Sources
Most of the characters have the names and some of the features of Egyptian gods. But Typhon belongs in Greek mythology and was a fire-breathing dragon rather than a dark horse-shadow. Norns are Norse and weavers of fate rather than smiths. The Steel General and other minor characters have no obvious mythological source.
Typhon also contains or controls Skagganauk Abyss, which is described in the chapter "Master of the House of the Dead" as "a bottomless hole that is not a hole. It is a gap in the fabric of space itself." This resembles a Black Hole, a concept first described in 1916, though the term itself was not coined until 1967 and only gradually became the standard name. This would make it an early instance of black holes in fiction.
Read more about this topic: Creatures Of Light And Darkness
Famous quotes containing the word sources:
“Even healthy families need outside sources of moral guidance to keep those tensions from imploding—and this means, among other things, a public philosophy of gender equality and concern for child welfare. When instead the larger culture aggrandizes wife beaters, degrades women or nods approvingly at child slappers, the family gets a little more dangerous for everyone, and so, inevitably, does the larger world.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (20th century)
“No drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we’re looking for the sources of our troubles, we shouldn’t test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.”
—P.J. (Patrick Jake)
“The American grips himself, at the very sources of his consciousness, in a grip of care: and then, to so much of the rest of life, is indifferent. Whereas, the European hasn’t got so much care in him, so he cares much more for life and living.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)