From: "Robert Borski" <rborski@coredcs.com>
Subject: (urth) Re: Geneologies & Various
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 03:01:58 

<I don't know why it looks so bad on the list, though it looks okay in
the digest. I'll try the hard way.

<Charon + Dorcas begat Ouen. Dorcas + Severian begat Catherine.

<Ouen + Catherine begat Severian.>

I think my friend Roy may be swimming in the same pool with me and the rest
of the undines. <g> Nevertheless, while intriguing, I don't think his
theory holds water, haloid, interstellar or otherwise.

For starters we have a slight problem in ages. If Dorcas is pregnant (and I
do believe she is), when does Sev impregnate the adult version of this
child? A decade after the baby's birth he takes off to Yesod and doesn't
return for 40 years. This would make "Catherine" 50 years old by the time
of his return and we do not see him couple with anyone once he again trods
urth. And
while it's possible the adult version of "Catherine" might be able to
travel back in time via The Corridors or Atrium of Time, I see no evidence
that
Dorcas understands how to access them (unlike Valeria, who initially lives
at their terminus). You also need to account for Catherine's "old fashioned
name," a fact that Ouen mentions. Dorcas, despite being two generations
older than Severian, does not seem any more old fashioned than either her
son or grandson's contemporaries. Lastly, it seems unlikely that Dorcas is
tall enough to
confer upon Severian via "Catherine" the exultant height he allegedly
has--more likely with a double dose of her petititeness (one from Ouen, one
from "Catherine") he'd be on the runtish side, if even viable, given the
higher likelihood of paired lethal recessives.

All this being said, anyone interested in my interpretation of who
Catherine's mother is should check out the April issue of THE NEW YORK
REVIEW OF SCIENCE FICTION, wherein I attempt to identify her. Not that
there aren't hints in the above paragraph or in my previous posts.

Re: Roy's identification of the Carina the Contessa as Catherine. Here, on
the other hand, I think Roy's arguments are most sound and parallel my own.
Karina, after all, is Danish for Katherine--surely this is no coincidence,
eh Tony Ellis? I also believe that *all* the characters in Eschatology &
Genesis have real life counterparts, but maybe that's me.

Re: Catherine = Katharine--mantis is almost certainly right here, and
it's one of *many* recursive loops in New Sun.

Re: xury's question about the House Azure. Azure is how blue is designated
in heraldry, and since the khaitbit prostitutes of the House Azure are
allegedly blue-blood clones of exultants...well, you can probably figure
out the rest.

Robert Borski

*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.urth.net/urth/