{ "export": { "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/sflovers/116", "note": "Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright in each message remains with the person who wrote it. Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact.", "addresses": "obscured as 'user at host'" }, "archive": "sflovers", "thread": { "id": 116, "subject": "Gene Wolfe - When's the Next Book Due?", "messages": 11, "voices": 8, "first": "1994-02-03T23:39:29+00:00", "last": "1994-02-10T06:48:39+00:00" }, "messages": [ { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Barbarisi", "address": "marco at email.ncsc.navy.mil" }, "date": "1994-02-03T23:39:29+00:00", "subject": "Gene Wolfe - When's the Next Book Due?", "in_reply_to": null, "reply_link": null, "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Does anyone out there know when the next installment in Gene Wolfe's _Book\nof the Long Sun_, entitled _Calde' of the Long Sun_, will be published?\n\nI highly recommend the first two installments of this epic novel,\n_Nightside of the Long Sun_ and _Lake of the Long Sun_. I say this\npartially out of selfishness, for I want Mr. Wolfe's books to sell well so\nhe is encouraged to continue writing. I have noticed that few bookstores\nkeep his titles in stock. Why is this so?\n\nBack to the Long Sun books... I believe that SF fans whose tastes lean\ntowards \"hard SF\" will find this story more accessible than some of Wolfe's\nprevious works. I hesitate to cite examples, because that would be\ntelling, and a big part of the fun of a Wolfe novel comes from how he shows\nhis worlds. You see the world through the eyes of a priest named Silk, who\ndoes not know the true nature of his world. Impelled by an \"Outsider\", he\nis bound to a course which may lead him to understand his world and its\nplace in the universe. There is a mix of high and low technology in this\nworld, and most of the high technology is recognized as being the work of\npeople (as opposed to gods). The characters are fully drawn. The pacing\nof the story increases steadily as the plot unfolds. Wolfe stuns the\nmind's eye with the images he weaves with words.\n\nI encourage readers to bear with Wolfe's use of archaic nomenclature -\nusually you can deduce meaning by context. A glossary would be helpful.\n\nMarco C. Barbarisi\nmarco at email.ncsc.navy.mil" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Pat McMurray", "address": "pat at cooky.demon.co.uk" }, "date": "1994-02-05T10:15:38+00:00", "subject": "Re: Gene Wolfe - When's the Next Book Due?", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "marco at EMAIL.NCSC.NAVY.MIL writes:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "I highly recommend the first two installments of this epic novel,\n_Nightside of the Long Sun_ and _Lake of the Long Sun_. I say this\npartially out of selfishness, for I want Mr. Wolfe's books to sell well so\nhe is encouraged to continue writing. I have noticed that few bookstores\nkeep his titles in stock. Why is this so?" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I agree very strongly with your recommendAtion. _Nightside_ is available in\nthe UK as a paperback and may be the best fiver you'll ever spend. _Lake_\nis available in the UK as a hardback or a US import. IMHO he is not widely\nstocked because he doesn't sell well, and I think this is because a lot of\nhis work is very literary and inaccessible. Anybody who has troubles with\n_Shadow Of the Torturer_ is going to make even less headway with _Free,\nLive Free_ or there are doors. However notwithstanding the _Long Sun_ stuff\nis more open than most and will repay reading.\n\nPat McMurray" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "P Nielsen Hayden", "address": "pnh at panix.com" }, "date": "1994-02-05T13:33:04+00:00", "subject": "Re: Gene Wolfe - When's the Next Book Due?", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "marco at email.ncsc.navy.mil writes:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Does anyone out there know when the next installment in Gene Wolfe's\n_Book of the Long Sun_, entitled _Calde' of the Long Sun_, will be\npublished?" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "This fall; it's been delivered, and he's working on the fourth, EXODUS FROM\nTHE LONG SUN." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "I have noticed that few bookstores keep [Wolfe's] titles in stock. Why\nis this so?" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Well, it isn't so, although it may be in the particular bookstores you've\nbeen looking at. Quite the contrary, very few SF authors have as much of\ntheir backlist in print as Gene Wolfe. (And more backlist coming: this\nspring, we bring THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS back in the Orb line, and we\njust bought the rights to DEVIL IN A FOREST and PEACE.)