What should I read?

johnwwoolley at comcast.net wrote: Plunging into the middle of the conversation ... Ages ago, I read "The Book of the New Sun", and loved it to the point that I was handing out copies of the first volume to anyone I could get to agree to try it. Wonderful, spectacular book. Then I read "The Urth of the New Sun" and was much less impressed; ditto with "The Devil in a Forest". Then "Soldier of the Mist", a pretty fine piece of writing and a really ambitious and strange (and rather challenging) project. The other day I started "The Book of the Long Sun", and once again, Wolfe is just blowing me away with his prose and story-telling and characters (Patera Silk, Chenille, Auk, even the bird!); I've nearly reached the end of the second volume, and am completely loving it. So ... what else of Wolfe's should I make sure to read? I think I'd better go back and reread "New Sun", and the "Short Sun" volumes seem to be a continuation of "Long Sun". (Right?) But what besides or after those? -- John Woolley _______________________________________________

johnwwoolley at comcast.net wrote: Plunging into the middle of the conversation ... Ages ago, I read "The Book of the New Sun", and loved it to the point that I was handing out copies of the first volume to anyone I could get to agree to try it. Wonderful, spectacular book. Then I read "The Urth of the New Sun" and was much less impressed; ditto with "The Devil in a Forest". Then "Soldier of the Mist", a pretty fine piece of writing and a really ambitious and strange (and rather challenging) project. The other day I started "The Book of the Long Sun", and once again, Wolfe is just blowing me away with his prose and story-telling and characters (Patera Silk, Chenille, Auk, even the bird!); I've nearly reached the end of the second volume, and am completely loving it. So ... what else of Wolfe's should I make sure to read? I think I'd better go back and reread "New Sun", and the "Short Sun" volumes seem to be a continuation of "Long Sun". (Right?) But what besides or after those? -- John Woolley _______________________________________________ Urth Mailing List To post, write urth at urth.net Subscription/information: http://www.urth.net

On Oct 12, 2011, at 3:59 PM, Jay <miltonwjackson at gmail.com> wrote: I'd try tackling his short stories next myself. The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories is a great introductionto them. johnwwoolley at comcast.net wrote:

Plunging into the middle of the conversation ... Ages ago, I read "The Book of the New Sun", and loved it to the point that I was handing out copies of the first volume to anyone I could get to agree to try it. Wonderful, spectacular book. Then I read "The Urth of the New Sun" and was much less impressed; ditto with "The Devil in a Forest". Then "Soldier of the Mist", a pretty fine piece of writing and a really ambitious and strange (and rather challenging) project. The other day I started "The Book of the Long Sun", and once again, Wolfe is just blowing me away with his prose and story-telling and characters (Patera Silk, Chenille, Auk, even the bird!); I've nearly reached the end of the second volume, and am completely loving it. So ... what else of Wolfe's should I make sure to read? I think I'd better go back and reread "New Sun", and the "Short Sun" volumes seem to be a continuation of "Long Sun". (Right?) But what besides or after those? -- John Woolley _______________________________________________

On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 10:04 PM, Lane Haygood <lhaygood at gmail.com> wrote: New Sun, Long Sun, Short Sun = Solar Cycle. I personally found "The Wizard Knight" to be below Wolfe's usual quality. Or maybe I just really hated Abel as a protagonist. Either way I don't think they'd make essential Wolfe for me. I haven't read Pirate Freedom or Home Fires, but An Evil Guest was great. There Are Doors and the seminal Fifth Head of Cerberus remain two of my favorite non-Solar Wolfe books. Sent from my iPhone On Oct 12, 2011, at 3:59 PM, Jay <miltonwjackson at gmail.com> wrote:

I'd try tackling his short stories next myself. The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories is a great introductionto them. johnwwoolley at comcast.net wrote:

Plunging into the middle of the conversation ... Ages ago, I read "The Book of the New Sun", and loved it to the point that I was handing out copies of the first volume to anyone I could get to agree to try it. Wonderful, spectacular book. Then I read "The Urth of the New Sun" and was much less impressed; ditto with "The Devil in a Forest".

