▲ 0 r/genewolfe
Wolfe, Martin, and Buehlman: Influence or Coincidence?
'the Daughters of War' is a phrase in Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun and very similar to the title of Christopher Buehlman's 2024 "The Daughter's War" novel.
Both works use war to complicate questions of gender, power, inheritance, and what happens when women enter (or inherit?) the violent structures traditionally controlled by men.
Or perhaps Galva in The Daughters’ War is slightly more reminiscent of Brienne of Tarth in ASOIAF?
Anyway, I’m curious if anyone else sees a connection here, or if I’m just forcing things together that don’t really belong together, as per my post history, hehe.
u/oblique_obfuscator — 4 days ago
▲ 43 r/ShittyGeneWolfe
Severian: "I have perfect recollection of many things."
u/oblique_obfuscator — 13 days ago
▲ 17 r/genewolfe
Possible Severian name origin? Big Wolf/Little Wolf and Hebrew "zev"
Possible spoilers ahead.
I'm reading Sword & Citadel and got to the scene where Severian and little Severian point out the constellations of the Big Wolf and the Little Wolf.
That got me thinking about names. In Hebrew, Zev (ze'ev) (זאב) means "wolf." Obviously the name Severian is usually understood as coming from the Latin Severianus, but Gene Wolfe loved layered meanings and multilingual wordplay.
So I started wondering if there could be an additional layer here:
- Gene Wolfe's own surname
- Big Wolf and Little Wolf paired with Severian and little Severian
- A possible echo of the Hebrew ze'ev ("wolf")
I'm not suggesting that "Severian" literally derives from zev linguistically. More that Wolfe may have enjoyed the association as another hidden layer, especially given his fondness for etymological games.
Has Wolfe ever commented on the origin of Severian's name beyond Latin roots? Or has anyone come across this idea before? I'd be interested to know whether this has already been discussed or whether I'm just seeing patterns where there aren't any.
u/oblique_obfuscator — 23 days ago