The Last Abbott by Jon Wesick

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kailhofer
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Re: The Last Abbott by Jon Wesick

Post by kailhofer »

While I wasn't as sharp as Bill on this, I was able to tell that something else was going on.<br><br>I thought it was three nuclear rods they were storing from the three spoked wheel of Ra, but now I can see the wheel was the radiation symbol, and RA for Radiation (or something similarly radioactive). As for the tunnels flooding, 1,812 generations times approx. 30 years per. is over 54,000 years. I could cut slack on that front, or at least suspend disbelief. Things change, especially if the global climate was altered through nuclear war.<br><br>So, not as clever as Bill, I viewed this story pretty much at face value: A monk, aided by startlingly impure other monks, has to find someone who can understand the code they found. In so doing, learns not to trust the rest of the world. Instead, his own faith gives him the wherewithal to build a new future for his fellow monks.<br><br>Three quibbles: One, I love description, and did not get enough sensory input to suit my tastes. Two, bugging out from the monastery & building a false one didn't ring true for me. Too many people knew about the monastery. Wigner himself came there because of a relative's 43 years of service. Even if only the drovers really knew where it was (and an entire army unit who went there with Major Wu), no one from the outside world seemed like they couldn't be bought, and since the drovers wouldn't get paid for making trips to the monastery anymore, they would have sold out for that many casks of wine (which would have been valuable). Three, I thought the dialog was pretty much all in the same voice. Chadwick, in his long narrative, sounded pretty much like Wigner's thoughts did.<br><br>On reflection, I am unable to guess if the wine Wigner & Wu drank was really poisoned wine, or pure nuclear waste--although the latter would be more poetic...<br><br>Nate
Last edited by kailhofer on October 23, 2004, 02:16:15 PM, edited 1 time in total.
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