Then "Soldier of the Mist", a pretty fine piece of writing and a really ambitious and strange (and rather challenging) project. The other day I started "The Book of the Long Sun", and once again, Wolfe is just blowing me away with his prose and story-telling and characters (Patera Silk, Chenille, Auk, even the bird!); I've nearly reached the end of the second volume, and am completely loving it.

So ... what else of Wolfe's should I make sure to read? I think I'd better go back and reread "New Sun", and the "Short Sun" volumes seem to be a continuation of "Long Sun". (Right?) But what besides or after those? -- John Woolley _______________________________________________

On 10/12/2011 5:18 PM, Matthew Knapton wrote: I'm a big fan of The Fifth Head of Cerberus, and also Peace. Peace is crazy. I'm not really sure if it's one of the best books I've ever read or one of the most boring, but I recommend it to people just about every chance I get so I suppose I liked it. On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 10:04 PM, Lane Haygood <lhaygood at gmail.com <mailto:lhaygood at gmail.com>> wrote: New Sun, Long Sun, Short Sun = Solar Cycle. I personally found "The Wizard Knight" to be below Wolfe's usual quality. Or maybe I just really hated Abel as a protagonist. Either way I don't think they'd make essential Wolfe for me. I haven't read Pirate Freedom or Home Fires, but An Evil Guest was great. There Are Doors and the seminal Fifth Head of Cerberus remain two of my favorite non-Solar Wolfe books. Sent from my iPhone On Oct 12, 2011, at 3:59 PM, Jay <miltonwjackson at gmail.com <mailto:miltonwjackson at gmail.com>> wrote: > I'd try tackling his short stories next myself. The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories is a great introductionto them. > > johnwwoolley at comcast.net <mailto:johnwwoolley at comcast.net> wrote: > >> Plunging into the middle of the conversation ... >> >> Ages ago, I read "The Book of the New Sun", and loved it to the point that I was handing out copies of the first volume to anyone I could get to agree to try it. Wonderful, spectacular book. Then I read "The Urth of the New Sun" and was much less impressed; ditto with "The Devil in a Forest". Then "Soldier of the Mist", a pretty fine piece of writing and a really ambitious and strange (and rather challenging) project. The other day I started "The Book of the Long Sun", and once again, Wolfe is just blowing me away with his prose and story-telling and characters (Patera Silk, Chenille, Auk, even the bird!); I've nearly reached the end of the second volume, and am completely loving it. >> >> So ... what else of Wolfe's should I make sure to read? I think I'd better go back and reread "New Sun", and the "Short Sun" volumes seem to be a continuation of "Long Sun". (Right?) But what besides or after those? >> >> -- John Woolley >> >> _______________________________________________

On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 5:57 PM, David Stockhoff <dstockhoff at verizon.net>wrote: Free Live Free blew my mind before TBotNS. On 10/12/2011 5:18 PM, Matthew Knapton wrote:

