Subject: Gene Wolfe - When's the Next Book Due?

From: Barbarisi <marco at email.ncsc.navy.mil>
Date: Thu, 03 Feb 1994 23:39:29 +0000

Does anyone out there know when the next installment in Gene Wolfe's _Book
of the Long Sun_, entitled _Calde' of the Long Sun_, will be published?

I highly recommend the first two installments of this epic novel,
_Nightside of the Long Sun_ and _Lake of the Long Sun_.  I say this
partially out of selfishness, for I want Mr. Wolfe's books to sell well so
he is encouraged to continue writing.  I have noticed that few bookstores
keep his titles in stock.  Why is this so?

Back to the Long Sun books... I believe that SF fans whose tastes lean
towards "hard SF" will find this story more accessible than some of Wolfe's
previous works.  I hesitate to cite examples, because that would be
telling, and a big part of the fun of a Wolfe novel comes from how he shows
his worlds.  You see the world through the eyes of a priest named Silk, who
does not know the true nature of his world.  Impelled by an "Outsider", he
is bound to a course which may lead him to understand his world and its
place in the universe.  There is a mix of high and low technology in this
world, and most of the high technology is recognized as being the work of
people (as opposed to gods).  The characters are fully drawn.  The pacing
of the story increases steadily as the plot unfolds.  Wolfe stuns the
mind's eye with the images he weaves with words.

I encourage readers to bear with Wolfe's use of archaic nomenclature -
usually you can deduce meaning by context.  A glossary would be helpful.

Marco C. Barbarisi
marco at email.ncsc.navy.mil

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From: Pat McMurray <pat at cooky.demon.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 05 Feb 1994 10:15:38 +0000

>keep his titles in stock.  Why is this so?

I agree very strongly with your recommendAtion. _Nightside_ is available in
the UK as a paperback and may be the best fiver you'll ever spend.  _Lake_
is available in the UK as a hardback or a US import.  IMHO he is not widely
stocked because he doesn't sell well, and I think this is because a lot of
his work is very literary and inaccessible.  Anybody who has troubles with
_Shadow Of the Torturer_ is going to make even less headway with _Free,
Live Free_ or there are doors. However notwithstanding the _Long Sun_ stuff
is more open than most and will repay reading.

Pat McMurray

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From: P Nielsen Hayden <pnh at panix.com>
Date: Sat, 05 Feb 1994 13:33:04 +0000

marco at email.ncsc.navy.mil writes:
> Does anyone out there know when the next installment in Gene Wolfe's
> _Book of the Long Sun_, entitled _Calde' of the Long Sun_, will be
> published?

This fall; it's been delivered, and he's working on the fourth, EXODUS FROM
THE LONG SUN.

> I have noticed that few bookstores keep [Wolfe's] titles in stock.  Why
> is this so?

Well, it isn't so, although it may be in the particular bookstores you've
been looking at.  Quite the contrary, very few SF authors have as much of
their backlist in print as Gene Wolfe.  (And more backlist coming: this
spring, we bring THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS back in the Orb line, and we
just bought the rights to DEVIL IN A FOREST and PEACE.)

The belief that Gene Wolfe doesn't sell qualifies, I suspect, as one of the
great urban legends of modern SF.  I can't speak for the British market
(another poster, pat at cooky.demon.co.uk, claims that "IMHO he is not widely
stocked because he doesn't sell well", but I note that British publishers
keep bringing Wolfe's work out) but, in the US, Gene Wolfe could serve as
the illustration next to the dictionary entry for "successful midlist
author."

I suppose that as a publisher I should keep quiet about this - why give
Ellen Key Harris ideas?  :) but, I can't stand to see Gene misrepresented
like this.

Patrick Nielsen Hayden
senior editor
Tor Books

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From: Pat McMurray <pat at cooky.demon.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 05 Feb 1994 18:10:31 +0000

P Nielsen Hayden, pnh at panix.com writes:
>keep bringing Wolfe's work out) but, in the US, Gene Wolfe could serve

May I make two qualifications to that staement?

Firstly my statement really applies to his works apart fron the Book of the
new sun which is always available, but it can be hard to find his other
work

Secondly I think it's a real shame he's a successful midlist author, he
deserves to be much better known. (Don't quote this out of context:-) )
Honestly what I really meant is that though yes you do always find Gene's
works in a bookstore, there's never enough.

Pat McMurray

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From: Chun-Wai Chan <c_chan at hep.uchicago.edu>
Date: Sat, 05 Feb 1994 19:02:28 +0000

>just bought the rights to DEVIL IN A FOREST and PEACE.)

I am very glad that "The Devil In A Forest" and "Peace" will be in print
again. I have the first in an British paper back and the latter in two old
used Berkeleys. I'd like to get Peace in one of limited edition hard
covers - I enjoyed it that much.

