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Just wanted to say Gene Wolfe is my favorite writer, and one of a small handful of science-fiction writers whose work I feel could legitimately be called 'literature'. I've read TBotNS eight times cover-to-cover, and every loving time I figure out something that I didn't know or didn't make sense before. I didn't know he had a new book coming out, that's great news - I wasn't sure we could expect any new Wolfe, he's really getting up there in the years (and has had some health problems recently). It sounds interesting, the blurb makes it sound a little like Invitation to a Beheading. If anybody is considering trying out Wolfe, i'm gonna pimp out The Fifth Head of Cerberus as his best after the Solar Cycle. It's a standalone novel that's made up of three interconnected novellas, taking place on a two-planet star system where French settlers have colonized and forced the natives, these strange shapeshifting indigenous people, into extinction. Or maybe not. It's a great novel and doesn't have any of the archaic language or people with weird speech patterns (that are spelled out in text form) that turn a lot of people off.
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Sep 5, 2011 05:49
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Encryptic posted:Yeah, BotNS is one of the few genre works that can be classed as "literature". Jesus, I've lost count of the times I've read it and it still blows my mind - the level of craft put into the story and the layers upon layers. Yeah, I lent New Sun to a friend once and she complained about all the 'made-up words'...I was pretty much  incarnate when I told her there were no made-up words in the whole book even though I totally thought so the first time I read it
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Sep 6, 2011 00:34
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I'm just gonna say that if anyone who considers themselves a Wolfe fan hasn't read Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov, they're doing themselves a major disservice. Someone in an earlier iteration of this thread said that Wolfe must own an extremely worn, dog-eared copy of PF, and it's so very very true.
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Sep 12, 2011 21:39
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Xenix posted:South America, with Nessus maybe being Buenos Aires, IIRC. The Ascians are "people with no shadow" because they live to the north, near the equator, in Central America. I always thought Ascia = America, what with the names being similar and all. (and the whole dystopian, 1984-esque vibe they all give off.)
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Dec 3, 2011 16:03
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02-6611-0142-1 posted:There's a lot of weird intertextual stuff going on. The names of the all the human characters are from the Bible, but the names of all the alien characters are from Roman mythology. There's only one exception to this rule, so one of the characters you thought human is probably actually a cacogen, somehow. Wait, what?  Who are we talking about, here?
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Mar 13, 2012 14:39
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You've also got to realize that at the time Severian is writing BotNS, (minor spoiler) he's more-or-less the God-Emperor of Urth, writing an account of his ascent to glory. Of COURSE he's going to embellish his sexual conquests. There's also the idea that being a Torturer and all, some of his relations may be somewhat coerced, or at least not as consensual as he'd have us believe. I've always suspected this strongly with (3rd book spoiler) the official's wife in Thrax who he seduces and then helps escape the city, particularly after the reveal that Sev was supposed to execute her.
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May 5, 2012 16:20
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Neurosis posted:I haven't read Memorare, so I couldn't tell you. An Evil Guest is not Wolfe's best work. It borrows more from early 20th century pulp than it does from Lovecraft, although the Lovecraftian connections become more evident as the novel goes on. Not recommended unless you are a Wolfe completionist. I have actually read all of these, except for O:A (I actually have a beat up paperback copy of it, I just haven't gotten around to it, mostly because from skimming the first 30 pages or so it seems like a pulpy and very un-Wolfean sci-fi novel) Free Live Free: pretty good book, the ending is kind of abrupt. Has some of the more compelling characters in a Wolfe novel. I didn't really "get" the twist and the historical timeline at the back of the book didn't help. Pirate Freedom: Probably my favorite 'new' Wolfe book (meaning post-Short Sun, basically). Really fun adventure novel with some life lessons and a deeper twist which I'll spoil: Crisoforo is basically the most despicable Wolfe narrator since Severian, trying to convince the reader that he's a 'boy's adventure-esque hero. Also like Severian he's living in a time loop. Recommended. Castleview: Hands down the worst Wolfe novel I've read. The chapters are all four pages long and all follow the same pattern of "conversation-conversation-HORROR STINGER-next chapter." Very bleh book. Pandora by Holly Hollander: I actually really like this book, but it's either the most straightforward book Wolfe has ever written or even more subtle then 'Suzanne Delage'. It doesn't seem like there's much more subtext then "detective novel set in the 50's starring a rebellious proto-hippie girl." The Devil in a Forest: Awesome book. Does a way better job of throwing in subtle Lovecraft references then An Evil Guest, and has what may be the only realistic depiction of medieval life to make it into a fantasy novel. So yeah, I'd definitely pick up TDiaF and Pirate Freedom, and maybe Pandora and Free Live Free if you ever hit that completist, "gotta read every Gene Wolfe novel" stage. If you do, don't skip the short story collections, they're honestly some of Wolfe's best work.