I'm a big fan of The Fifth Head of Cerberus, and also Peace. Peace is crazy. I'm not really sure if it's one of the best books I've ever read or one of the most boring, but I recommend it to people just about every chance I get so I suppose I liked it. On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 10:04 PM, Lane Haygood <lhaygood at gmail.com<mailto: lhaygood at gmail.com>> wrote: New Sun, Long Sun, Short Sun = Solar Cycle. I personally found "The Wizard Knight" to be below Wolfe's usual quality. Or maybe I just really hated Abel as a protagonist. Either way I don't think they'd make essential Wolfe for me. I haven't read Pirate Freedom or Home Fires, but An Evil Guest was great. There Are Doors and the seminal Fifth Head of Cerberus remain two of my favorite non-Solar Wolfe books. Sent from my iPhone On Oct 12, 2011, at 3:59 PM, Jay <miltonwjackson at gmail.com <mailto:miltonwjackson at gmail.**com <miltonwjackson at gmail.com>>> wrote: > I'd try tackling his short stories next myself. The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories is a great introductionto them. > > johnwwoolley at comcast.net <mailto:johnwwoolley at comcast.**net<johnwwoolley at comcast.net>> wrote: > >> Plunging into the middle of the conversation ... >> >> Ages ago, I read "The Book of the New Sun", and loved it to the point that I was handing out copies of the first volume to anyone I could get to agree to try it. Wonderful, spectacular book. Then I read "The Urth of the New Sun" and was much less impressed; ditto with "The Devil in a Forest". Then "Soldier of the Mist", a pretty fine piece of writing and a really ambitious and strange (and rather challenging) project. The other day I started "The Book of the Long Sun", and once again, Wolfe is just blowing me away with his prose and story-telling and characters (Patera Silk, Chenille, Auk, even the bird!); I've nearly reached the end of the second volume, and am completely loving it. >> >> So ... what else of Wolfe's should I make sure to read? I think I'd better go back and reread "New Sun", and the "Short Sun" volumes seem to be a continuation of "Long Sun". (Right?) But what besides or after those? >> >> -- John Woolley >> >> ______________________________**_________________

I have enjoyed all of his books that I have read, but his stand-alone novels that most impressed me (like Matthew) were Peace and The Fifth Head of Cerberus.

On Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 2:22 PM, Gerry Quinn <gerry at bindweed.com> wrote: From: Antonin Scriabin <kierkegaurdian at gmail.com> > I have enjoyed all of his books that I have read, but his stand-alone novels > that most impressed me (like Matthew) were Peace and *The Fifth Head of * > Cerberus. I also think those are his best. And of course he has written a lot of terrific short stories and novellas. - Gerry Quinn _______________________________________________

On Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 10:43 AM, Daniel Petersen < danielottojackpetersen at gmail.com> wrote: I'll chime in on recommending Wolfe's short story collections - I haven't run into one I didn't pretty thoroughly enjoy, but Doctor Death is probably the one that's as consistently rich as New Sun and feels like it prefigures it in many ways. I heartily agree with the recommendation of Cerberus and think that's probably the best next stop. And I must put in a good word for The Wizard-Knight duology against its detractors. It is in some respects rather frustrating or unnerving or annoying or some such thing (which of Wolfe's books aren't?!), but I think it's truly masterful and up there with his greatest stuff - after attempting New Sun and not being sure what I thought, it was Wizard-Knight (and then the collection Innocents Aboard) that got me thorougly mesmerised and hooked and led me in to the entirety of the Solar Cycle and everything else. -DOJP On Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 2:22 PM, Gerry Quinn <gerry at bindweed.com> wrote:

From: Antonin Scriabin <kierkegaurdian at gmail.com> > I have enjoyed all of his books that I have read, but his stand-alone novels > that most impressed me (like Matthew) were Peace and *The Fifth Head of * > Cerberus. I also think those are his best. And of course he has written a lot of terrific short stories and novellas. - Gerry Quinn _______________________________________________

On 10/13/2011 9:48 AM, Antonin Scriabin wrote: I have only read the first half of the Wizard / Knight duology, but I very much enjoyed it. It was one of those books that got me sufficiently interested (though not enthralled) during the first 200 pages or so, and then rewarded patience with the last half. By the end of the book, I was completely roped into the story. I have a few other books to read, then I will read /The Wizard/. I can understand why people might be turned off by Wizard / Knight, but I for one thought the first book at least was great.

On Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 12:20 PM, James Wynn <crushtv at gmail.com> wrote: Pirate Freedom made me think it would be fun to be a pirate. In an alternate universe, fantasy stories set at sea are as popular as stories about boy wizards are here. In that universe, Wolfe is a god.