Rating: 
Summary: Short Suns
Review: All I can say, on the whole, about Gene Wolfe's "The Book of the Short Sun" trilogy, especially "Return to the Whorl", is sensational. A gentle, ambitious, and exquisite expedition into the strange and richly exotic. Complex and simplistic intriguing in its delivery. "Return to the Whorl" leaves the reader in breathless awe, as only Wolfe can do it, and masterfully and impressively as Wolfe so often does.
Rating:
Summary: Short Suns
Review: All I can say, on the whole, about Gene Wolfe's "The Book of the Short Sun" trilogy, especially "Return to the Whorl", is sensational. A gentle, ambitious, and exquisite expedition into the strange and richly exotic. Complex and simplistic intriguing in its delivery. "Return to the Whorl" leaves the reader in breathless awe, as only Wolfe can do it, and masterfully and impressively as Wolfe so often does.
Rating: 
Summary: A fitting conclusion to a momument to literature.
Review: As I was reading RETURN TO THE WHORL, the final volume of the Book of the Short Sun, I wondered how the ending of this work and the wrapping-up of a 12-volume cycle would come across in a... review. Perhaps, I thought, it would be like Dante's vision of God in the Paradiso; the poet's sight is too filled with beauty to communicate what he saw to those below.It isn't like that at all. I can't communicate the beauty of this book not because it cannot flow through words but because I don't have a handle on its core essence yet. Wolfe's splendid work ends elusively, causing me not to feel like I have seen the height of his vision, but rather that I have only begun the contemplation that will bring me to understanding Wolfe's view of God. RETURN TO THE WHORL offers closure, certainly, but it also causes one to *think*. Questions are left unanswered, so it seems, but they can be resolved through the subtle clues in the text. What continues to involve the reader after the book is finished is meditation on how the Outsider is present both in Wolfe's world and in our own. Gene Wolfe is a superb writer, and his work appeals to people due to many different things, but I've always found his work to wonderfully reinforce my belief in Catholicism. Yes, reading Wolfe can be a religious experience. RETURN TO THE WHORL is an excellent conclusion to the Sun books because of its circular nature. At the end of RttW, the reader can go through the protagonist's return to Blue all over again from the final chapters of RttW to the first chapter of ON BLUE'S WATERS. Or, one can go back to a foggy evening in the Citadel of Nessus, where the Book of the New Sun and our whole saga began. After this, 12 books of excellent writing, I echo the same sentiments many fans do, why don't people realize Wolfe is the greatest writer alive?
Rating:
Summary: A powerful capstone
Review: Every work of Gene Wolfe's that I read further increase my admiration of his writing. _The Book of the Short Sun_ (I feel the three volumes are best read as a single novel) is easily the most thought provoking piece of fiction I have read in years. RETURN does not explicitly answer many of the questions that have been raised throughout the trilogy, but the questions themselves are what is important.
Even direct statements from Horn (the narrator) are often nothing more that guesses or even self deception. This book doesn't simply tell a story. What it does is provide half of a conversation. If there are answers, then they are for readers to determine for themselves. If this sounds needlessly philisophical, I can only say that I am still fresh from turning the last page of this extraordinary work and under it's spell.
Within the next year or so I plan to set aside a large chunk of my free time to re-read all of the "Sun" books (The Book of the New Sun, The Urth of the New Sun, The Book of the Long Sun, and The Book of the Short Sun) to give myself the full impact of the entire sequence. Anyone who looks down on the genre of science fiction need look no further that the works of Gene Wolfe to have their preconceptions blown away.
Rating:
Summary: A powerful capstone
Review: Every work of Gene Wolfe's that I read further increase my admiration of his writing. _The Book of the Short Sun_ (I feel the three volumes are best read as a single novel) is easily the most thought provoking piece of fiction I have read in years. RETURN does not explicitly answer many of the questions that have been raised throughout the trilogy, but the questions themselves are what is important.
Even direct statements from Horn (the narrator) are often nothing more that guesses or even self deception. This book doesn't simply tell a story. What it does is provide half of a conversation. If there are answers, then they are for readers to determine for themselves. If this sounds needlessly philisophical, I can only say that I am still fresh from turning the last page of this extraordinary work and under it's spell.
