  
 Is it possible for two people to write and age that is identical? What if they used different words, but were describing the same thing?  It is possible, but not probable. Like flipping a normal coin 10 billion times and getting "heads" every single time... possible, but not probable. :) (Aside from the fact that if you flipped 1 coin per second every second of every day, it would take about 320 years to conduct the experiment once...) Can you recreate an age? Not like when you make changes, and try to do it over. What if you made an age, and then something happens to the book. Could you "rewrite" in a new book? I am guessing that it would not be exactly the same. You are correct. The chances of writing a Link to the same world twice (even by writing the two Descriptive Books verbatim) are extremely remote. I have a question about some of Atrus's observations in BoA. Gehn tells him that the books actually create the ages, thus giving Gehn the excuse to act like a GOD once he gets there. And why not? If he actually did create the world, then this is a GOD-like act... (even if this would be considered breaking rule #1 of the D'ni Guild writers). BUT, Atrus comes to the conclusion that the books do not create the Ages; they act as a bridge to an infinite number of pre-existing worlds--and I believe that in BoT, this idea is the one they support as well.... The D'ni histories indicate that the D'ni did not believe that they were creating the Ages they linked to. They seemed to understand that the Ages already existed, and that they were merely creating the links to these Ages. This is Atrus' view as well. Gehn, on the other hand, wants to control the Ages he has made, and uses the power of the Books to intimidate the inhabitants of those worlds. He believes he has the power to create, and therefore the right to do what he wishes with the Ages (and the inhabitants). (This question is a continuation of the above question) My question is this: if Atrus is right, then how is it possible for Catherine and Anna to rewrite Riven while Gehn and Atrus are there and then all the changes they wrote alter the Age? This is the most complicated and confusing aspect of The Art. In order to gain a deeper knowledge of the workings of the Books, we will need a working knowledge of quantum mechanics. - GREAT, BIG, HEAVY, COMPLICATED EXPLANATION - !! WARNING !! Many of the interpretations of quantum theory say that until a state of matter is observed, it exists in many states simultaneously - it creates a bizarre "probability wave" that contains all of the possible states of that matter. Therefore, as was proposed in Schrodinger's famous cat analogy, bizarre things happen on the quantum level that allow things like Schrodinger's cat to be both alive and dead at the same time, until one of the states is observed, locking it in a single state, and collapsing the "probability wave". What the D'ni seem to have concluded (proved?), is that those waves don't actually cease to exist altogether, instead each possibility continues to exist in an alternate quantum reality (read "parallel universe"), until a state is observed in that quantum reality, and the possibilities not observed in that quantum reality continue to exist in still another, and so on ad infinitum. This makes the universe infinitely complex, with every possible quantum combination since the creation of the universe existing in a quantum reality somewhere (even the "unstable Ages"). The Books somehow allow observation of (thus the locking of) and travel to those quantum realities. So, you can make "unobserved" changes (probabilities that have not been locked down by description in the Book, or by physical observation in the Age itself) without forcing the Book to link to a new quantum reality. This is why being careful of contradictions is so important. The problem with contradictions is that the Book attempts to link to a quantum reality that matches a contradictory description, and the closest thing it can find is usually fairly unstable. I could write for days and still not do this subject justice, but that's the best I can do right now. Hope it helps explain it a bit. Oh, I see that hand in the back. "What about the changes to Riven? You still haven't answered that." The changes made to Riven near the end of the Book of Atrus (pg. 268 in the hardcover edition), were a collaboration between Anna and Catherine. Anna's main contribution was probably keeping the Book free of contradictions. Catherine's intuitive (but D'ni rule-breaking) style was so bizarre that earlier Atrus had claimed that her Books would not even work - yet they did. The daggers which mysteriously appeared around the island, and the lava filled fissures were made possible by her odd style - which I cannot explain. And although Catherine and Anna intended for the lava filled fissures as part of their plan to rescue Atrus while still leaving Gehn trapped in his Fifth Age, the Star Filled Fissure was not intentional or anticipated. To me, it remains the most mysterious object in all the D'ni histories. If you are interested in further study of quantum physics, my two favorite books on the subject are: "In Search of Schrodinger's Cat" by John Gribbin, and "Quantum Physics" by Nick Herbert. In BoA, when Gehn starts getting really off with Atrus about the 37th Age, Gehn starts undoing changes made in Linking Book. When Atrus went back to the Age, the natives were fairly hostile and were speaking a language that he doesn't understand. Now, what does this mean? It means that Gehn tried to change something that had already been observed in the Age. The contradiction forced the Book to link to a very similar, but different Age. RAWA, is this quantum mechanics a bit like the argument about a tree in a forest? If it falls and there's no-one there to hear it, does it make a noise? I apologize that my description of quantum mechanics confused more people than it helped. That's why I'm a programmer and not a teacher. Successfully explaining things like this is not one of my strengths. The short version of the story: Observation is the key to knowing whether an