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Gene Wolfe 1931-2019

#1 User is offline   Aptorian 

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Posted 15 April 2019 - 04:50 PM

Gene Wolfe has passed away.



Never read any of his works. Now might be the time.

What books would you recommend?

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 15 April 2019 - 04:51 PM

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#2 User is offline   Obdigore 

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Posted 15 April 2019 - 04:57 PM

Oh man thats too bad.

I enjoyed The Wizard Knight duo of his the most.

I read the four books of the new sun and the soldier series as well, but I think the Wizard Knight stuff was some of his best work.
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#3 User is offline   Aptorian 

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Posted 15 April 2019 - 05:01 PM

Just bought the complete book compilation of the new sun of Amazon. Just in case the publisher does a price hike.
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Posted 15 April 2019 - 05:06 PM

View PostAptorian, on 15 April 2019 - 05:01 PM, said:

Just bought the complete book compilation of the new sun of Amazon. Just in case the publisher does a price hike.

It's a good series. Wolfe's writing is ... different. It's more like the Black Company stuff by Glen Cook, but Wolfe is more concerned about prose, akin to a GGKay level.

If that makes sense. Its been a while since I ready it.
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#5 User is offline   Aptorian 

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Posted 15 April 2019 - 05:29 PM

I've heard that Wolfe is an acquired taste writing wise, which is why he's never been high on the to read list. But now is the time!
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#6 User is offline   Salt-Man Z 

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Posted 15 April 2019 - 05:30 PM

Aw shit.

I started with BOOK OF THE NEW SUN, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend that avenue. The main stumbling blocks people have with it are the vocabulary (Wolfe peppers antiquated words throughout, though their general, if not specific, meaning is usually always evident in context) and the fact that the narrator Severian is mostly concerned with his own immediate story and doesn't often give details of the greater world around him (thought of course Wolfe has seeded clues.) Anyway, the first time I finished it, I thought it was fine, if not particularly great. But then I kept thinking about it, and so a year later embarked upon my first (of many) rereads, and that second time through really blew my mind wide open.

His many short story collections are also a good place to start. THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR DEATH AND OTHER STORIES AND OTHER STORIES is probably his most famous and "Wolfean", but I also really like STARWATER STRAINS. ("Golden City Far" is my favorite of his stories.)
"Here is light. You will say that it is not a living entity, but you miss the point that it is more, not less. Without occupying space, it fills the universe. It nourishes everything, yet itself feeds upon destruction. We claim to control it, but does it not perhaps cultivate us as a source of food? May it not be that all wood grows so that it can be set ablaze, and that men and women are born to kindle fires?"
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#7 User is offline   Aptorian 

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Posted 15 April 2019 - 05:36 PM

Picked up the island of doctor death as well because why not.
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#8 User is offline   Salt-Man Z 

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Posted 15 April 2019 - 05:41 PM

I thought I was fine, and then someone posted this (from the very end of BotNS):


This post has been edited by Salt-Man Z: 15 April 2019 - 05:44 PM

"Here is light. You will say that it is not a living entity, but you miss the point that it is more, not less. Without occupying space, it fills the universe. It nourishes everything, yet itself feeds upon destruction. We claim to control it, but does it not perhaps cultivate us as a source of food? May it not be that all wood grows so that it can be set ablaze, and that men and women are born to kindle fires?"
―Gene Wolfe, The Citadel of the Autarch
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Posted 15 April 2019 - 05:45 PM

Still gotta read the rest of his work, but I liked what I've read so far! RIP to a great voice.
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Posted 15 April 2019 - 08:26 PM

Thanks for the stories, Gene.

I think Apt would like The Wizard Knight and the Latro books much more than the Solar books or the standalones.
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#11 User is offline   Salt-Man Z 

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Posted 16 April 2019 - 03:12 AM

In honor of Mr. Wolfe tonight:

Posted Image
"Here is light. You will say that it is not a living entity, but you miss the point that it is more, not less. Without occupying space, it fills the universe. It nourishes everything, yet itself feeds upon destruction. We claim to control it, but does it not perhaps cultivate us as a source of food? May it not be that all wood grows so that it can be set ablaze, and that men and women are born to kindle fires?"
―Gene Wolfe, The Citadel of the Autarch
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#12 User is offline   Aptorian 

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Posted 16 April 2019 - 04:41 AM

What's the deal with the Pringles?
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#13 User is offline   Aptorian 

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Posted 16 April 2019 - 05:37 AM

Oh shit. I'll pour out a Pringle in his name from now on.
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Posted 16 April 2019 - 07:20 PM

Ah, man. I'd always hoped this day would never come. I still check the W's first in every bookstore, because maybe.
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Posted 16 April 2019 - 11:39 PM

View Postansible, on 16 April 2019 - 07:20 PM, said:

Ah, man. I'd always hoped this day would never come. I still check the W's first in every bookstore, because maybe.

Latro is stuck in the goddamn Red Sea now.
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Posted 18 April 2019 - 03:53 PM

Latro 3 is a very good book. Glorious look at Egyptian life. But I strongly doubt Wolfe had Latro 4 anywhere close to being done due to several things - his wife being extremely ill for a while and the not-strong sales for Latro 3 being foremost.
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#17 User is offline   Salt-Man Z 

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Posted 18 April 2019 - 04:08 PM

View PostBriar King, on 18 April 2019 - 04:54 AM, said:

What’s the odds of a post mortem novel I wonder? I don’t know if Gene was “sick” just that he was getting up in age. Hope he was still able to write up to the end.

I think I had seen on Twitter that Wolfe had turned in a sequel to "A Borrowed Man" (called "Interlibrary Loan") to Tor. I can't find anything to confirm, but for sure he was working on it.

I did find a tweet from January confirming he had sold it:

"Here is light. You will say that it is not a living entity, but you miss the point that it is more, not less. Without occupying space, it fills the universe. It nourishes everything, yet itself feeds upon destruction. We claim to control it, but does it not perhaps cultivate us as a source of food? May it not be that all wood grows so that it can be set ablaze, and that men and women are born to kindle fires?"
―Gene Wolfe, The Citadel of the Autarch
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Posted 25 April 2019 - 09:48 AM

ah shit. I love everything Wolfe has written, with the Book of the New Sun being one of my alltime favourites.
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Posted 25 April 2019 - 11:23 AM

I really didn't enjoy Wizard Knight from what I recall, I feel now like I should give Wolfe another chance, what's the place to start?
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#20 User is offline   Aptorian 

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Posted 25 April 2019 - 11:40 AM

Certainly not Book of the new sun if the first three books are anything to go by!
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