Within the next year or so I plan to set aside a large chunk of my free time to re-read all of the "Sun" books (The Book of the New Sun, The Urth of the New Sun, The Book of the Long Sun, and The Book of the Short Sun) to give myself the full impact of the entire sequence. Anyone who looks down on the genre of science fiction need look no further that the works of Gene Wolfe to have their preconceptions blown away.
Rating:
Summary: SATISFIED READER.... Good Fishing
Review: Gene Wolfe has always asked a lot of his readers. This conclusion of his current Book of the Short Sun trilogy is just about his most demanding work. But I feel that it is one of his most rewarding also. You won't really be able to access this work unless you've read its predecessors: On Blue's Waters and In Green's Jungles. And perhaps you need to have read his Book of the Long Sun quartet, a direct prequel; as well as his Quintet of Urth books that are connected as well. Reading all of these works is one of the most rewarding voyages in contemporary genre fiction and contemporary "literature". I've been a Wolfe fan since the 60's and each year I am more impressed with his imagination, erudation, and writing skill. This new work blew me away. Many questions posed by the preceding works are answered; while some remain as puzzles for the reader to ponder. I was greatly moved by the human events in the life of the novel's principle narrator. Moved to tears a couple of times by his friendship with Pig and Pig's long sightless quest for vision along the length of the giant starship; followed by the narrator's donation of an eye combined with the transfer from Pig to the narrator of Silk-In-Mainframe. Maybe I have always been a (...) for talking animals... But I especially enjoyed the talking night chough Oren's part in this complex story. This is a specialized work for a specialized audience. It can be hard going for the unititiated. But work put in by the reader on Wolfe's fiction rewards much more than work put into other author's work. This is a true adventure in reading and I urge you to read all the preceding works if you are intrigued to do so.
Rating:
Summary: Don't give up after one reading!
Review: Gene Wolfe has done more for the potential of speculative fiction than anyone else. After I read this book for the first time, I was impressed, but I wasn't sure if there was as much beneath the surface as I expected from a Wolfe book.
After re-reading it and pondering it at great length, I think that Wolfe has done such a good job making supposedly secret things obviously hinted at in the text that we stop looking for the right questions to ask because we THINK we know all the answers. If you think you have figured out everything on one reading of this text about the changes in an individual and in a home that render it impossible to go home again, here are some questions that I have found the answers to (at least, I think so)on a close re-reading (I wouldn't advise reading these questions unless you've read the text at least once):
When exactly does the majority of Horn's essence leave the narrator to go ride a beast with three horns? (and what is that beast?)
Why are plant genetics important to the story?
Why does the narrative technique and tone change so drastically between On Blue's Waters and In Green's Jungles? Why is that island on Blue made up of big trees, and why is it important? Who and what are the vanished people, and why do the animals with doubled limbs seem so similar to the ones we have on earth? Why does the narrator travel (a debatable word) to Urth, and what is the REAL importance of the secret of the inhumu, which is no secret at all? How many fair young girls in the text are spies? What is the fate of Urth? What really happens to Horn when he falls in the pit, and why do the Vanished People appear to him at that particular time? Why is the fact that Urth's sea is saltier than Blue important? How can we know that there will probably be no more New/Long/Short Sun books? What does the Cummean have to do with the inhumu and the vanished people? Is Chenille really stuck in Sinew's basement on Green? Why does Babbie look more human than Cillinia (Scylla)in the narrator's "dream" travel?
The didactic message of this text has been exposed on the surface, but the real conflict has been hidden by the master. You have to learn to look for the right questions (as with any Wolfe story) to ask the text (I've tried not to spoil this fine work; but I feel it is impossible to spoil a Wolfe book.) Remember to ask why, and you will find that Wolfe makes much more sense and has plotted out his universe with far more reason and surprising skill than the surface message would indicate.
I have managed to answer all of the above questions to my satisfaction (but perhaps not to everyones) and hope to find more of the right questions to ask of this masterpiece, Gene Wolfe's best work since The Book of the New Sun (and I believe it MIGHT even contend with that as my favorite book). Never stop asking the text questions, and it will not fail you; believe me.
Rating:
Summary: Don't give up after one reading!
Review: Gene Wolfe has done more for the potential of speculative fiction than anyone else. After I read this book for the first time, I was impressed, but I wasn't sure if there was as much beneath the surface as I expected from a Wolfe book.
