From: "Tom Foster" 
Subject: (urth) RTTW - two points/questions
Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2002 15:07:10 -0000

Well, I've just finished RTTW and am still taking it all in. A couple of
things I wanted to mention:

Did anyone else think that the way Hoof talked about Oreb at the end of RTTW
was very reminiscent of the way Horn talked about Hyacinth at the end of
TBOTLS? Throughout TBOTLS and TBOTSS both Oreb and Hycanith come across as
very likeable characters (though admittedly Hyacinth has some obvious
flaws), only for them to be 'debunked' by, in the first case Horn, and in
the second case Hoof, come the end of the narratives. This seems very odd
and I wonder if there is a deeper meaning to it than simply Wolfe showing
that all is not necessarily what is seems, and that people (and animals
too!) should not be taken at face value...

Can someone explain to me exactly what the situation with Nettle is come the
end of RTTW?  I didn't follow this at all, despite re-reading several times.
Silk-Horn says (of the information imparted to him by the Red Sun Whorl
Scylla) "I would never have used it while Nettle was alive". Later when he
asks Daisy to say his goodbyes to Hide and Hoof for him he says that "Nettle
is making her own, and cannot be bothered with mine". Then at the very end
of the book, Daisy concludes "they are in it, I hope, he and his eerie young
woman, Nettle, the old sibyl, and their bird..."  How come does he decide to
use this information despite Nettle still being alive? Because he finally
realises that he is Silk, and is therefore not bound by the same bond to
Nettle?  And why would Nettle want to go off with him and Seawrack?  If
anyone can shed some light on this I'd be grateful.

Overall, I really enjoyed the books (not surprisingly since I love pretty
much everything Wolfe has written), but I still think overall I preferred
TBOTLS (I suspect I'm probably one of the few people who really love TBOTLS,
though I hope I'm wrong). I don't think TBOTNS is directly comparable, since
it is in a league of its own, somewhat. *Really* looking forward to "The
Wizard Knight"...


Tom



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