Looking behind The Unreasoning Mask Quiz

Answer: Moby Dick

Before the beginning of the novel is a quote from Moby Dick which states that "all objects... are but as pasteboard masks" and goes on to refer to "some unknown but still reasoning thing puts forth the moulding of its features from behind the unreasoning mask."

Answer: They are of gigantic proportions compared to humans

The Urzint are described as "pachydermoid" (elephant-like). The bed Ramstan slept in, designed for the Urzint, was half the size of a basketball court. The last time the Urzint visited Kalafala they promised that they would keep returning regularly, but at the time of Ramstan's visit they had not been seen in years. The remaining answers refer to other races featured in the novel.

Answer: The glypha told him that if he became its partner together they could save the world

The glypha also told him that it had witnessed the death and rebirth of the pluriverse - the multitude of universes - twice. The glypha did offer Ramstan immortality but he turned it down. It also induced in him a powerful mystical experience in which he identified with Muhammad during the latter's ascent into the seven heavens.

However, Ramstan later concluded that this experience was an illusion. Ramstan denied that the glypha had hypnotised him, although he admitted that it amplified his pre-existing desire to possess it which influenced his decision to steal it.

Answer: The Tenolt had surgically implanted an explosive substance into her body and threatened to detonate it if she did not cooperate

The explosive device consisted of artificial flesh implanted into her vaginal wall, which could be detonated by a radio signal. Davis later mentions that one of the implications of the location of the bomb is that she would not be able to have intercourse again lest the explosive be detonated.

Answer: Alaraf

Al-Buraq is the name of the ship commanded by Ramstan, named after a fabulous animal that transported Muhammad to Heaven in Islamic mythology. Al-Sirat is also a name from Islamic lore which refers to a razor-thin bridge between Heaven and Hell, which was one of the many wonders glimpsed by Ramstan during a mystical vision. Alaraf is also the name of a chapter in the Qur'an.

When the alaraf drive was first developed, the mechanism behind it was not understood. One incorrect theory was that it involves time travel.

The glypha reveals to Ramstan that the alaraf drive actually pierces the walls between universes, weakening their integrity in the process, and leading to their eventual collapse.

Answer: An agonisingly loud whistle that seems to come from everywhere at once

Ramstan compared the sound to "the universe crying out in a death agony." The whistling noise is apparently caused by the disruption in the fabric of space-matter caused by the sudden appearance of the bolg and lasts for about two minutes. The other destructive phenomena mentioned begin soon afterwards.

Answer: The Vwoordha

At one time, the Vwoordha were more numerous, but only the three sisters remain. The Raushghol is the name of another race who were escorting the marine creature Wassruss to their homeworld when they were attacked by the bolg. The Tssokh'azgd is the name that Wassruss gives to the bolg, and refers to a chaos monster in her ancestral religion. "The Weird Sisters" is a reference to the witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth.

The Vwoordha certainly were quite weird!

Answer: Al-Khidr

Al-Khidr, "the green one" is a legendary figure in Islam. Ramstan, who is not religious, attributes the appearance of the mysterious old man to mental stress brought on by his father's death. After encountering the glypha he experiences a series of apparitions of a figure in a green robe, one of which is actually caught on his ship's security video! However, these turn out not to be al-Khidr, but an alien woman with the ability to use the glypha to remotely project images of herself in order to warn and guide Ramstan.

Answer: Webn

Wassruss was the first Webnite to leave her homeworld. Her ship was destroyed by the bolg and she was fatally injured while visiting the planet Walisk. Tolt is the homeworld of the Tenolt people who are pursuing Ramstan. Kalafala is the setting where the novel begins.

Answer: She was chosen by the three ancient sisters to become one of their successors

when the three sisters escape from the bolg at the end of the novel, they take with them three women, including Davis, whom they intend to train to be their successors. They offer to take Ramstan with them as well, but he chooses to go down with his ship, so to speak.