First and foremost, it's a great book.
For the rest of this post I'll try to decipher some of the iconographies from the book.
- Temnestrian Iconography:
It depicts us as clowns... But… clowns with a sinister aspect. [...] [Originates from] The Cloud-weaver, a satirical play by the Ethran playwright Temnestra that mocks Thelenes by name and that was used as evidence in his trial.
This is a reference to The Clouds, a satirical play by the Athenian playwrite Aristophanes that mocked Socrates and contributed to the latter's trial. That Thelenes is Arbre's Socrates is evident from many other references. - Doxan Iconography:
[Originates from] A Praxic Age moving picture serial. An adventure drama about a military spaceship sent to a remote part of the galaxy to prevent hostile aliens from establishing hegemony, and marooned when their hyperdrive is damaged in an ambush. The captain of the ship was passionate, a hothead. His second-in-command was Dox, a theorician, brilliant, but unemotional and cold.
This must be obvious to the American audience, but took me a while to figure out. The moving picture serial is Star Trek, the ship is USS Enterprise, the passionate captain is Kirk, the unemotional and cold theorician is Spock. - Yorran Iconography. This one is from "an illustrated book", but "later they made moving pictures of it":
Yorr is identified as a theorician, but if you see how he actually spends his time, he’s really more of a praxic. He has turned green from working with chemicals, and he has a tentacle sprouting from the back of his skull. Always wears a white laboratory smock. Criminally insane. Always has a scheme to take over the world.
Must be another American pop culture reference. I am not sure, but thinking of Lex Luthor, the arch-enemy of Superman. - Muncostran Iconography:
Eccentric, lovable, disheveled theorician, absent-minded, means well
Saunt Muncoster is Arbre's Einstein, as evidenced by this depiction, as well as the more direct reference in Glossary: "A theor of the late Praxic Age, responsible for crucial advances in what is called, on Earth, general relativity".
