[Monstera]

Ah good point.

[Kortoso]

Beetles! Why did it have to be beetles??

Ctesaphon was probably drawn from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ctesiphon
I can understand Howard's use of "subsurface" terms such as Ctesaphon, but these days we have a large variety of words to draw from, pseudo-Egyptian in this case:
http://en.wikipedia....yptian_language
I remember well how the movie Stargate re-created the Egyptians, based on the Berber language...

[Ironhand]

Monstera, on Apr 25 2006, 01:14 PM, said:

Ah good point.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Maybe the earlier one is Ctesphon XIV, and the later one is Ctesphon XXIII, or something like that.

[Ironhand]

Kurt Busiek, on Apr 25 2006, 12:33 AM, said:

Ironhand, on Apr 25 2006, 01:32 AM, said:

Well, I've read the first 2 issues of BoT, now, and I must confess I'm disappointed.  Up 'till now I've done nothing but sing Kurt's praises, but this particular story seems very poorly researched.  I don't quarrel with the ambition of the project, or with his concept of young Thoth, or what's going on inside his head, but his Stygia is like no Stygia I ever read of or imagined.  Memphia?   Never heard of it.

By Conan's day, it has been renamed. Python, I think. But it wouldn't have been named that during a period that the worship of the great serpent god was outlawed.

Quote

Ibis as the dominant god of Stygia???  I really don't think so.  Stygia was a sister kingdom of Acheron; they both worshipped Set.  Ibis could never have been other than a minor, underground god within the Stygian pantheon.

And Acheron was destroyed and the worship of Set outlawed. Ibis is dominant in Stygia at the time of this story -- by Conan's time, though, the worship of Set has once again become the order of the day. REH's Hyboria is not steady-state -- things change.

Quote

Such errors send my disbelief crashing down from its suspension.

Neither are errors. Both are deliberate choices, within the context of what we know of Stygia from REH.

kdb

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Kurt, thanks for your serious answer.

But...
I thought Python was the capital of Acheron (..."purple-towered Python"...). In our own recorded history, Python was an Egyptian city.

Acheron was destroyed by the ancestors of the Hyborians, but their invasion ran out of steam before they could conquer Stygia. And yet, I suppose the fall of Acheron could have created such a political upheaval in Stygia, that it could have caused a religious upheaval as well.

This post has been edited by Ironhand: 26 April 2006 - 04:29 AM

[Steven_Meyer]

I'm thoroughly enjoying Book of Thoth so far. My question is one I've had for a while though, in regards to the title character - How do you say his name? The way I've been saying it is, " Toth " like tater-tot, with a TH at the end. My co-worker says, "Tote" like a tote bag, with no TH anywhere. It sounds goofy to me to say it like it's written with both TH's, like my tongue is numb.

As for the book, I love that there are no ads in the middle of the story. I think Michelle Madsen's colors work very well with Kelly Jones artwork, much better than with Mark Texiera on Daughters of Midora. I was moved by the tragic transformation of Kharantus from the imposing wise leader figure, to the big drooling lobotomized servant. Also it was very chilling watching the wheels turning in Thoth's mind with his arm around the shoulder of Cstephon, after finding out he was 18th in line to the throne, especially after the violent image at the beginning of this issue. I really like Kelly Jones' artwork. He does great architecture, and staircases, and manages to get all those implied thoughts in the characters, withought making them too obvious, especially the growing concern in Kalanthes. Hopfully we'll see some Conan, maybe the Bone Woman, or his position as Wazir.

[Kortoso]

I have to say that it's my favorite "side-story" so far, but that isn't saying very much.

[Kurt Busiek]

Monstera, on Apr 25 2006, 03:31 PM, said:

Hey Kurt, you said these events take place centuries before Conan's birth? Is that right? I can see Thoth and I suppose Kalanthes living that long, but what about Csetaphon (sic?)? There's a reference to him being ruler in Conan's day in the Janissa storyline.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In the Marvel Conan, all Stygian kings were named Cstephon -- they changed their names upon taking the throne.

In ur case, I simply assume that "Cstephon" is a recurring royal name, like the British Henrys.

kdb

[Kurt Busiek]

Ironhand, on Apr 26 2006, 04:27 AM, said:

I thought Python was the capital of Acheron (..."purple-towered Python"...).  In our own recorded history, Python was an Egyptian city.

You're probably right. I figured it out back when we named Memphia, but I'd have to figure it out again at this point. Suffice it to say that Memphia gets renamed by Conan's day.

kdb

[Kurt Busiek]

Steven_Meyer, on Apr 27 2006, 06:54 AM, said:

I'm thoroughly enjoying Book of Thoth so far.  My question is one I've had for a while though, in regards to the title character -  How do you say his name?  The way I've been saying it is, " Toth " like tater-tot, with a TH at the end.  My co-worker says, "Tote" like a tote bag, with no TH anywhere.  It sounds goofy to me to say it like it's written with both TH's, like my tongue is numb.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's how I say it. TH's on both ends.

kdb

[Officer Aggro]

Kurt Busiek, on Apr 27 2006, 12:17 PM, said:

Steven_Meyer, on Apr 27 2006, 06:54 AM, said:

I'm thoroughly enjoying Book of Thoth so far.  My question is one I've had for a while though, in regards to the title character -  How do you say his name?  The way I've been saying it is, " Toth " like tater-tot, with a TH at the end.  My co-worker says, "Tote" like a tote bag, with no TH anywhere.  It sounds goofy to me to say it like it's written with both TH's, like my tongue is numb.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's how I say it. TH's on both ends.

kdb

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Me too.

[Monstera]

Same here, yet I never really sounded it out aloud until now. If you say it too fast, it sounds like you're saying "sauce" with a lisp.