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Gene Wolfe
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Administrator
Posted 2007-11-05 5:57 PM (#1189)
Subject: Gene Wolfe



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Location: Dallas, Texas

so Gene Wolf has won yet another award.  Soldiers of Sidon has just won the WFA and i'm sitting here wondering why i've never read any of his books.  by all accounts he's quite an excellent writer but for some reason none of my friends have read him either.

i think it's time for me to correct this oversight but i'm not sure where to begin.  he's got 16 novels in the WWEnd database for me to pick from but i don't want to start in the middle of a series.  can anybody point me in the right direction?

this of course underscores a much needed update to the site.  we need an easy way to find out which books are part of a series, what number they are in that series and what the other books in the series are.  that will make it easier for folks to start at book 1.  hmmmm.  need to get busy on the bibliography section of the author pages and add series info to the novel pages as well.  am i missing anything?

- dave

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Deven Science
Posted 2007-11-15 12:10 PM (#1198 - in reply to #1189)
Subject: RE: Gene Wolfe



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Location: Sacramento, California		Dave,

I think that identifying series is a great idea. I've no idea how to go about it, but great idea.

I also have never read anything by Gene Wolfe. Not sure why, really, other than that until I stated visiting this sight, his name never really came onto my radar. Okay, I guess I know why, then.
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Administrator
Posted 2007-11-30 10:56 PM (#1224 - in reply to #1198)
Subject: Re: Gene Wolfe



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Location: Dallas, Texas		well, the good news is the series infoormation is now part of the novel records. the bad news is we've got to input all the series info for all the books!

you can see the results in most of the books by gene wolfe. it's in the info table at the top of the novel page under the publisher details. we'll be filling them in as we go along but it may take some time before we get that complete. at least i know where to start with gene wolfe: The Shadow of the Torturer. i've added it to my reading list which is getting rather long.

we'll add in some other functionality as time goes on to make it easier to get that info. maybe make the series name clickable to take you to a list of books in the series. something like the search results. we'll also need to link to the other books in any series that are not award nominated books and are not in our database. the bibliography info is still lacking in the author page. perhaps we'll list the books by series instead of just chronologically.

take a look and let me know what you think.

- dave
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christopherw277
Posted 2007-12-05 1:39 PM (#1232 - in reply to #1224)
Subject: Re: Gene Wolfe



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Location: London, U.K.		It looks great! This is never clear in Amazon, and you usually have to look at the front of the book for reliable info on the series. Very cool!
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weirdside
Posted 2009-08-12 7:59 PM (#1689 - in reply to #1189)
Subject: RE: Gene Wolfe



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Gene Wolfe is on my "soon read" list. "The Shadow of the Torturer" is similar to a book I'm writing now in theme and I want to see how he did it. That and the fact that my serious pieces have been described as sounding similar to Gene Wolfe and of course I have to check that out.
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fredvp71
Posted 2009-12-25 3:41 PM (#1744 - in reply to #1189)
Subject: Re: Gene Wolfe



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Location: Ohio		Gene Wolfe's books are pretty strange - the storylines are simple, but there is a lot of intellectual work behind the scenes. Names are often shared by different characters, dialogues are repeated in different contexts, the narrators are very unreliable, and time is convoluted. So, the book seems like a regular fantasy, and is anything but. He is some kind of fanatic about throwing clues and symbolism into his naming of places and characters. There is actually a companion book to Knight & Wizard to help figure it all out. I personally found Knight & Wizard to be more enjoyable than Shadow of the Conciliator, et al. Definitely more like Dan Simmons, not much in common with Tolkien. Not the kind of book you get sucked into, more like an intellectual exercise which is sometimes great and sometimes a slog.
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elk
Posted 2010-01-24 11:23 AM (#1776 - in reply to #1189)
Subject: Re: Gene Wolfe



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I'd say start with the Book of the New Sun series first. He is an amazing writer and in my opinion you are missing out on a great experience if you have never read any of his works. Right now I would say he is probably my favorite author. Be prepared to be a bit confused as he has a different writing style and is full of strange words that you may not know the meaning of at first although as you continue reading it will become more clear. Mostly the are words that have fallen out of use and they a certain atmosphere to the novel. You may have to look up some of them. I'm on a mission right now to read all of his works and am currently reading the second novel in his Book of the Long Sun series which so far is just as good as the New Sun series although some would say the New Sun series is better I would disagree.

Edited by elk 2010-01-24 11:24 AM
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pyrogyne
Posted 2011-09-07 1:59 AM (#2636 - in reply to #1189)
Subject: Re: Gene Wolfe



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Book of the New Sun. The first in the series is Shadow of the Torturer, or you can read the two-volume omnibus. Excellent stuff.
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Emil
Posted 2011-09-14 2:11 AM (#2652 - in reply to #2636)
Subject: Re: Gene Wolfe



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Location: Grootfontein, Namibia		The Knight-Wizard sequence is also a decent place to start, but I agree with the above - The Book of The New Sun is certainly his best known narrative and is the quintessential marker for everything Wolfe-ish. It exemplifies the use of the first-person storyteller (much like the first novelette in "The Fifth Head of Cerberus" - one has to read very carefully for Severian isn't always very honest

It's simply awesome that people are showing an interest in Wolfe!
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