addition to a Book will be a change (further defining the current Age) or a contradiction (forcing a link to similar, but different Age). Quantum theory explains why all the Ages a writer can describe already exist (Atrus is right, Gehn is wrong), and tells why observation is so critical. It also shows that science fact is much stranger than science fiction. Say Gehn was to take the Riven Descriptive book to Riven through the process of writing a linking book to Riven then carrying the descriptive book with him. And he made changes to the Descriptive book while in Riven. Would these changes happen immediately or would he have to link using the Descriptive book for the changes to occur? Or if the Descriptive book linking panel was black as I have heard some people say, would he have to link to D'ni or where ever and then link back. No records have been found which describe experiments such as these, so any answer I would give is speculation at best. From what we know of D'ni history, it was standard for D'ni writers to complete their works before ever linking to them. Once the Age was written, the maintainers would inspect the book's description, and travel there, then approve the book. No changes to the book were generally allowed after it had been stamped by the maintainers. Gehn, however, was basically teaching himself to write, using trial and error, taking phrases from various Books he found. This is the main reason that the Ages his Books link to are so unstable. Atrus also altered Books after linking at various times, while learning the Art, but he was more careful when doing so. He is especially careful with changes that he is making in the Riven Descriptive Book, because There is a lot more at stake. Because of the D'ni rules for not changing Books after the initial link, it does not surprise me that this topic is not covered in any of the writings we have uncovered to date. If you get your hands on any kortee'nea, and you want to conduct this experiment yourself, please feel free. But I would not want to be the guinea pig for these tests. :) When a person links, how much is taken with them? I mean obviously it stops somewhere because the whole planet is not taken with them. Rule of thumb - anything that comes with you when you take a step comes with you when you link (with the exception of the Book you are using to Link). If you are wearing a hat: It comes with you when you take a step. It also comes with you when you link. If you are touching a table: It does not come with you when you take a step. It will not come with you when you link. This basic rule of thumb answers most "can I take this?" questions pretty easily. For the more silly, or bizarre, or complicated, I just do not know. Hope that helps. I was reading BoD the other night and something finally made sense to me. When you link, you can link to any place at ANY TIME. In BoA, Atrus linked back to a time before they were ever there. Sorry to add to the confusion, but linking to an earlier time does not explain the situation in the Book of Atrus. Atrus actually linked to a completely separate, albeit remarkably similar, Age. Gehn's removal of the phrases in the Age 37 Descriptive Book forced the Book to choose another Age which still fit the description. The Ages were very similar, but distinct. Making changes and additions to a Book once you have linked there is extremely dangerous, and great care must be taken. [If discussions of quantum mechanics give you a headache, skip the rest of this paragraph.] If you try to make changes whose probability waveforms have already collapsed due to conscious observation, or blatantly contradict something written elsewhere in the Book, the best you can hope for is that the book will create a link to a different, but similar Age. At worst, it will create a link to something totally bizarre, possibly unlivable, probably unstable; or the book will cease to function completely. From what we know of D'ni history, it was standard for D'ni writers to complete their works before ever linking to them. Once the Age was written, the maintainers would inspect the book's description, and travel there, then approve the book. No changes to the book were generally allowed after it had been stamped by the maintainers. Ok, when linking does a part of your hand have to touch the book or can any part of you touch it? Any part of you can start the link. I do not think you could run water from one age to another, but what if you had the pipe running along on top of the linking panel. And then the pipe stopped, and the water fell on the panel? The water touching the panel would just fall, and link through wouldn't it? No, the book would just get wet. :) Organic tissue is required to establish the Link. If a Descriptive Book is destroyed, do the Linking books which were written in the Described Age cease to function? The D'ni histories don't describe exactly how this works, but if the Descriptive Book is changed, the Linking Book associated with that Book are changed as well. It would also appear that if the Descriptive Book were destroyed, that its Linking Books will cease to function. Could you link from my desk here to Jupiter, if you just so happened to write a book that perfectly described Jupiter? They're different planets, gazillions of miles apart. If not, what about a planet around Betelgeuse? What defines a world? Is it a matter of light-years or is it something totally different, like parallel universes? You could link to a planet very much _like_ Jupiter, possibly even Jupiter in a parallel universe/Age/quantum reality. But you cannot link to a different place within the same Age/quantum reality/universe. Can you write a book to another time in an age, or would you just be creating a whole new age? In theory, it's _possible_. In practice, it's not _probable_. No matter how specifically you write a Book, there are chaotic elements in the selection of the Age, and since countless Ages will match any given description, you don't have enough control to link to a specific Age, let alone a specific time in a specific Age. 
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