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Rating: 
Summary: Wolfe is Wolfe
Review: Everything that needs to be said about Gene Wolfe has already been said, and said often. He's the best writer we have, and his work will endure. *Innocents Aboard: new fantasy stories* is his sixth collection. I'd like to comment on two of the twenty-two stories herein. "Houston, 1943" is the oldest, from 1988; "The Lost Pilgrim" is the newest, from 2004. For me, these are the highlights of a memorable collection. I read "Houston, 1943" when it was first published in an anthology called *Tropical Chills*, then I promptly lost the paperback. In the intervening years I've never forgotten it. Rereading it last week was like reliving a particularly memorable nightmare. Roddy, a boy, wakes in the middle of a sweltering night; a voice beckons from beyond the window: "Come." Roddy, who might still be dreaming, climbs out of bed. Out on the lawn stands another boy, one he's never seen before, who tells him his name is Jim. Roddy climbs out. The boy, silent, grips him by the arm and points toward the crawlspace under the house. "His grasp was cold and damp," Wolfe writes, "as if he had been groping after something lost in water." The boy points again, this time to a tarantula on the lawn. On five legs it runs swiftly toward Roddy, and climbs his pajama bottoms to his chest. "He grasped it, felt its stiff hair and gouging nails, and knew he held a human hand." Shaking it off, Roddy returns indoors. But he finds another figure -- himself -- asleep in the bed. He decides to follow Jim out onto the dark, silent streets. "They saw a single car on Old Spanish Trail, a black de Soto that hummed past them meditating upon secrets." Such period detail strengthens the many strangenesses of the horrific, surreal night-journey that follows; one that, with its vivid evocation of childhood, seems part of an informal series of stories Wolfe has written throughout his career, including "The Island of Doctor Death and other stories," "And When They Appear," "Fifth Head of Cerberus," "The Death of Doctor Island," "The Man in the Paper Mill," and others, all of which feature a boy protagonist, and (apparently) elements of autobiography. Perhaps not by accident, these stories also happen also to be some of Wolfe's greatest. "The Lost Pilgrim" shows Wolfe at the top of his game. Though included in a collection subtitled 'new fantasy stories', it's the best sort of science fiction. A time traveler intending to land in early America arrives instead on the shore of ancient Greece. His adversary, it seems, is Chronos. The traveler is equipped with an internal diary, and an internal camera which captures images (pukz). The narrative, and accompanying pukz (implied yet not seen), are therefore his report to posterity. A boat soon arrives by sea -- not the Mayflower, as he had expected, but the Argos. He doesn't recognize Jason (Eeasawn, in the text), or Hercules (Hahraklahs), though soon joins their voyage. He is equally confused about his own mission, and himself; and the confusion grows: it seems the mind cannot hold onto memories that do not yet exist. All of which sets us up for a masterfully enigmatic and yet entirely precise narrative, a hallmark of Wolfe's style. Here, as in his Soldier novels, he presents the ancient world in a way that is surely closer to the truth of things; it's a wonderful corrective to most historical fiction or cinema. *Innocents Aboard* is worth your money.
Rating:
Summary: Wolfe is Wolfe
Review: Everything that needs to be said about Gene Wolfe has already been said, and said often. He's the best writer we have, and his work will endure. *Innocents Aboard: new fantasy stories* is his sixth collection. I'd like to comment on two of the twenty-two stories herein. "Houston, 1943" is the oldest, from 1988; "The Lost Pilgrim" is the newest, from 2004. For me, these are the highlights of a memorable collection. I read "Houston, 1943" when it was first published in an anthology called *Tropical Chills*, then I promptly lost the paperback. In the intervening years I've never forgotten it. Rereading it last week was like reliving a particularly memorable nightmare. Roddy, a boy, wakes in the middle of a sweltering night; a voice beckons from beyond the window: "Come." Roddy, who might still be dreaming, climbs out of bed. Out on the lawn stands another boy, one he's never seen before, who tells him his name is Jim. Roddy climbs out. The boy, silent, grips him by the arm and points toward the crawlspace under the house. "His grasp was cold and damp," Wolfe writes, "as if he had been groping after something lost in water." The boy points again, this time to a tarantula on the lawn. On five legs it runs swiftly toward Roddy, and climbs his pajama bottoms to his chest. "He grasped it, felt its stiff hair and gouging nails, and knew he held a human hand." Shaking it off, Roddy returns indoors. But he finds another figure -- himself -- asleep in the bed. He decides to follow Jim out onto the dark, silent streets. "They saw a single car on Old Spanish Trail, a black de Soto that hummed past them meditating upon secrets." Such period detail strengthens the many strangenesses of the horrific, surreal