Gene Wolfe - When's the Next Book Due?

Barbarisi · 03 Feb 1994, 23:39 · from sf-lovers.1994.mbox

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From: marco at email.ncsc.navy.mil (Barbarisi)
Subject: Gene Wolfe - When's the Next Book Due?
Date: 3 Feb 94 23:39:29 GMT
Message-ID: <sflovers-v19-116-2 at digest.sf-lovers>
X-Digest-Issue: SF-LOVERS Digest V19 #116
X-Urthmirror-Source: https://archive.org/details/sf-lovers-digest-vol-19a

Does anyone out there know when the next installment in Gene Wolfe's _Book
of the Long Sun_, entitled _Calde' of the Long Sun_, will be published?

I highly recommend the first two installments of this epic novel,
_Nightside of the Long Sun_ and _Lake of the Long Sun_.  I say this
partially out of selfishness, for I want Mr. Wolfe's books to sell well so
he is encouraged to continue writing.  I have noticed that few bookstores
keep his titles in stock.  Why is this so?

Back to the Long Sun books... I believe that SF fans whose tastes lean
towards "hard SF" will find this story more accessible than some of Wolfe's
previous works.  I hesitate to cite examples, because that would be
telling, and a big part of the fun of a Wolfe novel comes from how he shows
his worlds.  You see the world through the eyes of a priest named Silk, who
does not know the true nature of his world.  Impelled by an "Outsider", he
is bound to a course which may lead him to understand his world and its
place in the universe.  There is a mix of high and low technology in this
world, and most of the high technology is recognized as being the work of
people (as opposed to gods).  The characters are fully drawn.  The pacing
of the story increases steadily as the plot unfolds.  Wolfe stuns the
mind's eye with the images he weaves with words.

I encourage readers to bear with Wolfe's use of archaic nomenclature -
usually you can deduce meaning by context.  A glossary would be helpful.

Marco C. Barbarisi
marco at email.ncsc.navy.mil

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