\n\nThe belief that Gene Wolfe doesn't sell qualifies, I suspect, as one of the\ngreat urban legends of modern SF. I can't speak for the British market\n(another poster, pat at cooky.demon.co.uk, claims that \"IMHO he is not widely\nstocked because he doesn't sell well\", but I note that British publishers\nkeep bringing Wolfe's work out) but, in the US, Gene Wolfe could serve as\nthe illustration next to the dictionary entry for \"successful midlist\nauthor.\"\n\nI suppose that as a publisher I should keep quiet about this - why give\nEllen Key Harris ideas? :) but, I can't stand to see Gene misrepresented\nlike this.\n\nPatrick Nielsen Hayden\nsenior editor\nTor Books" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Pat McMurray", "address": "pat at cooky.demon.co.uk" }, "date": "1994-02-05T18:10:31+00:00", "subject": "Re: Gene Wolfe - When's the Next Book Due?", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "P Nielsen Hayden, pnh at panix.com writes:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "(another poster, pat at cooky.demon.co.uk, claims that \"IMHO he is not widely\nstocked because he doesn't sell well\", but I note that British publishers\nkeep bringing Wolfe's work out) but, in the US, Gene Wolfe could serve" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "May I make two qualifications to that staement?\n\nFirstly my statement really applies to his works apart fron the Book of the\nnew sun which is always available, but it can be hard to find his other\nwork\n\nSecondly I think it's a real shame he's a successful midlist author, he\ndeserves to be much better known. (Don't quote this out of context:-) )\nHonestly what I really meant is that though yes you do always find Gene's\nworks in a bookstore, there's never enough.\n\nPat McMurray" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Chun-Wai Chan", "address": "c_chan at hep.uchicago.edu" }, "date": "1994-02-05T19:02:28+00:00", "subject": "Re: Gene Wolfe - When's the Next Book Due?", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "pnh at panix.com (P Nielsen Hayden) writes:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "marco at email.ncsc.navy.mil writes:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "I have noticed that few bookstores keep [Wolfe's] titles in stock. Why\nis this so?" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Well, it isn't so, although it may be in the particular bookstores you've\nbeen looking at. Quite the contrary, very few SF authors have as much of\ntheir backlist in print as Gene Wolfe. (And more backlist coming: this\nspring, we bring THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS back in the Orb line, and we\njust bought the rights to DEVIL IN A FOREST and PEACE.)" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I am very glad that \"The Devil In A Forest\" and \"Peace\" will be in print\nagain. I have the first in an British paper back and the latter in two old\nused Berkeleys. I'd like to get Peace in one of limited edition hard\ncovers - I enjoyed it that much.\n\nI saw Operation Ares in hard back at Stars Our Destination, but since even\nWolfe considered it a so-so first published novel, I wanted to try it in\npaperback first. Any chances that Tor will bring it back or has it done so\nalready?" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "The belief that Gene Wolfe doesn't sell qualifies, I suspect, as one of\nthe great urban legends of modern SF. I can't speak for the British\nmarket (another poster, pat at cooky.demon.co.uk, claims that \"IMHO he is not\nwidely stocked because he doesn't sell well\", but I note that British\npublishers keep bringing Wolfe's work out) but, in the US, Gene Wolfe\ncould serve as the illustration next to the dictionary entry for\n\"successful midlist author.\"" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I think Wolfe is an author who sells in decent quantities, not huge, year\nafter year. It's true that almost all his stuff is still in print. It's a\ncredit to the spec. fic. market that authors like Wolfe do sell for three\ndecades, a slap in the face of the NY Times Rev. Of Books highbrows who\ndespise all \"genre\" fiction as worthlessly ephemeral. A lot of SF authors\n(such as Piers Anthony) take up a lot more rack space, but they turn out a\nlot more and appeal to an slightly different audience for whom SF is more\ncasual fun reading.