Pirate Freedom

"As a boy," Gene Wolfe has written, "I was very fond of pirates," and his latest offering seems written expressly for that boy. In fact, the intended audience for this one seems even more YA than Wizard Knight though it's not being marketed as a juvenile, but as fantasy. _Pirate Freedom_, however, has no fantasy elements unless you wish to count Father Chris's temporal displacement (curiously unexamined by the narrator), nor is there much in the way of metaphysical or spiritual dithering, considering Chris-the-pirate has taken Holy Orders. Instead, we're treated to a very straight forward historical adventure with many asides about the true nature of piracy (as opposed, say, to pop versions) and the narrative voice will probably remind you of Wizard's Able. Wolfe seems to have lots of fun with his dramatis personae, incorporating not only two characters from New Sun, but also naming a pirate after one of his fellow writers. But far and away, _Pirate Freedom_ is Wolfe's least challenging and unoblique novel, with virtually no unsolved mysteries or (for me) lingering resonance. As such, I took it to be the literary equivalent of a sorbet -- something to cleanse the pallet in preparation for more substantial fare to come (though I'm not encouraged by the early word on his next two novels). -- Rex Lycanthrosaurus lycanthrosaurus at fastmail.fm

--- Nicholas Gevers <vermoulian at yahoo.com> wrote: Interesting! There is a case for seeing *Pirate Freedom* as SF, actually--Chris's story begins in Cuba some years from now, the Communists having fallen, and he remarks somewhere on his father having "had him built" a certain way (genetically, I assume), explaining his height and who knows what other abilities, including perhaps time travel? --Nick Gevers.