Urth Net
April Fool's Day posts
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In urth.v028.n174, Steve wrote:
From: Redhaven1 at aol.com
Subject: Long Sun vs. New Sun
Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2000 21:53:23 EST
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Please don't crucify me. . .
I got started on Wolfe when I was sick in the hospital. My parents offered to pick up some books to help pass the time and I suggested a book I had heard of called The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. The only Wolfe books Border's had were the last two books of the Long Sun series.
Frankly,
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I'm glad it was these two or I wouldn't be posting on this list today. I loved Calde and Exodus and immediately began to try to read all the Wolfe books I could find. I ordered the Book of the New Sun as a single volumn from the book club I was in. Upon reading it I was extremely dissappointed. I didn't think it was near as good as the Long Sun. To me, it seemed like a strange, disjointed fairy-tale that kinda wanted to be sci-fi. I admit, the mood of the entire work was beautifully haunting, and when I get arround to reading it a second time I'll probably find a hundered things I missed, but in my view New Sun was the worst, Urth of the New Sun was little better, and Long Sun was best. Short Sun is shaping up to be the best yet. Well, that's my two bits. I just felt I had to defend the Long Sun, because it's what got me hooked. If I had started on New Sun, I don't think I'd be a Wolfe fan.
-Steve
Steve
I've been trying to resist responding to your post, but then I thought to look at its date. Explains everything!
If, on the other hand, it does not fall into the same category as Wolfe does Star Trek, I have to say your ranking of TBNS, UNS and TBLS is the precise opposite of mine (and some others' I notice...). However, much as I disagree with your views, your crucifixion for holding them just might be an overreaction. (Though it is tempting to punish such heresy with appropriate severity. This sounds like Patera Incus - whatever happened to him?)
Fascinating idea to start TBLS in Vol 3. Maybe if I had I would've enjoyed it more. On the other hand maybe it's just hard for Australians to enjoy a series where a murderously malevolent goddess is named after a cute little marsupial like an echidna. (For those who don't know - or possess Lexicon Urthus - an echidna is similar to a big hedgehog, and even more harmless). It's as if the gods are named Pas, Scylla, Goofy, Tartarous...
BTW, it occurred to me that this (Echidna's name) seems the only example of the naming convention of Vironese males=animals being applied to a god (and a female one at that), in the sense that as far as I am aware all the other gods are not named after animals (or anything else in particular). Anyone have any ideas why?
Finally, one more reason to think that it is not Horn writing OBW is that, in comparison with TBLS, he has thankfully (miraculously? mercifully!) learnt how to write. Plus I suppose there's some symmetry if the author of the Book of Horn is infact Silk.
Tim
*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun.