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Not only is the cover illustration for IGJ aesthetically displeasing, it has several details wrong. Horn never has a staff on Green. And he didn't have long white hair when he me…
31 Jan 2001, 13:57
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If Silk was used to fasting and eating very lightly all his life, then Horn/Silk would probably get sick if he tried to eat as much as Horn was used to eating. Thus all the fuss a…
29 Jan 2001, 23:59
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I'm guessing that the secret has something to do with how Horn seems to have given Jahlee a human soul. Or that all of the inhumi whom Horn has shown kindness to have found themse…
29 Jan 2001, 14:54
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I just finished reading this book a second time and really enjoyed it. I thought of it at Christmas when I heard "Good King Wenceslas" (I'll never hear that carol the same way aga…
06 Jan 2001, 23:15
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No, no, no. The author who threatens the hero in "Wonder Story" is just another character, he's not Gene Wolfe himself. It's a story about a writer whose story gets away from him…
08 Dec 2000, 16:11
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I just finished reading OBW and haven't started IGJ yet, but I couldn't resist reading through the archive discussions of the first book and posting a few responses. I'd appreciat…
21 Nov 2000, 14:45
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OK, you've got me all interested. How and when are the papers read at Jonathan Laidlow's Wolfe Symposium going to be published or otherwise made available for the rest of us? -Ro…
01 Sep 2000, 08:15
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I initially thought Wolfe had a cool idea here, pointing out the irony of Disney vigorously protecting the rights to characters that they've swiped from better sources and humanity…
17 Apr 2000, 10:50
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If it weren't for Bill Clinton, I wouldn't have laughed at the line, "What is meant by 'is'?" And if I hadn't laughed at that line, I would have, as I did the first time I read "A…
16 Apr 2000, 23:07
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I finally got a copy of this book and will probably be posting about some of the stories over the next few days. Are the quotations in this story from an existing Sci-Fi Pulp, or …
16 Apr 2000, 23:04
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Every bit as orginial as the idea of an orphan of unknown parentage, raised by a secret society, who on coming of age is given an extraordinary sword, undertakes a quest, finds tha…
03 Apr 2000, 08:35
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(Spoilers) I just read this book again, and once again enjoyed it. I think it's one of Wolfe's most fun books. I was wondering if the Quadrumvirate's temptations can be mapped t…
25 Jan 2000, 22:57
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Interesting. What makes you read it that way rather than as Borges himself narrating with his tongue firmly in his cheek? _The Imitation of Christ_ by James Joyce is still on my…
16 Dec 1999, 08:15
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Does Apheta or anyone else use the words "black hole" to describe the other end of the White Fountain or the thing eating away at the sun? Perhaps there is some other phenomenon, …
01 Dec 1999, 13:31
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I'm replying to a message from the Whorl list, but this seems like it belongs more under general Wolfe discussion. No Whorl spoilers. In the introduction to the Soldier books, Wo…
16 Nov 1999, 15:29
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Different tastes. I like that sentence. Some of the others are overblown, but I think that one works just fine. As I said before, my main beef with the review is that it contain…
08 Nov 1999, 10:27
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Or read the MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE. There is some really beautiful prose in that novel. I read it right after _Little, Big_, so I'm not just talking relatively beautiful prose, o…
28 Oct 1999, 09:10
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Speaking of tales out of context. The tale of the Sidhe at the end of _Peace_ is still one of my favorite things Wolfe has written. I tried to tell it from memory to some friends…
26 Oct 1999, 09:29
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How much was Wolfe involved in this project? If he helped condense things, I'd think what he choose to keep and what he choose to leave out might be very enlightening. -Rostrum…
07 Oct 1999, 18:23
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Oooo! A tricky question. How much do details from the Long Sun "count" in interpreting the New Sun books? Somehow I feel that's cheating. On the other hand, I don't feel that w…
07 Oct 1999, 18:22
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Ian A. York recently posted some insightful thoughts about Wolfe's writing in TBOTNS to the rec.arts.sf.written newsgroup. There are three posts you can find here: http://x35.dej…
03 Jun 1999, 13:39
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On the other hand, see "The Last Thrilling Wonder Story" where the Author get's his comeuppance for taking that metaphor too seriously. -Rostrum…
04 May 1999, 08:48
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On Fri, 23 Apr 1999, Peter T. Cash recommended Banks's INVERSIONS Speaking of other authors that remind one of Wolfe, I've been reading Vernor Vinge's new book, _A Deepness in the…
26 Apr 1999, 10:19
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Yes, very good. How about "Detective of Dreams" for Epiphany and "Westwind" for Whitsunday? I can't quite bring myself to suggest "All the Hues of Hell" for the Feast of the Annu…
12 Jan 1999, 12:38
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I think someone mentioned this a while back, but the other parallel between Silk and St. Francis is that St. Francis had a vision from God which he initially interpreted literally …
