Interesting! There is a case for seeing *Pirate
Freedom* as SF, actually--Chris's story begins in Cuba
some years from now, the Communists having fallen, and
he remarks somewhere on his father having "had him
built" a certain way (genetically, I assume),
explaining his height and who knows what other
abilities, including perhaps time travel?
--Nick Gevers.
42 quoted lines
"As a boy," Gene Wolfe has written, "I was very fond
of pirates," and
his latest offering seems written expressly for that
boy. In fact, the
intended audience for this one seems even more YA
than Wizard Knight
though it's not being marketed as a juvenile, but as
fantasy. _Pirate
Freedom_, however, has no fantasy elements unless
you wish to count
Father Chris's temporal displacement (curiously
unexamined by the
narrator), nor is there much in the way of
metaphysical or spiritual
dithering, considering Chris-the-pirate has taken
Holy Orders. Instead,
we're treated to a very straight forward historical
adventure with many
asides about the true nature of piracy (as opposed,
say, to pop
versions) and the narrative voice will probably
remind you of Wizard's
Able. Wolfe seems to have lots of fun with his
dramatis personae,
incorporating not only two characters from New Sun,
but also naming a
pirate after one of his fellow writers. But far and
away, _Pirate
Freedom_ is Wolfe's least challenging and unoblique
novel, with
virtually no unsolved mysteries or (for me)
lingering resonance. As
such, I took it to be the literary equivalent of a
sorbet -- something
to cleanse the pallet in preparation for more
substantial fare to come
(though I'm not encouraged by the early word on his
next two novels).
--
Rex Lycanthrosaurus
lycanthrosaurus at fastmail.fm