Nightside of the Long Sun

Chapter 1 The Manteion on Sun Street

• Manteion: An oracle or physical shrine where prophecies are made or worship occurs.
• Patera: A bowl used for libations, also meaning "father" in certain contexts.
• Maytera Marble and Maytera Rose: Both refer to the same individual, an android.
  • Maytera Marble: Described as robotic with a "smooth oval face" and "steel fingers."
  • Maytera Rose: Also an android.
• Sib: Female teachers.
• Theodidact: A person taught directly by God.
• The Nine: A pantheon of gods worshipped in this world.
• Silk:
  • Touched/enlightened by "The Outsider," who is not one of The Nine.
  • Starts as a schoolteacher and becomes an inspirational figure.
  • Skilled in sophistry, deft in answering questions (e.g., Horn’s), and inspires others.
  • Shirtless when playing with children but later puts on a black tunic.
  • Encourages empathy, contrasting with the idea that "people don’t want other people to be people."
• Flier: A humanlike figure; Silk teaches boys empathy toward it.
• Pike: Had a vision involving slitting a rabbit’s throat as a prayer to the Outsider at the manteion.
• Scylla: Originally a sea monster from The Odyssey, reimagined here as a god prayed to by people.
• The Outsider: A god-like figure outside The Nine.
• Pas: Greek for "all" or "everything," symbolizing Zeus or a god of the sky/everything.
• Echidna: A half-woman, half-snake figure, wife of Typhon.
• Tenebrous: Dark/shadowy; related to Tartarus, the underworld prison of the gods’ enemies.
• Girls’ Names: Based on plants or plant products.
  Boys’ Names: Based on animals or animal products.
  Androids: Named after metals or stones.
• A central theme: Silk rejects simplifying others and instead recognizes their full humanity (or personhood), akin to Dorcas’ line in The Book of the New Sun: "People don’t want other people to be people."
• Cross: The sign of addition, possibly symbolic of faith or unity.
• Drought: A significant plot point; the city suffers from a severe drought with no autumn rains, exacerbating tensions.
• Swear Words: Words like "shaggy" and "cull" indicate someone’s social position.
• Palatine Hill: Historical reference to where wealthy, influential Romans lived.
• Viron: Likely named after Lord Byron and hints at connections to Athens; "vir" (Latin for "man") signifies the city’s identity amidst a drought.
• Molpe: A Greek siren or muse.
• Palaestra: A Greek term for a gymnasium or wrestling school; in this context, refers to a general school.
• Hellstone/Blue Sparks/A Monitor: Early mentions of low technology in the narrative.
• Shiprock: Described as a permanent fixture in the world.
• Whorl: Something spiral-shaped, possibly representing the world itself.
• Short Sun vs. Long Sun: Suggests a transition between two eras or stages in this universe.
• Black Ball/Black Bird: A metaphorical reference, described as a "wink" for a reread.
• Blood and Rose: Connection hinted between Blood (a character?) and Rose, likely of symbolic or plot importance.

Chapter 2 The Sacrifice

• Scylsday: Days of the week maybe named after the Gods or their children.
• Chrasmos: Greek for oracle.
• The catachrest speaks and Silk interprets it as a sign.
• Chough (chuff): Raven/Crow.
• Palustria: Swampy.
• There is an older generation that directly experienced a "God".
• Sacred Window: A monitor who records Gods.
• Silk tests wire connections with his voided cross.
• Silk attempts to do a cold reading and explain the revelation on the Chrasmological Writings. He mentions that everything has 3 meanings at least is a signifier to us as readers.
  • Imagery of birds in the garden and the performance of an orchestra and the audience leaving.
  • Critiques himself by questioning his knowledge on how to behave properly in light of His Cognizance.
  • Confirms that through the Writings the manteion will not be sold.
  • Shares his view of talking with his Gods through sacrifice.
• Hierax: Hawk
• Thelxiepeia: Another siren like Molpe
• Phaea: A wild pig
• Sphigx: Alternate/older spelling of Sphinx
• Silk interprets the passage wrong in the writings, he should not sacrifice the bird but tries to do it anyway.
• When the chough dies, the sibyls stop their dancing. Maytera Marble tries to comfort. Maytera Rose sniffs disdainfully. Maytera Mint affirms that the Gods are in the Mainframe and the Outsider is not in the Mainframe and God in the traditional way
• Mint is human, Rose is half human half machine, and Marble is fully machine