11 Jan 1999, 14:53
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This discussion of Wolfe's earlier stories makes me wonder, has anyone figured out the most efficient way to get all of Wolfe's short stories and novellas? -Rostrum…
15 Dec 1998, 15:30
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That whole website might be of interest to Wolfe fans. He has very little Wolfe stuff as yet, but he's got some wonderful pages about Borges, Eco, Pynchon, Joyce, Kafka, and Gabri…
06 Nov 1998, 08:49
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Also, Wolfe just loves magic or otherwise nifty swords. Can we name them all? Terminus Est Silk's Azoth Silk's walking stick Latro's magic sword Weer's penknife (as Chesterton sa…
22 Oct 1998, 17:27
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I didn't mean that as literally as you took it (although I was rewarded with a thoughtful and interesting response). I meant that many of Wolfe's themes involve the necessity of u…
16 Oct 1998, 13:19
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Memory. -Rostrum…
16 Oct 1998, 08:47
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I think the lit crit community says yes, no, yes, yes, no, yes, no, no, maybe, fish, power. I say listen to the author and other people's criticism if it interests you and if it…
15 Oct 1998, 15:42
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I was out of town during the discussion of this story in late September and just now have a chance to reply. I thought Mr. Borski's lists of hell and computer imagery interesting,…
15 Oct 1998, 15:22
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For starters, I agree that Weer is not only 'dead,' but has been for a long time. Recapping evidence others have presented before: Eleanor Bold's hobby is planting trees on the gr…
25 Aug 1998, 10:34
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I've always thought "The Man Who Was Thursday" was a bit Wolfean (albeit less subtle than Wolfe) in it's attempts at deliberately misdirecting the reader, and perhaps also in the r…
05 Aug 1998, 08:16
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I don't think Wolfe is "God" in "The Last Thrilling Wonder Story" (I'm not even sure that the "author" is Wolfe, but that's another argument). The protagonist prays to God and t…
07 Jul 1998, 18:02
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Ok, all this discussion of the black hole/white fountain has made me realize that, although I thought I understood, I still don't get it. Urth's sun is dying for some reason. Sev…
06 Jul 1998, 14:27
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I forward this post from rec.arts.sf.written with Mr. Gilbert's permission. I'd be interested to hear what others think of the way Wolfe writes about women and sex roles, but I do…
30 Jun 1998, 13:53
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Ack. People keep referring to this novella and I've got a note somewhere about how much I liked it, but I can't remember what it's about. Could someone please e-mail me a brief s…
24 Jun 1998, 16:17
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I submit Jorge Luis Borges's short story "The Immortal" for the those looking for Lupine precursors. The narrator's journey reminds me of tBotNS in ways I can't put my finger on.…
19 Jun 1998, 13:45
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This sounds very much like how C.S. Lewis describes the situation in _The Great Divorce_. He claims that the redeemed in Heaven will look back on their earthly life and see that t…
04 May 1998, 13:45
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I got such enlightening responses from Paul, Tony, Adam, et. al., that I'm going to throw out another question I've gotten no takers on before. The story of Finn M'Cool and his ca…
17 Apr 1998, 14:32
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I asked this question a while back in the middle of a longer message about Peace and didn't get any takers and I hope y'all don't mind me taking another shot. I love the story of …
14 Apr 1998, 11:11
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Which parable is the last dream (the one where the woman watches her husband fly to pieces when he orders the Stranger shot)? -Rostrum…
03 Mar 1998, 09:00
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Maybe this would be a good place to ask this question. Near the end of Citadel Severian finds the bushes with thorns identical to the Claw. My take on this is that he realizes th…
01 Feb 1998, 19:32
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This seems so bizarre, I'm inclined to think it has a point. Maybe a satire on Pringles (or potato chips in general) in that they start with a potato and end up with something not…
10 Oct 1997, 08:38
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I recently read Peace for the first time and would be interested in discussing the book. Spoilers follow. I remember the story of Finn M'Cool and his cat from Wolfe's Book of Day…
08 Oct 1997, 11:03
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I think people were just assuming it, because it seems like the easiest and most obvious way to make something like the Whorl. -Rostrum…
07 Oct 1997, 15:24
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Good catch, Tony. As a GKC fan, I doubt Wolfe hasn't read Chesterton's St. Francis biography. The parallel is strong enough that it might be deliberate. -Rostrum…
07 Oct 1997, 14:57
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Spoilers ho! I asked this question a few weeks ago, but perhaps I was so brief that no one knew what I was talking about. Mr. Free tells the salesman that he hid the device "un…
24 Sep 1997, 11:39
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Sorry about the non-Wolfe topic, but I've never heard of Cordwainer Smith outside of this mailing list, and was wondering if any of his fans could recommend some titles. -Rostrum…
11 Sep 1997, 12:28
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