G.ZEEP@MIT-EECS (07/26/85)
From: Wang Zeep <G.ZEEP%MIT-EECS@MIT-MC.ARPA> So far, I am half way through The Book of Kells and having a great time. R. A. Macavoy has done a great job (the Acknowledgments are probably worth 25 cents alone) and if it keeps up, I foresee large sales of this book. Which leads me to the main point: TBoK is obviously being marketed for mass-market sales. The book doesn't have "Fantasy" or "SF" labels, has a cover that is very eyecatching, and a foldout inner cover that resembles a Harlequin cover painting. Look, I don't mind. Perhaps a few of the people who pick this up (probably women judging from the packaging) will enjoy this and find the rest of her books, and then look over on the next shelf for some more fantasy and then.... This book should do well. It deserves to. wz -------
CAIN@SRI-AI.ARPA (08/30/85)
From: Ron Cain <CAIN@SRI-AI.ARPA> *** Mild spoiler warning *** Though I can't claim to know how the real Book of Kells figured into the opening of the time portal, I rather suspected that its opening had more to do with the peculiar intricasies of Celtic knotwork. There have been theories (as yet unproven with any real rigor) that the ancient Celtic knotwork (with which the BOK's illuminated manuscripts abound) were a form of musical notation. The connection between music and the spirals was always quite clear in the book. Hence, the opening of the time portal was not so much due to the cross John was tracing, but the geometry of the spirals themselves. A subtle but crucial point about the green portal opened in the height of the final battle is that John was fingering the knotwork around the band of his hat at the time -- once more making the connection. Just my ideas, of course. ... ron cain -------