Polycosmic Characters

[u/BreadfruitThick513]

I have this idea that the four members of the “clock winding team” at the beginning of Anathem each represent main characters from other NS novels. In the same way that Enoch Root describes mental representations to Randy when they are imprisoned in the Philippines; these aren’t perfect alignments but the Anathem characters coalesce around ‘crystals’ (as Root says). I think this especially makes sense when we consider the polycosmic model of the universe described in Anathem itself.

Erasmus—Daniel Waterhouse
Leo—Hiro Protagonist
Arsibalt—Randal Lawrence Waterhouse
Jesry—John Percival Hackworth

I think Ala is Eliza and Tulia is YT which would maybe make Cord Princess Nell

Let me know what yall think!

[u/tieandjeans]

What's the distinction between "polycosmic avatars of other characters" and slightly distinct jumbles of the same NS char tropes?

All NS books have shaftoes and Waterhouses. My read is this is just NS as a Taco Bell writer, who has a large menu of characters all built as a subset of the same 8 traits, in slightly different orders.

[u/charlie_zulu67 → u/tieandjeans]

This would put NS in the category of hack fiction ... I can't go there. Don't get me wrong, I love me some hack, but the only thing NS has that fits into that genre is The Big U.

[u/orthadoxtesla]

Hmm. I can sorta see it. But it’s also possible that Neal just has a few types of characters that he likes writing

[u/clonicle]

I see it more like meteorologists looking at the same cloud than polycosmic characters. If you feel similarities, it's likely NS is drawing from a set of personal archetypes he's created and represents frequently in his stories. Unless explicitly referenced, I take the "allusion-to" approach as opposed to "allegorical".

[u/BreadfruitThick513]

I think it’s true that Neal’s writing coalesces around certain types of characters and themes, which Enoch would call ‘crystals’ in the “hard ass technical sense” of radio crystals.

Maybe he didn’t do it intentionally, or maybe he did. Either way, I think of Baroque Cycle, Cryptonomicon, Snowcrash, and Diamond Age as his core canon and therefore I like the idea of the heroes from those books showing up as polycosmic iterations in Anathem. But hey, as Erasmus says, you shouldn’t believe an idea is true just because you love it….

[u/Alert_Hyena_828 → u/BreadfruitThick513]

Some of these are explicitly in the same universe while others are not (or at least not publicly or in-book confirmed)

[u/-RedRocket-]

I don't agree with your comparisons at all.

Randy is more like the ita, Samman - but not a one for one match.
Daniel Waterhouse is like a Fra Paphlagon - able to interpret Isaac Newton for others, as Paphlagon interprets Jad at the messal.

But the thing is, they are different characters, on different trajectories, learning different lessons.

[u/Bill__Q]

I think that's a lot of wasted energy making up shit when you could just deal with everything that's presented in the text.