Please don't crucify me. . .
I got started on Wolfe when I was sick in the hospital. My parents offered to pick up some books to help pass the time and I suggested a book I had heard of called The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. The only Wolfe books Border's had were the last two books of the Long Sun series. Frankly, I'm glad it was these two or I wouldn't be posting on this list today. I loved Calde and Exodus and immediately began to try to read all the Wolfe books I could find. I ordered the Book of the New Sun as a single volumn from the book club I was in. Upon reading it I was extremely dissappointed. I didn't think it was near as good as the Long Sun. To me, it seemed like a strange, disjointed fairy-tale that kinda wanted to be sci-fi. I admit, the mood of the entire work was beautifully haunting, and when I get arround to reading it a second time I'll probably find a hundered things I missed, but in my view New Sun was the worst, Urth of the New Sun was little better, and Long Sun was best. Short Sun is shaping up to be the best yet. Well, that's my two bits. I just felt I had to defend the Long Sun, because it's what got me hooked. If I had started on New Sun, I don't think I'd be a Wolfe fan.
-Steve