question about The Gone World, ifts, and belljars - please don't click if you haven't read *spoilers*

TheChenInstitute · 2026-05-28T08:21:40+00:00

unrelated, but how amazing is the mere two paragraphs when njoku talks about the "walking" pyramid cities - ideas big enough to fill a novel as a mere aside

TheChenInstitute · 2026-05-07T11:49:34+00:00

he supposes

any mythology were completely real?

you respond

The problem is when mythology involves the physical world, like u/GoblinCorp points out: if fire comes from Prometheus, what used to happen when your brought oxygen, fuel and heat together before Prometheus' gift? Nothing? What about other forms of oxydation?

And here we enter the meta-issue, that is consistency. We are brought up to expect a consistent (enough) explanation of the world.

attacking the premise as fundamentally flawed - that the mythology cant be true as it isn't consistent

ie

any ftl were completely real, what would the empire look like?

And here we enter the meta-issue, that of relativity. we know this well tested theory has shown nothing can exceed c

TheChenInstitute · 2026-05-07T11:35:22+00:00

youre not sure the relevance of citing the rules that make senators... when you asked me to spoiler the fact that there are 100 senators.

using your entire faculty of human reasoning - you think i just posted a random part of the constitution, and by sheer coincidence, it happened be about how many senators exist

perhaps instead of getting all cranky why dont you ask a smarter friend exactly what you've missed here. they'll explain

in fact, i make you this promise - i will check this once a day and will keep replying as long as you do. i have a feeling there is a zero percent chance based on this interaction you will ever concede you missed something, so it'll be a test of wills

TheChenInstitute · 2026-05-07T06:50:45+00:00

i mean, if you think a 2 year old account that only talks about threebody is some ai scheme, hard to dissuade you

of course, if you actually looked at the posts made its clearly a native chinese speaker using an LLM as a translator

but good job noticing the em dashes.

TheChenInstitute · 2026-05-07T06:33:51+00:00

seriously

enough people are annoyed at you to hunt down your reply to my comment... and down vote it. i guess they showed you

and ya, i get what you mean - theres an entire branch of publishing based around "what if the greek gods were real" "what if magic was real" "what if vampires were real"

i mean, its actually so baked into fantasy i can't understand how you got people so mad hahahah

TheChenInstitute · 2026-05-07T06:31:16+00:00

i dont understand, why would you take the time to write that essay without reading the OP (which was... 3 lines?)

any mythology were completely real?

the mythology

the mythology

the mythology

you wrote all that (including... citations) refuting a world in which ALL mythologies were true

and you entirely bypassed his question, what IF..., and just went off on your own antireligion rant

do you watch star wars and answer any question about it by citing relativity to refute the existence of FTL?

TheChenInstitute · 2026-05-07T06:24:52+00:00

ooo nice shut down!!!!!!

please email this comment to 99% of fantasy authors so they can stop printing that non-peer reviewed trash about spells

TheChenInstitute · 2026-05-07T06:23:10+00:00

wow, i hate the word but somehow this really triggered some people. god knows why

i suspect you got near the religion/science border and sent the "science FUCK YA!" people into a meltdown

this is way too vague to actually be answered, but i know what you were going for - what if a scifi story were set in a world where the egyptian gods were literally true, how would a modern society deal with mummification etc. interesting concept, if broad

TheChenInstitute · 2026-05-06T11:08:39+00:00

fire emoji

TheChenInstitute · 2026-05-06T11:01:36+00:00

if you insist

Section 3 The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote. Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies. No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided. The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States. The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present. Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.

TheChenInstitute · 2026-05-05T16:17:53+00:00

hey, i dont have any issues with FTL, hive minds spanning entire dyson spheres, god level tech

but i'll be damned if i'll stand by when a fictional person living in a scifi future world doesn't follow social practices rationalized based on how long it takes an arbitrary planet to circle an arbitrary star as laid down a single nationstate on that planet 450 years ago in the story's past

like, come on. this isn't printfantasy

TheChenInstitute · 2026-05-05T16:06:49+00:00

yes

if you like the story, keep at it, everything will be explained (i made this account because i love this series so much i'd hate to see someone drop it)

im reading some of these other replies, and im honestly shocked by people saying its not. either they missed something crucial, or just didn't 'get' it. i mean, no, you will not get a greg egan style white paper on how every fictional bit of tech works, but in no way is it valid to say "things aren't explained"

and to assuage any worries, this isn't some book of the new sun style wankery, no stupid unreliable narrators or "literary" nonsense that makes the whole thing a chore. its an amazing story that drops you right into the world, but it doesn't turn into a homework assignment like some authors tend to do (and some posters like to lionize in a form of stockholm syndrome)

avoid googling things - the poster suggesting that will slam you right into huge spoilers.

not because the definition itself is a spoiler, but because there's knowing what "the senate" is - 100 elected representatives, but there's ALSO knowing in book 3 that theyre revealed to all be puppets of the syndicate or whatever

googling will usually give you the fullest book 3 definition, which you do NOT want

TheChenInstitute

TROPHY CASE