Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun

mclure · 09 Dec 1982, 22:11 · from sf-lovers.1982.mbox

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From: mclure at SRI-UNIX
Subject: Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun
Date: 9 Dec 82 22:11-PST
Message-ID: <sflovers-v6-103-2 at digest.sf-lovers>
X-Digest-Issue: SF-LOVERS Digest V6 #103
X-Urthmirror-Source: https://archive.org/details/sf-lovers-digest-vol-06

I have now twice read the first volume (THE SHADOW OF THE TORTURER) in
a vain attempt to convince myself that it is the beginning of an 
earth-shaking effort or "the best SF I've read all year (Le Guin)".
It would appear to be the beginning of just another quest story and
having just finished LORD OF THE RINGS for the first time, I don't
think I can handle yet another of these.  Could someone out there who
has read the entire tetralogy and admires it please explain what
he/she thinks is so marvelous about it?  Mike "the Monk" Urban, are
you listening?  I'll admit that Wolfe handles his language better than
most SF authors I've read but the story itself seems extremely drawn
out and the characters don't catch my fancy.  Maybe it's just that I
don't much care for sword and sorcery and quests.

        Stuart

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