\n\nI suspect that Terry Brooks or David Eddings sell more volumes per year\nthan LOTR, but LOTR has been going for 5 decades now." } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "myong", "address": "myong at flute.aix.calpoly.edu" }, "date": "1994-02-06T12:03:01+00:00", "subject": "Re: Gene Wolfe - When's the Next Book Due?", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "marco at email.ncsc.navy.mil writes:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Does anyone out there know when the next installment in Gene Wolfe's _Book\nof the Long Sun_, entitled _Calde' of the Long Sun_, will be published?" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": " Not too long ago, someone \"in the know\" posted that _Calde_ has been\nsubmitted to the publishers and that Wolfe had begun work on the fourth\nbook (Is this to be another tetrology?). I suspect _Calde_ will be\nreleased about this time next year.\n I'm about 2/3 of the was through _Lake_, and I've found it to be\nentertaining but less subtle than _Book of the New Sun_ or the _Soldier of\nthe Mist_ (still looking for _Arete_; grumble). Those other works may\nrequire more work from the reader, but the \"payoff\" was well worth it,\nIMHO." } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "P Nielsen Hayden", "address": "pnh at panix.com" }, "date": "1994-02-06T16:16:39+00:00", "subject": "Re: Gene Wolfe - When's the Next Book Due?", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "jvessey at husc9.harvard.edu (Jonathan Vessey) writes:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "I've heard that the Book of the New Sun is out of print. Is this the case\nand, if so, why and are there any plans to re-release it?" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "We acquired North American rights to The Book of the New Sun after\nS&S/Pocket reverted it last year, and will release it in two trade\npaperback omnibuses under the Orb imprint in the fall of 1994, to be\nentitled SHADOW AND CLAW and SWORD AND CITADEL.\n\nPatrick Nielsen Hayden\nsenior editor\nTor Books" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Mark T Pitcavage", "address": "mpitcava at magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu" }, "date": "1994-02-06T20:48:46+00:00", "subject": "Re: Gene Wolfe - When's the Next Book Due?", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I can't recommend _Operation Ares_. In most respects you would not even\nbelieve that Gene Wolfe wrote it." } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Aaron V. Humphrey", "address": "aaron at amisk.cs.ualberta.ca" }, "date": "1994-02-08T21:57:33+00:00", "subject": "Re: Gene Wolfe - When's the Next Book Due?", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "In people's opinion, is it necessary to read _The Urth of The New Sun_\nbefore starting the Book of the Long Sun? Yes, I've read the Book of the\nNew Sun; I was given to understand that _Urth_ is between the two series,\nbut I haven't been able to find it anywhere (is it still in print? I may\nhave to order it if it _is_ necessary)..." } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "P Nielsen Hayden", "address": "pnh at panix.com" }, "date": "1994-02-09T18:29:14+00:00", "subject": "Re: Gene Wolfe - When's the Next Book Due?", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "aaron at amisk.cs.ualberta.ca (Aaron V. Humphrey) writes:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "In people's opinion, is it necessary to read _The Urth of The New Sun_\nbefore starting the Book of the Long Sun?" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Not in the slightest.\n\nPatrick Nielsen Hayden\nsenior editor\nTor Books" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Brian McElhinney", "address": "mce at halcyon.com" }, "date": "1994-02-10T06:48:39+00:00", "subject": "Re: Gene Wolfe - When's the Next Book Due?", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "myong at flute.aix.calpoly.edu () wrote:\nWolfe has also begun a new series, The Book of the Long Sun, which is\nallegedly related to the New Sun books, though the relationship is\nunclear so far." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Seems pretty clear to me. Am I missing something?\n\n 1) It's printed on the book cover.\n\n 2) - SPOILER - The two-headed ruler, who came to power incredibly\n quickly, is named Typhon. Which also describes the Typhon in the New\n Sun books.\n\n I think Typhon even made a passing comment to Severian about sending\n ships out, though I could be hallucinating." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "IMHO, the Long Sun is entertaining but not as subtle as the New Sun." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I was kind of uncomfortable about how \"painfully obvious\" some things\nappeared to be in NIGHTSIDE and LAKE. But I wonder if I'm not just overly\nsensitive to Wolfe's penchant for hiding relationships. Not everyone I've\ntalked to appreciates Wolfe's subtlety!\n\nBrian McElhinney" } ] } ] }