Comments on: Gene Wolfe steals my fudgsicle

By: Matt Weiner

Matt Weiner — Wed, 16 Jun 2004 18:38:15 +0000

Thanks for the suggestions—in return, I will field any questions you have about Shirley Hazzard’s Transit of Venus. (Answers not guaranteed accurate.)

By: Henry

Henry — Wed, 16 Jun 2004 15:14:27 +0000

Thanks – correction made. At least it’s not as big a screw-up as Locus’ infamous announcement of the forthcoming Castle of the Otter. Although it’s not as colourful either. Terry – delighted to have reunited you with your long-lost short story – it’s a good one. The Treasury is precisely what the title suggests – warmly recommended. Davidson’s Doctor Eszterhazy stories are also wonderful – Owlswick came out with a collection of them a few years ago, which you can sometimes find second-hand. Also his “The Phoenix and the Mirror.” I’ve just bought the newish collection of his Jack Limekiller stories, but haven’t had a chance to open it yet. And if anyone has a copy of his “Adventures in Unhistory” and is willing to offload it at a reasonable price …

By: Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Patrick Nielsen Hayden — Wed, 16 Jun 2004 15:01:46 +0000

Gene's new story collection is called Innocents Aboard, not "Abroad." Mind you, this isn't the first time Gene Wolfe has deliberately tried to drive bibliographers to distraction.

By: Terry

Terry — Wed, 16 Jun 2004 14:41:53 +0000

O. My. God. I read “Or All the Seas With Oysters” fifteen years ago and lost track of it, knowing neither the author or short story title. In the intervening years, I’ve wanted to share the story with others, but, until now, I could not. Henry, I owe you a fruit basket.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 16 Jun 2004 08:36:14 +0000

Good FAQ on BotNS – basically you want the Urth list at http://www.urth.net/urth/ where Wolfe’s novels have been under discussion since late 1996. Of course, the sheer volume of speculations may leave you even more confused than you were before you started. Also good for occasional John Crowley tidbits too.

By: Avram

Avram — Wed, 16 Jun 2004 04:24:54 +0000

From December 2003 to February 2004, I reread all of Wolfe’s Sun books (New Sun, Long Sun, Short Sun). As I was going I commented on them in my LiveJournal, occasionally linking to items from a couple of Wolfe mailing lists. Here’s the first such post. And some of my speculations are, um, silly.

By: Matt Weiner

Matt Weiner — Wed, 16 Jun 2004 02:55:36 +0000

So can anyone point me to a good FAQ on Book of the New Sun, or do I have to post my own (possibly slightly cranky) FAQs and hope that someone answers them? I mean—I’m perfectly happy to appreciate it for the amazing imagery, the man in the house that’s in the future ice age and the cacogens by the sea, and the gardens of whatsit in the first book, but I’d also like to pick everyone else’s brains about what might actually be going on.

By: J. Michael Neal

J. Michael Neal — Wed, 16 Jun 2004 01:06:25 +0000

I read the first two books of the Torturer series a long time ago. At that point, I put them down and never read the others. I can’t say that I was really bored, and I can’t say that they were bad, really. I just felt like I’d gotten nowhere. Not in that good way that a fine character study gets nowhere, and often deteriorates as soon as a plot is introduced. Just nowhere.

By: Bill Tozier

Bill Tozier — Tue, 15 Jun 2004 22:52:15 +0000

When I was in eleventh grade, I ate The Shadow of the Torturer overnight as soon as I discovered it at Waldenbooks. I immediately forced it on my creative writing teacher. He took it begrudgingly, saying, "I've only taken two recommendations from my students through the years, and regretted both of them." When he was done, he said, "Well, it reminds me of stories written by some disturbed children and schizophrenics I know." I thought then, and still think, that the whole Torturer series was amazing. Some years later, I read Wolfe's Peace. Go read it, and then tell me who was right.

By: Ophelia Benson

Ophelia Benson — Tue, 15 Jun 2004 19:24:50 +0000

“And I went home thinkin that maybe I really was plagued by the ghosts of memory and maybe I wasn’t who I thought I was, was I Fafnir or was I Gene Wolfe, or was I a butterfly dreaming I was Gene Wolfe dreaming I was Fafnir?” Maybe he was a butterfly dreaming he was a whale dreaming she was Gene Wolfe dreaming he was Fafnir. I bet that was it.