From: areynold@estsa2.estec.esa.nl (Alastair Reynolds)
Subject: Re: (whorl) Re: Digest whorl.v010.n033
Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1999 09:09:01 +0200 (MET DST)

David, in my reply to my query:
> 
> Q: About how far, really, is the New Sun series set in our future (or the 
> future of the previous universe)? How much time elapses between Typhon 
> and Severian?
> 
> Wolfe: That is never specified in the books. My offhand guess is between 
> 1000 and 2000 years. I would have to reread the books with care to 
> perhaps trim the estimate up a little bit.
> 
> Wolfe is surely answering the second question rather than the first, 
> since passages in BotNS suggest a serious geological timespan between our 
> age and Severian's (e.g. the fault-cliff in =Sword= which exposes three 
> miles of vertically stacked human relics).
> 

Many thanks for digging that up. Yes - he's obviously talking about the gap
between Severian and Typhon rather than the era of the Urth. I must have
skimmed the second part of the question when I read the q&a originally
and assumed the answer referred to the first part - which troubled me,
because - as you say - the timescale feels so geological.

Al

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