night-journey that follows; one that, with its vivid evocation of childhood, seems part of an informal series of stories Wolfe has written throughout his career, including "The Island of Doctor Death and other stories," "And When They Appear," "Fifth Head of Cerberus," "The Death of Doctor Island," "The Man in the Paper Mill," and others, all of which feature a boy protagonist, and (apparently) elements of autobiography. Perhaps not by accident, these stories also happen also to be some of Wolfe's greatest. "The Lost Pilgrim" shows Wolfe at the top of his game. Though included in a collection subtitled 'new fantasy stories', it's the best sort of science fiction. A time traveler intending to land in early America arrives instead on the shore of ancient Greece. His adversary, it seems, is Chronos. The traveler is equipped with an internal diary, and an internal camera which captures images (pukz). The narrative, and accompanying pukz (implied yet not seen), are therefore his report to posterity. A boat soon arrives by sea -- not the Mayflower, as he had expected, but the Argos. He doesn't recognize Jason (Eeasawn, in the text), or Hercules (Hahraklahs), though soon joins their voyage. He is equally confused about his own mission, and himself; and the confusion grows: it seems the mind cannot hold onto memories that do not yet exist. All of which sets us up for a masterfully enigmatic and yet entirely precise narrative, a hallmark of Wolfe's style. Here, as in his Soldier novels, he presents the ancient world in a way that is surely closer to the truth of things; it's a wonderful corrective to most historical fiction or cinema. *Innocents Aboard* is worth your money.
Rating:
Summary: Gene Wolfe still on top of his form as one of SF & F's best
Review: For decades Gene Wolfe has received lavish praise from fellow writers and fans of science fiction and fantasy as the finest writer currently at work in both genres. He merely reaffirms such praise in his latest collection of short stories, "Innocents Aboard", which contains some of the best writing I've seen from him in years. It is a riveting collection of 22 fantasy and horror tales, with some loose elements from science fiction thrown here and there for good measure, and elements which could be described as "Magical Realism". My favorite tale is "Houston, 1943", which is sort of a bizarre twist from "Peter Pan" and other classic tales of childhood, along with sections which Wolfe claims is autobiographical. The final tale in the collection "The Lost Pilgrim", about a time traveler who stumbles upon the truth behind certain ancient Greek legends, is another classic. Those unfamiliar with Gene Wolfe's influential body of work may find this a minor introduction, but one which shows him still crafting great literary art in his 70's; others more familiar with his work will undoubtedly embrace it as much as I have.
Rating:
Summary: Not a clinker in the bunch!
Review: My favorite story is the religious allegory 'Queen' & the time travel/Greek gods adventure 'The Lost Pilgrim' but 'The Tree Is My Hat' is pretty darn cool also. 19 more stories that are all worth reading and worth buying. So go do it! You're going to enjoy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Not a clinker in the bunch!
Review: My favorite story is the religious allegory 'Queen' & the time travel/Greek gods adventure 'The Lost Pilgrim' but 'The Tree Is My Hat' is pretty darn cool also. 19 more stories that are all worth reading and worth buying. So go do it! You're going to enjoy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: a pleasant little collection
Review: of some fairly unpleasant stories. Not bad by any stretch: Mr Wolfe is too much the artist (and his editors too wise) to allow a stinker to dwell here, but the subject matter and overall tone together conspire to make this collection something other than 'lite summer fare'.
An absolute must for the thoughtful reader of Mr Wolfe, and highly reccomended as a cross-genre introduction to his writings.
Rating:
Summary: Interwoven Collection of Great Stories
Review: The stories in 'Innocents Aboard' are very well written, as has been all of Gene Wolfe's work that I have read so far. What I like most about this collection is how closely each of the stories tie together - not by plot or characters, but by the type of stories they are. Most of the stories deal with some kind of supernatural presence, whether it be a god, deity, element, or just the area in which one of these was worshipped. Whether it be an indigenous god of an island people or the holographic projections of an automated house, every motion, thought, and action relates back to the reader. As a fan of Wolfe's New Sun, Long Sun, and Short Sun sagas, as well as a good chunk of his other work, I was happy to see some familiar characters make it into this collection. There is a story called 'The Night Chough' that relates back to Oreb of the Book of the Long Sun, and there was a story that reminded me of Latro in the Mist. I think these stories stand on their own quite nicely, too. All in all, this is collection was extremely satisfying, and I think I will be visiting it again very soon.
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