Gene Wolfe: Book of the New Sun

David C. Albrecht · 05 Feb 1986, 13:37 · from net.sf-lovers.1986.mbox

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From: dca at edison.UUCP (David C. Albrecht)
Subject: Re: Re: Gene Wolfe: Book of the New Sun
Date: Wed, 5-Feb-86 08:37:33 EST
Message-ID: <651 at edison.UUCP>
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
References: <194 at analog.UUCP> <3840005 at csd2.UUCP>

> if you are not shaking your head at Wolfe's awesome scope, his dazzling
> imagination, his miraculously skilled prose - well, man, go back to
> clowns like Heinlein and Asimov. 
> 
> Gene Wolfe is, quite simply, the best novelist ever to write in the
> science fiction genre.  His prose, his ideas - all of it.  The 
> best.  Hands down.
> 
Insert rasberry here.  I realize that many people believe that these
books are the greatest thing since sliced bread and I wish them all happiness
in their beliefs.  Me, I guess I will stick with clowns :-).  I read Shadow
of the Torturer and thought it was horrible.  After reading all the praise
for the books I gave them another chance and read the entire Book of the
New Sun set.  I wasn't particularly fascinated.  To me the characters were
not particularly interesting.  The books were a series of disconnected
vignettes that I found neither particularly interesting nor imaginative.
I didn't feel much purpose or direction anywhere.  No thanks.  We went
through the whole discussion of the subjectiveness of writing in this
group to the point of exhaustion.  In your opinion Gene Wolfe is the
finest writer in the genre, fine.  In my opinion he is not even close
to the best I would much rather read 'clowns' like Zelazny, McKillip,
Blish, Biggle, Silverberg, Eddings, Card, Fiest, even some Asimov or Heinlen.

David Albrecht

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