On Fri, Aug 08, 2003 at 05:06:11PM -0400, Steve Simmons <scs at lokkur.dexter.mi.us> wrote: > My belated reply, now that I've read the novel and gotten a good nights > sleep. > > On Sat, Aug 02, 2003 at 07:35:00PM -0500, Matthew Hunter wrote: > > > [SPOILERS below] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > * The comments of the Gods in _The Paths of the Dead_ regarding > > Phoenixes come to mind, particularly how "two hidden can combine > > to produce one visible". This seems a clear indication of a > > recessive gene. . . > I believe the text of the various novels argues against this. In > at least one case we find someone who's seen to be triple hybrid, > ie, 1/2 one house, 1/4 another, and 1/4 a third. If a single gene > (or single chromosome) determined house,this would be impossible. 'scuse me. A trait governed by the presence of certain genes, some of which are presumably recessive. In other words, what makes someone a genetic Pheonix can be "present but not expressed". Presumably this is linked in some magical fashion to Pheonix overflights, so those with the proper genes expressed get an overflight at their birth. > It also seems very unlikely that Illista and Zerika will breed. :-) They do not have to breed with each other. Breeding with others is sufficient if their descendents retain enough of the Pheonix genes to eventually recombine in a single individual with Pheonix recessives from both parents. -- Matthew Hunter (matthew at infodancer.org) Public Key: http://matthew.infodancer.org/public_key.txt Homepage: http://matthew.infodancer.org/index.jsp Politics: http://www.triggerfinger.org/index.jsp