Subject: Tiny reviews of Gene Wolfe novels

From: Dan Rabin <rabin at cs.yale.edu>
Date: Sat, 16 Jan 1993 20:01:39 +0000

Everybody seems to be recommending _The Book of the New Sun_ as *the*
series of novels by Gene Wolfe to read first.  Yes, they are the best, and
_The Fifth Head of Cerberus_ is almost as good, but what about Wolfe's
other novels?  Here follow some short reviews of them, ordered from most
recommended to least.  I omit the _Soldier_ series, which other posts have
addressed.  I also omit _Peace_, which I have not yet read, and _Operation
Ares_, which I have not yet obtained.

_There Are Doors_

   The reader has a problem here.  The narrative is in the third person,
   restricted to the point of view of the protagonist, who is obsessively
   in love with a woman from an alternate universe.  He goes there to seek
   her.  Or does he?  We have reason to doubt...

   OK, I've told you too much already.  It is characteristic of Wolfe that
   an abstract problem like the foregoing provides enough tension to hang a
   novel on.  Of course, the alternate world itself is surreal and
   frightening.  And of course there are surprises and brilliant ideas
   galore, and of course the book grabs your mind and firmly twists it.

_Pandora, by Holly Hollander_

   This book is a refreshingly light murder mystery set in the present day
   in the far suburbs of Chicago (where, incidentally, Gene Wolfe resides).
   The narrator is a teen-age girl who seems to have personal relationships
   with most of the suspects.  Thus all of Wolfe's authorial personality
   has to be expressed through the limited voice of a young person of a
   different generation and sex from the actual author.  It doesn't work
   all of the time, but it's lots of fun to read.  And short, too.

_Castleview_

   Illinois, again.  A small town.  All Hell breaks loose.  Literally.
   Once again, Wolfe concerns himself with points of contact between two
   worlds.  The small-town characters (and even their pets) become elevated
   to a heroic plane again, quite literally.  There is no lack of action
   and excitement.  There *is* a lack of much indication of what the ****
   is going on, but if you've gotten this far down the list, you expect
   this from Wolfe.

_Free Live Free_

   A very odd book indeed.  Four down-and-out mutual strangers are thrown
   together in house that is then demolished.  The old man disappears -
   what was his secret?  Escapades ensue, ranging from comic to
   suspense-thriller fare. There are many chapters of these, and then there
   is a conclusion, which doesn't quite justify the journey and is drawn
   from yet a different genre.

I hope these reviews prove useful to somebody.  I'm writing this out of a
sense of duty, because I found it difficult to make up my own mind two
years ago to explore Wolfe's works beyond _The Book of the New Sun_ and
_The Urth of the New Sun_.  There seems to be something compelling about
certain created universes that makes me reluctant to read other works by
the same author.  Perhaps I fear that to do so would reveal that these
worlds, which seem so real, are actually artifices.

How do other readers feel about, for example, 

* J.R.R. Tolkien's non-Middle-Earth works? (_Leaf by Niggle_, _Farmer Giles
  of Ham_, _Smith of Wootton Major_).

* Frank Herbert's non-Dune books?  (admittedly, there are other reasons to
  regret having read _The God Makers_)

Dan Rabin

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From: K R Maxson <maxson at cerl.uiuc.edu>
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1993 23:20:40 +0000

I would take exception with those who say that Wolfe's New Sun material is
his best work, but to each his own.  My personal favorite is _There Are
Doors_, followed closely by _The Fifth Head of Cerberus_, "The Death of
Doctor Island" (not to be confused with any of the other short stories
about death, doctors, and islands), and _Peace_.

To describe many of Gene Wolfe's novels before they are read is, in my
opinion, to diminish them.  I have never read a Wolfe piece that I
regretted, so read all of them.  His _Gene Wolfe's Book of Days_ and
_Endangered Species_, both collections of short stories, are good places to
start.

The New Sun material is an attempt to weave a Wolfesque story into the
tapestry of commercial fantasy and science fiction.  I think it is done
rather slickly, but that much of the current SF market would rather bypass
books that aren't reassuringly shallow and don't spell out the point for
the reader by the end.  (Personally I feel that if the writer can sum up
his or her thesis in a few sentences at the end of the book, the book
should have only been a few sentences and save the gloss.  If a book
doesn't make me think at least as much as walking in the woods does, I'd
just as soon walk in the woods.)

_Castleview_ and the _Pandora_ I both found disappointing, although still
enjoyable.