# Embryonic Wolfe

*The Urth list — 2 messages, 2 voices, 23 Feb 2006*

<https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/4540>

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### mournings glory
*23 Feb 2006, 03:35*

Some terrific discussion taking place lately over in the Asimov's Message 
Board:

http://www.asimovs.com/discus/messages/2/4857.html?1138501545

Among other things Gardner Dozois is currently reading (or more likely has 
probably finished by now) Wolfe's _Soldier of Sidon_ which according to 
Gardner *will be out in a couple of months.*
But even more fascinating, Dozois admits to having rejected a very early 
Gene Wolfe novel -- quite possibly his first.

Dozois: <As for the early novel of Wolfe's that I did indeed reject (or, to 
be more accurate, that I recommended that the editor not buy, since I was 
just a lowly slush-reader), it was hardly a hard SF novel--it was a 
metaphysical novel about strange occult happenings in a small town, narrated 
by the unborn fetus of one of the characters, who dies in a miscarriage at 
the end of the novel (in fact, as I recall, the last line was "And then I 
died.").>

<Gardner, I've never heard of such an early novel by Gene Wolfe. Did it 
precede 'Operation Ares'?>

<Yes. And he never did sell it to anybody, although after he became famous, 
he probably could have, at least to some small press. >

Could, I wonder, this possibly be _Frieda from the Fire_ mentioned in 
Urth-Man Extraordinary as a phantom title? If so, it sounds similar to one 
of my favorite all-time reads, Thomas Keneally's _Passenger_.

13 19 7

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### aramini1 at cox.net
*23 Feb 2006, 07:23 · follows mournings glory*

In correspondence, Wolfe once indicated to me that he had written a novel before Operation Ares, that had "entirely too much plot" that was more like a mystery novel than SF.  He says he does not know where the manuscript is or what happened to it.  Sniff .... 

I am sad, it sounds like it could be interesting, even if it isn't "great" Wolfe.

> From: "mournings glory" <mourningsglory at hotmail.com>
> Date: 2006/02/22 Wed PM 10:35:16 EST
> To: urth at lists.urth.net
> Subject: (urth) Embryonic Wolfe
> 
> Some terrific discussion taking place lately over in the Asimov's Message 
> Board:
> 
> http://www.asimovs.com/discus/messages/2/4857.html?1138501545
> 
> Among other things Gardner Dozois is currently reading (or more likely has 
> probably finished by now) Wolfe's _Soldier of Sidon_ which according to 
> Gardner *will be out in a couple of months.*
> But even more fascinating, Dozois admits to having rejected a very early 
> Gene Wolfe novel -- quite possibly his first.
> 
> Dozois: <As for the early novel of Wolfe's that I did indeed reject (or, to 
> be more accurate, that I recommended that the editor not buy, since I was 
> just a lowly slush-reader), it was hardly a hard SF novel--it was a 
> metaphysical novel about strange occult happenings in a small town, narrated 
> by the unborn fetus of one of the characters, who dies in a miscarriage at 
> the end of the novel (in fact, as I recall, the last line was "And then I 
> died.").>
> 
> <Gardner, I've never heard of such an early novel by Gene Wolfe. Did it 
> precede 'Operation Ares'?>
> 
> <Yes. And he never did sell it to anybody, although after he became famous, 
> he probably could have, at least to some small press. >
> 
> Could, I wonder, this possibly be _Frieda from the Fire_ mentioned in 
> Urth-Man Extraordinary as a phantom title? If so, it sounds similar to one 
> of my favorite all-time reads, Thomas Keneally's _Passenger_.
> 
> 13 19 7
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________

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