
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 98 17:09:40 


[Posted from URTH, a mailing list about Gene Wolfe's New Sun and other works]

CRCulver opines:
> Said Vizcacha
> >My suspicion is that there is either more time between Typhon and
> Severian than 1000 years (more like 10,000?)<
> 
>      Woah, Gene Wolfe himself has said that there are only 2 chiliads
between
> our present time here inA.D. 1998, and Severian's time. (I think it is
in the
> People interview).

Even Jove nods.

Unless someone (Dr. Talos? mantis?) is faking the geological and
archeological evidence, there's a _lot_ more time than that.

The only out I see for the geology is that during the era of starflight
(as described in the "Pandora's Box" story -- remarkably like Cordwainer
Smith's future, by the way), there was enough power and energy to
resculpt the entire face of Urth, and someone did.

The only out I see for the archeology is that a Trantor-like world-city
grew and then died before someone started twiddling the geography.

But I still don't see this happening in two chiliads.

     -vizcacha
     (david_lebling@avid.com)