JDG wrote: > > The lifespan of Lamais (pg 147) is slightly less than 90 > Earth-years. Despite the pastoral lifestyle, the Stratoians > have apparently retained much of the advances of modern medicine. > Indeed, modern medicine seems to have advanced a bit from the > current average lifespan of just under 80 in > the Industrialized World. I wonder, however, if there is a > similar correlation between identical twins dying at the same time? > Lamai longevity isn't a surprise; after all, Stratoin were designed, so all time-bombs that run on our cells might have been defused. Also, the natural parasites of H. sapiens might not have made the trip to Stratos. Maybe 90 is too short. > Maia wonders on pg 161 whether sex might not be greater than > the sum of its parts. It occurs to me that *love*, as we > understand it anyhow, is completely absent in Stratoian society. > Love is only acceptable between two women. Notice how Leie mocks Maia when she thinks about heterosexual love! > This must have been a remarkable feet of genetic and societal > engineering. I wonder if perhaps these effects are reduced > in vars, and thus, Maia is more prone to feeling the > nearly-forgotten desire for "love" than clones. > Why? Because clones are soulless? :-) > In fact, it sounds like Maia might have enjoyed the Roman > Catholic perspective on this issue: that sex causes two to > become one, and that the union of man and woman allows us > mere mortals to experience briefly the triune existence of > God. > Why would she? She would have to overcome years of indoctrination in believing that man-woman love is pervert, and that the pater/maternalistic God that cares about individuals is men's superstition. > Notes: > -Leie gave Maia a book of ephemidries as a birthday present. > This is a book of astronomical tables. (pg 143) > Not exactly. There are two purposes of a book of ephemerides: one is listing the position of the "fixed" stars, and another is listing the position of "ephemeral" objects, that, in Stratos sky, includes Wengel Star, planet Amaterasu, the (at least three) moons, and the artificial satellites. > -The Stratoian satellite network appears to be decaying. (pg 150) > This is probably a goof. Keeping the geostationary satellites [and they are Strato-stationary, because the antennas are fixed] in their position requires a lot of effort and fuel; if they didn't have the technologies to replace one of the low orbit "beacon" satellites, they wouldn't have the technologies to keep the communication satellites. Or was the Politburo of Caria bluffing to the Visitor when they asked him to help them fix the 5-pulser? > Clans: > -The Jopland Clan appears to be involved with rural area governance. > Described as (p.152) olive of complexion, small built, w/ well toned muscles, silky black hair; and old Jopland "went to flesh", skin tone turns to leather, silken black hair unchanged; (p.153) from 6 to 12 yo they have strong jaws, and boldly outlined brows. > -On page 150, Maia says "At least there are no statues." Why? > Because she hated the Lamai statues Some of my notes: p.141: again we have an unsigned introduction. I began missing Lysos :-) p.142: New Terra and Florentina did timid minuscule changes to Humanity p.146: Stratos religion is similar to Jijo religion, in that stuff that the Planet reuses the atoms of the dead, etc p.150: it seems that the lugar are pre-sentient! p.151: another typo! there's a reference to forty miles :-/ p.157: Maia's full name is "Maia per Lamai", while a full clone name is "Calma Lerner". Is this an accident, or are var forced to carry in their own names a flag that tells everybody they are not clones? This is like the R- prefix in the robots names in Asimov's Robot Universe. p.160: there are _dogs_ in Stratos. So, Lysos was wiser than those that left in Tabernacle :-) p.162: constellations Eagle, Hammer; stars Ophir, Polestar; planet Amaterasu. BTW, isn't Amaterasu a goddess in the Japanese Pantheon? BTW, maybe this Amaterasu planet is responsible for keeping Stratos eccentric orbit, the same way that Neptune stabilizes Pluto's orbit. Alberto Monteiro
