LAKE OF THE LONG SUN by Gene Wolfe

Some quick observations (a few SPOILERS lurk within): LAKE picks up exactly where NIGHTSIDE left off. Re-reading NIGHTSIDE is nearly required. For some strange reason, I found my second reading of NIGHTSIDE to be much more enjoyable. Maybe because I knew I could "turn the page" when it ended, and pick up LAKE? NIGHTSIDE + LAKE make a fairly satisfying story. LAKE ends in a similarly abrupt manner, but on a high note. (Black humor, yet.) A big improvement! I like the character Silk now (I didn't particularly care before), and I enjoyed watching his belief system change. On the down side, there are times when Silk sounds way too much like Severian. Primarily when he is explaining himself. And the parallel between Silk and Severian's mysterious family origins was uncomfortable. Although in Silk's case he may not have parents, in the traditional sense... Not to mention the biggest, hence most painful, parallel that seems to be developing. Did Silk see a nearby solar system from the observation bubble? Stay tuned for volume three. I really, really, hate The Book of the Long Sun as a title. Much too similar to you-know-what. From the LoC entry in volume one it appears Wolfe originally intended the series to be titled Starcrosser's Landfall. Much better! Brian McElhinney

mce at halcyon.com (Brian McElhinney) writes:

Uh uh. Gene originally intended the series to be titled The Book of the Long Sun. "Starcrosser's Landfall" was the invention of Gene's editor, David Hartwell, who later thought better of it. However, S's L does carry on a ghost existence in a few catalogs. Patrick Nielsen Hayden senior editor Tor Books