Bit of Wolfe news

I just read this on Sci-fi wire. A bit of info on GW's next two books. Multiple-award-winning SF/fantasy author Gene Wolfe told SCI FI Wire that his latest novel, An Evil Guest, takes place in the same world as his novella "Memorare," which was a finalist for both the Hugo and Nebula awards. "I'd written 'Memorare,' laid in a world in which a low-cost star drive had been discovered in the near future, and I wanted to set another story there," Wolfe said in an interview. But while that sounds like a traditional science fiction story, An Evil Guest includes many other elements, such as wizards and werewolves. Years ago, Wolfe heard someone describe a consultant as a "wizard," so he thought: What if that consultant everybody said was a wizard actually *was*a wizard? "When I had pictured him in the Oval Office talking to the president, I knew what he looked like and what he was like, and I knew that his name was Gideon Chase," Wolfe said. In the novel, the wizard Gideon Chase is asked to go after sinister billionaire William Reis. "Unable to locate Reis, Chase uses his powers to render a minor actress--Cassie Casey--beautiful, glamorous and immensely talented," Wolfe said. "Reis takes the bait. He steals it, too." There are many technological (and other) wonders in the book. "The star drive is the main technological marvel," Wolfe said. "The money that would buy you a light plane today will buy you a spacecraft. Cassie's agent says her hopper [spacecraft] is just a little pink bug, but one she can drive to Mars. [Also,] Reis can manufacture gold, but his gold is radioactive. There are aliens living on Earth and keeping out of sight." Wolfe is currently working on two new books. "The Sorcerer's House [is] almost ready to go to the agency; of course it's been almost ready for about a year," he said. "I'm still writing the first draft of Home Fires, and the second is going to be a bear." --John Joseph Adams

Thanks for the news. I'd heard of The Sorcerer's House before - he really seems to have been doing a lot of work on that one. I'm glad he's still going forward with it, as the plot sounded quite interesting. And the emphasis on a house reminds one a bit of Peace. I recall Wolfe mentioning the plot of another book somewhere, but I have no idea if that's Home Fires. Interesting title certainly. -Matt

A-HA! Now I need to go back through EG and see if I can find the passage that made me jump and say "Wait, isn't that 'Memorare'?" because there was one. Adam

I don't have my copy with me, so I can't physically search through the book... But I did an Amazon search for a bit I remembered: (p. 53) the dangers of "[touring] the moons of Jupiter in his new hopper on their honeymoon" -Matt

Yeah, that was it. Adam

The play Cassie is in at the beginning of the book is called "The Red Spot" and two of the other characters in the play are talking about taking their vacation in the moons of Jupiter, which is presented as a risky kind of a thing to do. 'Memorare' takes place in Jupiter's system or Saturn's? I misremember. .

Right. This is in reference to two fictional characters, in the play Cassie is originally appearing in. .

"The Red Spot," huh? I thought that might be another sf reference, but apparently it's actually a real thing - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_red_spot#Great_Red_Spot -Matt

Yes, Jupiter's Great Red Spot has been widely known since shortly after the invention of the telescope. .