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Hub AI
Soldier of the Mist AI simulator
(@Soldier of the Mist_simulator)
Hub AI
Soldier of the Mist AI simulator
(@Soldier of the Mist_simulator)
Soldier of the Mist
Soldier of the Mist is a 1986 historical fantasy novel by American writer Gene Wolfe, published by Gollancz in the UK and then Tor Books in the US. It has two sequels: Soldier of Arete (1989) and Soldier of Sidon (2006). Soldier of the Mist and Soldier of Arete have been collected as Latro in the Mist.
Soldier of the Mist and the sequel Soldier of Arete by Gene Wolfe follow the adventures of a foreign mercenary named Latro through Ancient Greece in 479 B.C. As the result of a head injury, he suffers from both retrograde (the inability to recall past memories) and anterograde (the inability to create new memories) amnesia. He comes from the north, yet has no memory of events prior to the beginning of the novel. The narrative follows his struggle to find his home and his friends.
Latro writes down the events he experiences, along with references to the various people, demigods and gods he encounter along the way, onto a scroll every day (or so we assume; however, there sometimes appear to be gaps in the narrative). He writes in his native tongue, a language no one he encounters seems to understand. Latro's ability to “see and talk with the gods and their companions” and to “penetrate at will the veil of the supernatural” is the compensation for his amnesia. He has in fact been cursed with this amnesia by the Great Mother (being both Demeter and Gaia), for an unknown insult, which is revealed later. Throughout the narrative, it becomes clear that the Great Mother and the Triple Goddess (Artemis / Hekate / Selene) are fighting, and both hope to use Latro as a pawn.
Latro is given the scroll by a healer who hopes that it will help him combat his daily memory loss. Within the first few pages, Latro writes all that he knows, he has been injured fighting for the Great King (Xerxes I of Persia), in the Battle of Clay (Plataea), in which the Great King's army was defeated by Thought (Athens) and Rope (Sparta). He soon loses the people who were taking care of him and ends up in the company of the black man (who it is much later revealed is called Seven Lions) by a river where he sees his first god, a River God (Asopus). He offers his sword, Falcata, in sacrifice but the river-man returns her re-tempered with new strength.
Latro is taken to a temple of the Shining God (Apollo) in Hill (Thebes), where the priests argue about a prophecy carved in the walls which makes reference to Latro. While the priests listen to the prophetess, Apollo appears to Latro. Apollo cannot cure Latro but tells him that he must go to a shrine of the Earth Mother (Demeter). She took his memory in punishment for some offense, which Latro has forgotten, and he must beg forgiveness. Only when Latro has been forgiven can he be cured, and only when he is furthest from his home may he find it again.
The slave girl from the temple, named Io, claims that the prophetess told her to be Latro's slave, and to accompany him everywhere, yet it later turns out that she ran away of her own accord. Latro gained another companion, Pindaros (Pindar), who is a poet who was designated by the priests of Hill (Thebes) to take Latro to the shrine of the Earth Goddess. They are all caught up in the revels of the Kid (Dionysus), also known as the God in the Tree and the King from Nysa. Latro wakes up beside a woman, and he covers her before going to wash in the river, and he sees a woman on the opposite bank bathed in moonlight (we later find out this was Artemis). The woman he slept with was named Hilaeria, who asks to accompany them on their pilgrimage.
Latro, along with Io, the black man, Pindaros and Hilaeria are taken captive by the Rope Makers (Spartans). Latro discovers that if he touches a god, people can then see the god. He nudges a sleeping man who turns out to be the King of Nysa (Silenus, as opposed to Dionysus, who is the King from Nysa). Silenus asks Latro to sing to his accompaniment on the flute, and in doing so, Latro fulfills part of the prophecy from Hill (Thebes).
Latro sees a snake-woman, who seems to be invisible to all others, she asks him to give her a human. One of the Rope Makers’ slaves asks Latro to help them seek aid from the Great Mother (Demeter) in a planned uprising. Latro believes that it would be unsafe to refuse.
