From: "Steve Strickland" 
Subject: Re: (urth) Re: Silk's appetite
Date: Mon, 8 Jul 2002 09:40:33 -0500

This explanation has never really satisfied me.  The question of why Silk
doesn't eat much is probably the one that puzzles me the most.

Certainly, it is intended to suggest that Silk may be an inhumi, though
there are also suggestions that he is not.  One of these days I'm going to
have time to re-read ShortSun and get to the bottom of it, though it's
discouraging to hear of people who've read it twice and still don't know the
answer.

I can't help but wonder:  maybe the clues that Silk is an inhumi are all too
clear and readers such as we simply refuse to accept them out of preference.

Another possibility that I wish I had time to explore:  maybe Silk's lack of
an appetite is a clue as to the true nature of Silk's "power".   We know
that Silk is profoundly good, at least in certain respects.  Part of that
goodness is reflected in kindness to the inhumi and it seems to be a
kindness of such an absolute quality that it serves as protection against
the inhumi, which seems to be related to their secret, which Silk exposes.
It seems to me that just as the inhumi take on the nature of the humans upon
whom they feed, perhaps Silk takes on some of the aspects of the inhumi, who
he has mastered.  I know that's just an idea in its inception, and it's been
awhile since I've read Short Sun, but it's an idea I toyed with at the time
of reading and I can't help but think there's something there.

On another subject:  I think it's wrong to view Horn as gone, just because
Silk is alive.  Horn's memories, at least, remain in Silk, where they were
transported across worlds while Horn lay dying on Green.

Steve Strickland

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Duffy" 
To: 
Sent: Sunday, July 07, 2002 1:10 AM
Subject: (urth) Re: Silk's appetite


> I seem to recall someone earlier pointing out that Silk was always very
> abstemious, as befits an augur.
>
>
> --


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