"Architectural Constants," by Yoon Ha Lee

[Scott H. Andrews]

This thread is for discussion of "Architectural Constants (http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/story.php?s=3)," by Yoon Ha Lee, which appears in BCS Issue #2 from Oct. 23, 2008.

[Carl T. Abt]

Same complaint about this story as I posted on the second half of "The Sword of Loving Kindness". Lessons. "Have a heart" doesn't amount to much when it's not grounded in specific details. Why did Yaz think his creations would better run the city? Maybe they would have. Granted, changing people rather than the city would have been evil, but I think Yaz believed he was doing the right thing, and I want to know why.

I wondered what the librarian's role in the story was. Simply throwing a pair of goggles at Yaz doesn't seem like much. How does he relate to the bigger question of the story - the human experimentation?

Oddly, I didn't read much symbollic meaning into the images. Maybe it was just so over my head that I didn't even try.

I loved a lot of the descriptions. In particular, I loved the tension of wondering whether The Spider was human, or a giant spider.

[Scott H. Andrews]

I loved a lot of the descriptions. In particular, I loved the tension of wondering whether The Spider was human, or a giant spider.
I loved her glittering fingertip eyes!

[Chris Willrich]

On a second reading I was tempted to see the librarian as the agent of the city itself. His lensgear seems to take on unexpected powers after he accidently drops it into gutter water. It's after this that he perceives a nearby cat as something like a "paper cutout," suggesting he's tuned in to the unravelling taking place, and he quickly sees the shining words about the Spider. I'm not 100% sure, because we don't see the usual effects of the lensgear, but I wonder if the city touched the device with its essence somehow, via the water, enhancing it and putting Eskevan on the path to confronting the villain.

Anyway, I loved the dreamlike weirdness of it all. I'm seeing this interesting thread in Lee's work in which reality turns suspicious and shadowy. Meanwhile her characters' humanity seems thrown into sharp relief by this theme, as if in an untrustworthy universe it's our emotions and personal honor and relationships that matter most.

Shorter version: Cool stuff!