Soldier of the Mist
Soldier of the Mist is a 1986 historical fantasy novel by American writer Gene Wolfe, published by Gollancz in the UK and then Tor Books in the US. It has two sequels: Soldier of Arete (1989) and Soldier of Sidon (2006). Soldier of the Mist and Soldier of Arete have been collected as Latro in the Mist.
Soldier of the Mist and the sequel Soldier of Arete by Gene Wolfe follow the adventures of a foreign mercenary named Latro through Ancient Greece in 479 B.C. As the result of a head injury, he suffers from both retrograde (the inability to recall past memories) and anterograde (the inability to create new memories) amnesia. He comes from the north, yet has no memory of events prior to the beginning of the novel. The narrative follows his struggle to find his home and his friends.
Latro writes down the events he experiences, along with references to the various people, demigods and gods he encounter along the way, onto a scroll every day (or so we assume; however, there sometimes appear to be gaps in the narrative). He writes in his native tongue, a language no one he encounters seems to understand. Latro's ability to “see and talk with the gods and their companions” and to “penetrate at will the veil of the supernatural” is the compensation for his amnesia. He has in fact been cursed with this amnesia by the Great Mother (being both Demeter and Gaia), for an unknown insult, which is revealed later. Throughout the narrative, it becomes clear that the Great Mother and the Triple Goddess (Artemis / Hekate / Selene) are fighting, and both hope to use Latro as a pawn.
Latro is given the scroll by a healer who hopes that it will help him combat his daily memory loss. Within the first few pages, Latro writes all that he knows, he has been injured fighting for the Great King (Xerxes I of Persia), in the Battle of Clay (Plataea), in which the Great King's army was defeated by Thought (Athens) and Rope (Sparta). He soon loses the people who were taking care of him and ends up in the company of the black man (who it is much later revealed is called Seven Lions) by a river where he sees his first god, a River God (Asopus). He offers his sword, Falcata, in sacrifice but the river-man returns her re-tempered with new strength.
Latro is taken to a temple of the Shining God (Apollo) in Hill (Thebes), where the priests argue about a prophecy carved in the walls which makes reference to Latro. While the priests listen to the prophetess, Apollo appears to Latro. Apollo cannot cure Latro but tells him that he must go to a shrine of the Earth Mother (Demeter). She took his memory in punishment for some offense, which Latro has forgotten, and he must beg forgiveness. Only when Latro has been forgiven can he be cured, and only when he is furthest from his home may he find it again.
The slave girl from the temple, named Io, claims that the prophetess told her to be Latro's slave, and to accompany him everywhere, yet it later turns out that she ran away of her own accord. Latro gained another companion, Pindaros (Pindar), who is a poet who was designated by the priests of Hill (Thebes) to take Latro to the shrine of the Earth Goddess. They are all caught up in the revels of the Kid (Dionysus), also known as the God in the Tree and the King from Nysa. Latro wakes up beside a woman, and he covers her before going to wash in the river, and he sees a woman on the opposite bank bathed in moonlight (we later find out this was Artemis). The woman he slept with was named Hilaeria, who asks to accompany them on their pilgrimage.
Latro, along with Io, the black man, Pindaros and Hilaeria are taken captive by the Rope Makers (Spartans). Latro discovers that if he touches a god, people can then see the god. He nudges a sleeping man who turns out to be the King of Nysa (Silenus, as opposed to Dionysus, who is the King from Nysa). Silenus asks Latro to sing to his accompaniment on the flute, and in doing so, Latro fulfills part of the prophecy from Hill (Thebes).
Latro sees a snake-woman, who seems to be invisible to all others, she asks him to give her a human. One of the Rope Makers’ slaves asks Latro to help them seek aid from the Great Mother (Demeter) in a planned uprising. Latro believes that it would be unsafe to refuse.