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BananaNutkins posted:Here's my review of the Book of the New Sun. Contains spoilers and opinions that will be wildly unpopular. Have you read Sword and Citadel, the second half of the story? If you haven't, I see no value in your insufferably smug "review," because you haven't even gotten to the parts that explain why the books are written the way they are. I would be more inclined to see the value of your arguments if you weren't so busy patting yourself on the back for your stunning feats of hyperbolic vitriol. I loved BotNS, and I'm eager to read more of Wolfe's work. I've got all four parts of the Book of the Long Sun coming in the mail.
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Sep 12, 2011 03:23
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I just finished Nightside The Long Sun, and thus far the Long Sun series seems much easier to follow than New Sun. I enjoyed the puzzling aspects of Severian's story, but Long Sun seems (at this point, anyway) to be much more straightforwardly plot-driven, so it may be a better introduction to Wolfe for those who don't like the way New Sun proceeds.
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Nov 3, 2011 22:27
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I finished Long Sun the other day, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The ending sure took me by surprise, though. It's just like Wolfe to completely shift the perspective of the entire four-book series in the last few pages, though I suspect that there are hints dropped earlier on. I'm not sure how I feel about the vampire planet yet, but I'm sure it will be better explained in the Short Sun books.. The thing I really loved about Long Sun was how fun it was to read compared to New Sun. The characters are complex, memorable and unique, and Wolfe is so good at creating different speech patterns for them that it's always easy to tell who is in a given scene. I especially loved, er, ah, Remora's, um, dithering, Incus's insistence on emphasizing the important points, and Oreb's fantastic interjections.
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Nov 25, 2011 03:01
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_jink posted:It's so difficult to find other writers who even attempt that almost abstract scifi that I find so evocative. Have you ever tried reading Cordwainer Smith? As with Wolfe's Solar Cycle, his stories are mostly set within the same fictional universe, so there's a similar sense of continuity. His stories have a strong Chinese influence, but his Anglican faith factors into them as well, and his writing contains enough dense symbolism and complex wordplay to satisfy Wolfe fans.
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Dec 6, 2011 02:10
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Hels posted:I'm near the end of Botns. At first I couldn't quit understand all of the hubbub, but he more I read the more I was sucked in. However, I'm still at a loss toward perceiving much of the depth and cleverness which people so often attribute the work. I'm hoping some of you all can elaborate on some "holy poo poo" moments you had while reading. The biggest "holy poo poo" for me was actually fairly early in Long Sun, when I realized who Pas was and understood the connection to New Sun.
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Mar 12, 2012 04:12
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Thread back! Good thread! I just finished Return To The Whorl today, and I had a question about the ending. What was the significance of the passage from the Chrasmological Writings that Remora showed Horn/Silk? Is it as simple as the reference to "hyacinth" awakening Silk's memories within Horn, so that he finally understands that they have become one being? There are times in Horn's narrative where he seems perfectly aware that he is Silk, which is why his emotional response struck me as odd. Or maybe it was at that moment that the full weight of Hyacinth's death returned? On a related note- was Silk about to commit suicide when Horn's spirit was transferred into him? Does this explain the Neighbor's statement about one living man existing instead of two dying ones?
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Oct 24, 2012 04:54
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BigSkillet posted:For further Wolfe reading, my library system has all three Short Sun books but only two from Long Sun. Is it possible to read and enjoy Short Sun without having read Long Sun beforehand? No. Short Sun will make absolutely no sense to you unless you read Long Sun first. PateraOctopus posted:He is definitely aware of the fact that he's in Silk's body--he essentially comes right out and says it in In Green's Jungles--but up until Remora reads him that passage, he's under the impression that that's all it is: he's Horn transferred into Silk. With that passage he realizes that he has (somewhat willfully) misinterpreted everything that's come before, and that he's been Silk the whole time. Horn has been dead since before page one--he died on Green, and the Neighbor he encountered essentially pulled a fast one on him in order to grant his dying wish of finding Silk and bringing him back to Blue. As I understand it, what actually happened was that the Neighbor essentially uploaded Horn's memories into Silk so that the latter, while remaining himself, would believe himself to be Horn for a while and essentially be tricked into following his own trail back to Blue. The Neighbor's "I will transfer your soul into a dying man" line was basically there so that Silk would subsequently have that memory and assume he was now Horn in Silk's body. Couple that with the heavy implications that towards the end Silk essentially loathed and considered himself a failure--he was very likely attempting to slit his wrists when he got Horn's memories--and we can see why he would leap at the chance to be someone else for a while. There's a passage in the final book where either Hoof or Hide describe Silk as viewing everybody else as rough and dirty like Oreb but loving them anyway--the chance to "be" Horn gives Silk the much-needed opportunity to allow himself to be just a rough and dirty human, rather than the holy messenger he's striven his whole life to be. This makes a lot of sense. There are numerous moments in Horn's narrative where someone addresses him as Silk and he corrects them, but he never really seems sure of his answers in these situations. He also slips up and refers to himself as Silk sometimes. Most telling, though, is the final line of the Remora chapter. After Horn/Silk reads the passage, Remora says that Horn did not fail, and Horn/Silk is referred to explicitly as Silk, which is (I think) the only time this happens. Beyond sane knolls posted:I'm having a bit of trouble getting through Long Sun. Right around when Gene drops those big ol' pro-life bombs was when I started to feel leery about continuing. Does it get worse? And by worse I mean more politically Catholic. What are you referring to here? Wolfe's Catholicism certainly permeates his writing, but I can't recall him ever taking an overt stance on anything like this.
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Oct 25, 2012 03:47
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Rime posted:Caucasus & Turkey. Long Sun gets really, REALLY good after the slow start.
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Sep 13, 2015 03:58
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