Brutha is a sort of idiot savant at first, a lowly novice in the Citadel relegated to tending melons because he is not up to much else. He is tolerated because of his absolute humility and obedience, and he attracts the attention of Vorbis because of his phenomenal memory. Brutha is simply incapable of forgetting anything, except for a few mysterious childhood traumas. He solves the Labyrinth of Ephebe by recalling and retracing every step; he absorbs the entire contents of the great library of Ephebe before it is burned.

He cannot read, but he can nonetheless recall every symbol he saw. All the information stored in his astonishing brain interacts with his new and transforming experiences to galvanize his essential goodness for action. Always fleshy, passive, and lumpish, always unquestioningly obedient to authority, he begins to think. Carrying his god around in the form of an irascible...