Reading Order

I have a quick question. Would it be terrible if I read the Short Sun sequence after finishing the New Sun one? Or must I read the Long Sun in between? Thanks, Oren

Oren, There's no need to read New Sun first. I think Short Sun would be terribly difficult and not nearly as satisfying if you hadn't read Long Sun first. Just one man's opinion. Steve Strickland ----- Original Message -----

Personally, I wouldn't worry, as reading the books in an order different to the published order could shed light on different issues, because you'd be coming at it from a different angle. I'm reading the Short Sun books first, and then I plan to read either the New Sun or the Long Sun books. So I'd go with whatever your mood is, as, if nothing else, it will mean that you 'read' the Wolfe-Urth-universe in a personal - and perhaps quite fruitfully non-linear - way. My two cents :o) Best, G.

Oren, I say read the books in the order they were published--I am currently going through them all myself, in order. I just finished New Sun for my fourth or fifth (or possibly sixth--I lose count with Wolfe, just as I lose count with all my favorite novelists), and I found that it contains fascinating clues (as regards Typhon and his relationship with the Conciliator, as well as others) that are helping me in my current (third) reading of Long Sun. I've only read Short Sun once, but if I learned nothing else during that reading, it was that I should have paid more attention to Long Sun. I'd love to talk about the connective tissue between the three series, but most of the points I would make have already been beaten to death by others in this group. I would say (hopefully without spoiling anything) that it is valuable to remember the strong possibility that Typhon the Monarch and Patera Silk are, genetically, the same person--in which case it behooves us all to study both characters as closely as possible (and on that subject, Wolfe gives us, in two widely-separated clues, the information that Typhon is blond-haired, just like Silk is). Happy reading!