From: Michael Andre-Driussi <mantis@sirius.com>
Subject: (urth) "THB" my original questions
Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 13:34:42 

"The Haunted Bordinghouse," spoilers alert.




Okay, so we have this house, and each face opens onto a different era.

   STYLE           ODD NOTES
1. Neo-Classical   boy climbing out window
2. Tudor           window of Enan's room
3. Neo-Victorian   Enan's world (circa AD 2100, 2200?)
4. Contemporary

It seems odd that Enan's room is on the Tudor side; does this mean that the
Tudor side is a staging area?  What is the Tudor connection to this story?
If Tudor is a staging area, then maybe Contemporary is a staging area, too;
at which point the reader has been lured in, as well.  (That is: you know
why you are reading it--you are being recruited.)

We have at least two battles-won-under-mysterious-circumstances: Hannibal's
invasion of Rome c. 216 BC; Mexico's invasion of Granville c. AD 2000 (date
guess--maybe somebody else can come up with better dating for Enan's era).
So much is clear: Enan and a bunch of English speakers go and help save
Rome; in return, the trans-temporal army travels to Granville to help save
Granville.

But ah!  While the dark lady says that you can see Mexican bullet-holes in
the Neo-Victorian face, it seems clear that the invasion must have actually
happened in the Contemporary era; the invasion was one of the elements that
forged the neo-Victorian world that Enan lives in.

So the Neo-Victorian era is a staging ground for the wars:

1.  Neo-Classical   Hannibal's invasion
2.  Tudor
3.  Neo-Victorian   staging ground
4.  Contemporary    Mexico's invasion

Well, I can't help but think about the defeat of the Spanish Armada (AD
1587); another attempted invasion with overwhelming numbers.  In talking
about the Mexican invasion, the informant says there were suddenly a lot of
boats around Granville, a detail that fits nicely with (or inspires me to
dream up) the Armada as a third battle.

Still a tad shaky.

Here's something else: "Enan Bradford" sounds rather close to "Emory
Bainbridge" of "The Ziggurat," which is strange.

=mantis=



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