Chapter 3 Twilight

• Both Silk and Marble are worried about how they are seen talking in the arbor. Silk loves Marble in a sibling like way. Rose is suspicious of Silk and they are in a place where they can seen. Marble has a similar look when Severian describes Talos' expressions when he first meets the doctor. Silk tells Marble that he has been enlightened and now takes pleasure in having and achieving a purpose, ironically to a robot who lost her purpose. Silk tells her he saw all the prayers at the manteion and Patera Pike enlightened when Silk arrived.
• Auk: Type of seabird that can fly and swim.
• Shrive: A priest hearing confessions, assigning a penance in order to be absolved of those crimes.
• Auk is a semi-reformed criminal and becomes a major character.
• Silk tells more about the enlightenment and says that Pike's and all the prayers from the manteion's help was the arriving of Silk. The Outsider is one of 63 gods. Marble said that "when we were outside like him" the Outsider was worshipped in the Short Sun Whorl and chems (robots) were not allowed to participate in the sacrifices and manteions were not called manteions. Marble tells Silk about Blood, and tells her he might have broken his neck, showing his inner rage by failing the Outsider/enlightenment.
• The long sun is a bright beam of light that is constantly running and a shade that rotates around it (half metal), shade up meaning sunrise, shade down meaning night. Shadows returning to their custom places. A heliocentric universe. Enchanted and haunted cities are affecting Viron like astrology.
• Rose associates herself with Echidna showing that she has a guilty conscience.
• calotte: skullcap often worn by male students at Catholic schools.
• orilla: spanish for shore or bank
• The Orilla is a poor area, once a busy quay but now from the drought the water has retreated and buildings been built up.
• Silk is similar to Father Brown, someone who convinces people to do the right thing by talking to them. He tends to solve cases based on human nature and how people behave.
• Needler is some sort of gun.
• The bartender offers Silk a drink in order to placate or distract him.
• Silk tells Auk limited truths (throughout the book) by saying Mint told him to find Auk.
• scleroderma: type of disease that hardens skin or a type of puffball fungus
• Scleroderma is a cats' meat woman or a vendor to sell meat to cats.
• Through Silk's way of being honest and humble, he is able to make Auk relax and relate to him. Auk mentions slang words and Silk is able to understand what they mean and navigate them questioning his inner motives.
• gib: another word for tomcat
• kalan: another word for sea otter
• gurnard: type of fish with a spiny head and large fins
• Rust is a popular drug that people sniff.
• Musk is an important character first mentioned in this chapter.
• The mix of high and low end technology, the glass mentioned is a computer monitor of sorts, while they don't have running water. Glasses and Windows, and chems were created prior to the current Whorl, in the Short Sun Whorl. Chems are able to conceive children.

Chapter 4 Nightside

• Silk justifies his actions to Auk by saying the Gods wanted him to go to Blood's house. He tells Auk that he knows he's a good person and that he would have to help Silk as much as possible in order to not feel guilty if anything bad happens to him.
• talus: ankle or heel in latin.
• remora: a name for a suckerfish.
• coadjutor: a bishop appointed to assist and often to succeed a diocesan bishop.
• prothonotary: a chief clerk in a Byzantine court.
• Skylight is the equivalent of moonlight in this world. Silk had tried to see the pope equivalent (His Cognizance) about the plight of the manteion but was ignored. Silk is having the thought while Talus (the huge robotic guard) which comes and confronts him.
• tessera: an ancient Roman equivalent of a token
• Silk fiddles with his beads and realises there were 10 beads meaning instead of the 9 Gods there once was 10. The emptiness in the middle of the voided cross.