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Nov 17, 2012 05:26
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Neurosis posted:Here's something that might interest people: Yeah, anyone who's enough of a fan to be reading this thread should pick up Stations of the Tide - it's the best Gene Wolfe novel Gene Wolfe didn't actually write. I can't wait to see how Swanwick riffs off of Fifth Head of Cerberus.
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Mar 5, 2013 14:13
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BuckarooBanzai posted:He is not, they are. Really? Huh, I always got the impression it was the other way around. specifically, he dies out in space at the beginning of Urth and it doesn't seem like there's any Heirodules around to bring him back. edit: also, there's a blurb and cover up for Wolfe's new novel, The Land Across: http://www.risingshadow.net/library?action=book&book_id=37243  That cover is...quite the departure for Wolfe. It almost looks more like a Claville or Michener thriller with the faux-Chinese font. Popular Human fucked around with this message at 15:47 on Mar 13, 2013 |
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Mar 13, 2013 15:42
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Beyond sane knolls posted:Whoa what is this Castle of the Otter thing I just heard about? Has anyone read it? It's a book about The Book of the New Sun, written by Wolfe. It's fairly cool and useful, it contains a glossary of some of the weirder Urthian words and has a pretty awesome section where each of the major characters in New Sun tells a joke, some of which make sense and some of that don't, in accordance with their character. It's out of print and really loving expensive, but they combined it with some of his short stories some time ago and sold the whole thing as a collection called Castle of Days, which is easier to find. Fun fact: the title "Castle of the Otter" comes from an egregious misprinting some newspaper did when reviewing The Citadel of the Autarch. House Louse posted:Looks like a reply/tribute to Algis Budrys, there. Which Budrys, if I may ask? I'd like to read whatever TLA is riffing off of beforehand. Popular Human fucked around with this message at 20:58 on Mar 13, 2013 |
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Mar 13, 2013 20:45
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Action Jacktion posted:As I recall, Severian is killed but Tzadkiel creates an equally-real copy of him, and says that a copy and the original can't meet each other through time travel or it'll cause a big explosion (which is what happens when Severian meets Apu-Punchau at the end of the second book). mind loving blown. Every time I think I have a handle on these books...
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Mar 14, 2013 13:09
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I got the new, sweet paperback reissue of Peace with the Neil Gaiman afterword for my birthday back in January(!) and still haven't gotten around to reading it. I'm a shameful Wolfe fan.
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Mar 20, 2013 13:16
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So Lightspeed has a reprinting of "Suzanne Delage" as its lead fantasy story this month: http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/suzanne-delage/ I for one have never understood this story (since reading it in, I think, Storeys From the Old Hotel?) and would love to hear someone else's crack at explaining it.
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Sep 5, 2013 13:17
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Neurosis posted:I hope it's better than his last few efforts. The last thing he wrote I really liked was The Wizard Knight. It feels like in the three recent books he stopped trying to write interesting narratives and just created some puzzle boxes. More could have been done with An Evil Guest and The Sorcerer's House. I liked The Sorcerer's House, but An Evil Guest and especially Home Fires were pretty terrible. The synopsis for this one looks more interesting than anything he's written recently, but it also sounds like it might also be more full of his politics than usual. We'll have to see - I mean, I'm never NOT going to read a new Gene Wolfe novel.
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Nov 7, 2013 17:15
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Just got an e-mail that my copy's on hold at the library, so I'm going to run out and pick it up on my lunch break. I'm hearing it's a lot better than his last few books, so I'm reasonably excited to tear into it.
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Dec 6, 2013 15:14
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Stravinsky posted:I can't believe he died as soon as I started reading one of his books. Which one of his books are you reading?
