Tiny reviews of Gene Wolfe novels

Dan Rabin · 16 Jan 1993, 20:01 · from sf-lovers.1993.mbox

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From: rabin at cs.yale.edu (Dan Rabin)
Subject: Tiny reviews of Gene Wolfe novels
Date: 16 Jan 93 20:01:39 GMT
Message-ID: <sflovers-v18-86-8 at digest.sf-lovers>
X-Digest-Issue: SF-LOVERS Digest V18 #86
X-Urthmirror-Source: https://archive.org/details/sf-lovers-digest-vol-18a

Everybody seems to be recommending _The Book of the New Sun_ as *the*
series of novels by Gene Wolfe to read first.  Yes, they are the best, and
_The Fifth Head of Cerberus_ is almost as good, but what about Wolfe's
other novels?  Here follow some short reviews of them, ordered from most
recommended to least.  I omit the _Soldier_ series, which other posts have
addressed.  I also omit _Peace_, which I have not yet read, and _Operation
Ares_, which I have not yet obtained.

_There Are Doors_

   The reader has a problem here.  The narrative is in the third person,
   restricted to the point of view of the protagonist, who is obsessively
   in love with a woman from an alternate universe.  He goes there to seek
   her.  Or does he?  We have reason to doubt...

   OK, I've told you too much already.  It is characteristic of Wolfe that
   an abstract problem like the foregoing provides enough tension to hang a
   novel on.  Of course, the alternate world itself is surreal and
   frightening.  And of course there are surprises and brilliant ideas
   galore, and of course the book grabs your mind and firmly twists it.

_Pandora, by Holly Hollander_

   This book is a refreshingly light murder mystery set in the present day
   in the far suburbs of Chicago (where, incidentally, Gene Wolfe resides).
   The narrator is a teen-age girl who seems to have personal relationships
   with most of the suspects.  Thus all of Wolfe's authorial personality
   has to be expressed through the limited voice of a young person of a
   different generation and sex from the actual author.  It doesn't work
   all of the time, but it's lots of fun to read.  And short, too.

_Castleview_

   Illinois, again.  A small town.  All Hell breaks loose.  Literally.
   Once again, Wolfe concerns himself with points of contact between two
   worlds.  The small-town characters (and even their pets) become elevated
   to a heroic plane again, quite literally.  There is no lack of action
   and excitement.  There *is* a lack of much indication of what the ****
   is going on, but if you've gotten this far down the list, you expect
   this from Wolfe.

_Free Live Free_

   A very odd book indeed.  Four down-and-out mutual strangers are thrown
   together in house that is then demolished.  The old man disappears -
   what was his secret?  Escapades ensue, ranging from comic to
   suspense-thriller fare. There are many chapters of these, and then there
   is a conclusion, which doesn't quite justify the journey and is drawn
   from yet a different genre.

I hope these reviews prove useful to somebody.  I'm writing this out of a
sense of duty, because I found it difficult to make up my own mind two
years ago to explore Wolfe's works beyond _The Book of the New Sun_ and
_The Urth of the New Sun_.  There seems to be something compelling about
certain created universes that makes me reluctant to read other works by
the same author.  Perhaps I fear that to do so would reveal that these
worlds, which seem so real, are actually artifices.

How do other readers feel about, for example, 

* J.R.R. Tolkien's non-Middle-Earth works? (_Leaf by Niggle_, _Farmer Giles
  of Ham_, _Smith of Wootton Major_).

* Frank Herbert's non-Dune books?  (admittedly, there are other reasons to
  regret having read _The God Makers_)

Dan Rabin

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