Chapter 5 The White-Headed One

• The Outsider is all loving (grace) so whatever Silk does can be forgiven
• crenels: jagged spaces on the roof of castles
• mucor: a microbial genus of approximately 40 species of molds in the family Mucoraceae. Species are commonly found in soil, digestive systems, plant surfaces, some cheeses, rotten vegetable matter and iron oxide residue in the biosorption process.
• abatjour: a device (such as a sloping soffit of a lintel or a movable screen) for deflecting daylight downward as it enters a window
• merlon: the solid part of a crenellated parapet between two embrasures.

Chapter 6 New Weapons

• boudoir: a woman's private sitting room or salon in a furnished residence, usually between the dining room and the bedroom, but can also refer to a woman's private bedroom.
• pampas: fertile South American low grasslands.
• Ganymede: a mortal prince of Troy who was abducted by Zeus and became the Greek gods' cupbearer.
• Catamitus: Latinized form of Ganymede.
• Chryselephantine: something made of or covered with gold and ivory, or a sculpture made from these materials. The word comes from the Greek chryselephantinos, which is a combination of chrys- meaning "gold" and elephantinos meaning "ivory".
• Kypris: another name for Aphrodite.
• Thurible: a metal incense burner suspended from chains
• balenum: bathroom in Latin
• azoth: universal remedy or potent solvent sought after in the realm of alchemy, akin to alkahest—a distinct alchemical substance.

Chapter 7 The Bargain

Chapter 8 The Boarder on the Larder

Chapter 9 Oreb and Others

Chapter 10 The Cat With The Red-Hot Tail

• peignoir: nightdress
• Pas created the current Whorl and then invited the rest of the Gods into it.
• Silk deviates from normal prayers by adding The Outsider.
• First mention of the sign of subtraction.

Chapter 11 Summoned

• The dagger had a cat with a red tail linking it to Chenille.
• Crane was eavesdropping and burst in when Silk and Chenille were talking about Orpine. Chenille and Crane have established a previous relationship.
• Vivid painting with Pas having two heads and two phalluses. This is Typhon! Where's Severian? What is the distance between these books and The Book of the New Sun?
• goldenshower tree: tree with drooping yellow flowers.
• Pas is represented as a storm - typhoon - Typhon
• Silk performs his exorcism and hopes that he spots Mucor in the crowd - he does and threatens her that he will close her window thus locking her inside forever. This makes her leave the possessed Poppy. From Mucor's perspective she sees everyone as empty shells except Silk which makes him interesting to follow. Silk is seen as the most holy person.

Chapter 12 Dinner on Auk

• A god is speaking to Silk through a glass, not a sacred window. Silk repaired the cables that connect the glass to the sacred window. But we should be weary since it could be a person, however Silk believes it's a religious experience although it's different to the experience he had at the ball court.
• Kypris describes Typhon performing a mass execution while Silk wipes the glass with a blood-stained rag.
• "I was in her" shows that she was possessing Hyacinth.
• anipotence: viginity
• Swirling colours in the glass is a process which possession occurs, Silk glanced the ending of it when he entered Hyacinth's room.
• Kypris possesses Hyacinth on a regular basis and sees herself in her.
• Kypris asks why he is abstinent? Silk replies that because it is worth it and is serious about having a relationship with the gods.
• Musk assaults Silk after he was filled with rage.
• Silk is willing to do the lesser evil to do good. He warns Auk that he could be possessed but doesn't leave and shows his loyalty.

Chapter 13 Silk for Caldé

• Doctor Crane commits espionage and writes "Silk for Caldé." He deliberately gave Silk the azoth for insurance. There are tunnels under the Ayumiento and Viron that house soldiers. Crane watches recordings of Blood having conversations on the glass with Potto.
• Rani: a Hindu queen.
• Silk has had previous sword-fighting training.
• The Whorl is getting hotter - global warming?
• The normal way of doing things and the "nightside" way of doing things. Silk feels this in himself and encounters himself in his past.