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Jun 16, 2015 16:03
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sebmojo posted:Book of Days is great, though mainly for Forlesen: "No. Yes. No. Yes. Yes. No. Yes. Yes. Maybe." I thought that story was good the first time I read it, but after a half-decade as a corporate office drone its become one of my favorite short stories ever. stealth edit: were you aware that the string of answers you quoted correspond to the list of 'explainers' Death gave Forlesen the option of talking to? The only one I remember off the top of my head is that the last one is 'an author' (meaning Wolfe himself), so Wolfe's own answer to whether Forlesen's life has been worth it is "maybe." Goddamn I love that poo poo. Popular Human fucked around with this message at 15:08 on Jun 29, 2015 |
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Jun 29, 2015 15:06
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You know, honestly, I want to recommend The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories to this thread, but I reread it a while back with a couple friends in a makeshift book club and it made me realize that there are a LOT of duds in that collection. For every story that could go in a compilation of the best sci-fi stories of the 20th century (The Death of Doctor Island, Tracking Song, Seven American Nights) there's one that's either painfully dated or not all that good. 'Hour of Trust' might be the worst story Wolfe ever wrote, IMO.
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Jun 30, 2015 03:32
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Speaking of which, I finished A Borrowed Man last week (surprisingly good, btw) and my personal crazy Wolfe theory is that book and An Evil Guest take place in the same universe, and the alien planet Smythe finds a portal to in the rich guy's house is Woldercan.
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Mar 25, 2016 05:49
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Hammer Bro. posted:Even Pandora by Holly Hollander. I thought I was the only person who liked that one! I just started a reread of An Evil Guest thanks to thinking about it so much - we'll see if I like it better the second time. This line stuck out at me on the very first page, in the middle of a description of Gideon: Gene Wolfe posted:Had he looked into this man's eyes, he would have seen the night looking out through a mask; it was because he had looked there once - and had not liked what he had seen - that he did not look again. That is some straight-up Ligotti poo poo and I'm shocked anyone ever thought Gideon was supposed to be the 'hero' of the book. AEG might be flabby as hell in parts and have conversations that go nowhere and take way too long, but that first chapter is taut as gently caress. Made me want a novel-length version of Wolfe doing Stross' "A Colder War." Popular Human fucked around with this message at 16:25 on Mar 26, 2016 |
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Mar 26, 2016 03:59
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my bony fealty posted:Writing first-person narrators who are shitheads is cool and Wolfe is great at it I love that maybe his all-time shittiest protagonist is the guy from the boys' adventure pirate book. Crisoforo is a dick, even moreso in his second timeline
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Jan 22, 2018 00:12
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I mean, there's no way to answer that without massive spoilers, but --------------------yes--------------------.
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Mar 20, 2018 02:09
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Neurosis posted:yeah that's a popular theory. i buy it. he's a ghost locked in some kind of purgatory for his sins, it seems. i love that that there's a heavy hint he's a ghost is given away in the first page or two where he says something like a falling tree awoke a ghost in the area or something like that. The thing under your spoiler is pretty clear-cut. The first sentence of the book mentions a tree planted by "Eleanor Bold" fell and woke up Weer. About 300 pages later, Weer has a conversation with Eleanor (who is going under her maiden name, which hides it a bit from the reader) about her plan to plant trees over the graves of the town's most notable citizens. Weer's one of them, and the tree falling is what's spurred his spirit to narrating the book to the reader. The whole fable at the end of the book basically presages how Weer is going to be wandering around his "house" forever. The moral of the last fable is that only through accepting your sins and making a sincere repentance of them can you get to Heaven - Weer isn't able to do this, and instead the book starts to loop back into his childhood memories at the end, starting the whole cycle over. One of my favorite little details from the book is that Weer has fake paintings on all his windows to make it so that even at night, it looks like its daylight outside. It's both a tell for his immense capacity of self-deception AND a Proust reference.
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Mar 20, 2018 02:25
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Shelve Pandora for now. Peace is my favorite Gene Wolfe novel (and pretty high up on the list of all-time favorites). Only BotNS and FHoC really come close.
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Mar 20, 2018 13:25
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Aww, gently caress.
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Apr 15, 2019 17:51
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Interlibrary Loan has an Amazon page now. It doesn't come out until June, though. I'll have to read A Borrowed Man again between then and now - I've forgotten a lot of it. https://www.amazon.com/Interlibrary-Loan-Gene-Wolfe-ebook/dp/B07X18JL4K/
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Nov 6, 2019 17:56
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