I saw Operation Ares in hard back at Stars Our Destination, but since even
Wolfe considered it a so-so first published novel, I wanted to try it in
paperback first. Any chances that Tor will bring it back or has it done so
already?

>The belief that Gene Wolfe doesn't sell qualifies, I suspect, as one of
>the great urban legends of modern SF.  I can't speak for the British
>market (another poster, pat at cooky.demon.co.uk, claims that "IMHO he is not
>widely stocked because he doesn't sell well", but I note that British
>publishers keep bringing Wolfe's work out) but, in the US, Gene Wolfe
>could serve as the illustration next to the dictionary entry for
>"successful midlist author."

I think Wolfe is an author who sells in decent quantities, not huge, year
after year. It's true that almost all his stuff is still in print.  It's a
credit to the spec. fic. market that authors like Wolfe do sell for three
decades, a slap in the face of the NY Times Rev. Of Books highbrows who
despise all "genre" fiction as worthlessly ephemeral.  A lot of SF authors
(such as Piers Anthony) take up a lot more rack space, but they turn out a
lot more and appeal to an slightly different audience for whom SF is more
casual fun reading.

I suspect that Terry Brooks or David Eddings sell more volumes per year
than LOTR, but LOTR has been going for 5 decades now.

---

From: myong <myong at flute.aix.calpoly.edu>
Date: Sun, 06 Feb 1994 12:03:01 +0000

>of the Long Sun_, entitled _Calde' of the Long Sun_, will be published?

   Not too long ago, someone "in the know" posted that _Calde_ has been
submitted to the publishers and that Wolfe had begun work on the fourth
book (Is this to be another tetrology?).  I suspect _Calde_ will be
released about this time next year.
   I'm about 2/3 of the was through _Lake_, and I've found it to be
entertaining but less subtle than _Book of the New Sun_ or the _Soldier of
the Mist_ (still looking for _Arete_; grumble).  Those other works may
require more work from the reader, but the "payoff" was well worth it,
IMHO.

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From: P Nielsen Hayden <pnh at panix.com>
Date: Sun, 06 Feb 1994 16:16:39 +0000

jvessey at husc9.harvard.edu (Jonathan Vessey) writes:
>I've heard that the Book of the New Sun is out of print. Is this the case
>and, if so, why and are there any plans to re-release it?

We acquired North American rights to The Book of the New Sun after
S&S/Pocket reverted it last year, and will release it in two trade
paperback omnibuses under the Orb imprint in the fall of 1994, to be
entitled SHADOW AND CLAW and SWORD AND CITADEL.

Patrick Nielsen Hayden
senior editor
Tor Books

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From: Mark T Pitcavage <mpitcava at magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Date: Sun, 06 Feb 1994 20:48:46 +0000

I can't recommend _Operation Ares_.  In most respects you would not even
believe that Gene Wolfe wrote it.

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From: Aaron V. Humphrey <aaron at amisk.cs.ualberta.ca>
Date: Tue, 08 Feb 1994 21:57:33 +0000

In people's opinion, is it necessary to read _The Urth of The New Sun_
before starting the Book of the Long Sun?  Yes, I've read the Book of the
New Sun; I was given to understand that _Urth_ is between the two series,
but I haven't been able to find it anywhere (is it still in print?  I may
have to order it if it _is_ necessary)...

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From: P Nielsen Hayden <pnh at panix.com>
Date: Wed, 09 Feb 1994 18:29:14 +0000

aaron at amisk.cs.ualberta.ca (Aaron V. Humphrey) writes:
>before starting the Book of the Long Sun?

Not in the slightest.

Patrick Nielsen Hayden
senior editor
Tor Books

---

From: Brian McElhinney <mce at halcyon.com>
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 1994 06:48:39 +0000

myong at flute.aix.calpoly.edu () wrote:
> Wolfe has also begun a new series, The Book of the Long Sun, which is
> allegedly related to the New Sun books, though the relationship is
> unclear so far.

Seems pretty clear to me.  Am I missing something?

   1) It's printed on the book cover.

   2) - SPOILER - The two-headed ruler, who came to power incredibly
    quickly, is named Typhon.  Which also describes the Typhon in the New
    Sun books.

    I think Typhon even made a passing comment to Severian about sending
    ships out, though I could be hallucinating.

> IMHO, the Long Sun is entertaining but not as subtle as the New Sun.

I was kind of uncomfortable about how "painfully obvious" some things
appeared to be in NIGHTSIDE and LAKE.  But I wonder if I'm not just overly
sensitive to Wolfe's penchant for hiding relationships.  Not everyone I've
talked to appreciates Wolfe's subtlety!

Brian McElhinney