After re-reading it and pondering it at great length, I think that Wolfe has done such a good job making supposedly secret things obviously hinted at in the text that we stop looking for the right questions to ask because we THINK we know all the answers. If you think you have figured out everything on one reading of this text about the changes in an individual and in a home that render it impossible to go home again, here are some questions that I have found the answers to (at least, I think so)on a close re-reading (I wouldn't advise reading these questions unless you've read the text at least once):
When exactly does the majority of Horn's essence leave the narrator to go ride a beast with three horns? (and what is that beast?)
Why are plant genetics important to the story?
Why does the narrative technique and tone change so drastically between On Blue's Waters and In Green's Jungles? Why is that island on Blue made up of big trees, and why is it important? Who and what are the vanished people, and why do the animals with doubled limbs seem so similar to the ones we have on earth? Why does the narrator travel (a debatable word) to Urth, and what is the REAL importance of the secret of the inhumu, which is no secret at all? How many fair young girls in the text are spies? What is the fate of Urth? What really happens to Horn when he falls in the pit, and why do the Vanished People appear to him at that particular time? Why is the fact that Urth's sea is saltier than Blue important? How can we know that there will probably be no more New/Long/Short Sun books? What does the Cummean have to do with the inhumu and the vanished people? Is Chenille really stuck in Sinew's basement on Green? Why does Babbie look more human than Cillinia (Scylla)in the narrator's "dream" travel?
The didactic message of this text has been exposed on the surface, but the real conflict has been hidden by the master. You have to learn to look for the right questions (as with any Wolfe story) to ask the text (I've tried not to spoil this fine work; but I feel it is impossible to spoil a Wolfe book.) Remember to ask why, and you will find that Wolfe makes much more sense and has plotted out his universe with far more reason and surprising skill than the surface message would indicate.
I have managed to answer all of the above questions to my satisfaction (but perhaps not to everyones) and hope to find more of the right questions to ask of this masterpiece, Gene Wolfe's best work since The Book of the New Sun (and I believe it MIGHT even contend with that as my favorite book). Never stop asking the text questions, and it will not fail you; believe me.
Rating:
Summary: Intense and moving, perhaps the best SF of 2001
Review: Gene Wolfe has published the last book in his _Book of the Short Sun_ trilogy, _Return to the Whorl_. This is a very intense book. I found it quite extraordinarily moving. I think it's the best SF novel of 2001, so far. It might be difficult to discuss it in detail without spoilers for all three "Short Sun" books, though on the other hand I'm not sure those spoilers are at all important to the books' reading experience. At any rate it answers a central question: the identity of the main character, though I don't really think any reader of the first two books will be surprised. One set of chapters of _Return to the Whorl_ is written, as with the first two "Short Sun" books, by "Horn", continuing the story of events on Blue after he has returned from his visit to the Long Sun Whorl, where he went to search for Patera Silk. But "Horn", it has become clear, much resembles Silk, and doesn't resemble his old self at all. He is approaching his home of New Viron, in the company of one of his twin sons, Hide, and the person he calls his daughter, Jahlee, who, we know, is an inhuma that he rescued in Gaon, the first place he came to upon his return to Blue. Also, of course, he is accompanied by the night chough, Oreb, who was Silk's bird as well. They are arrested on the word of a corrupt merchant when they reach the town of Dorp. This strand of the story tells of their imprisonment in Dorp, of Horn's realization of the corrupt nature of the government of that town, and his eventual fomenting of a revolution there. (Thus continuing a theme which became apparent in the first two books.) The other set of chapters is told in third person about a man always called "he", who calls himself Horn but is called by others Silk, on the Long Sun Whorl. "He" meets up with a blind giant named Pig, and with a man named Hound, and makes his way to Old Viron, the hometown of both Horn and Silk. There, as he looks for "Silk", he meets again Horn's father, the old manteion, a strange chem girl named Olivine, and finally his beloved General Mint and her husband, Bison, who is now Calde, Silk having resigned some years previously. "He" has promised to find eyes for his old chem sybil Maytera Marble (back on Blue), and he also promises to help Pig find medical help to restore his "een", as Pig calls them. And he is instructed by a godling to tell the people of the Long Sun Whorl to stop leaving the Whorl to go to Blue -- enough have gone, and now they wish to repair the Whorl and travel to another star system. All is resolved, quite satisfyingly. There are more visits (in astral form) to the "Red Sun Whorl": that is, Urth at the time of the beginning of the Book of the New Sun. There is plenty of action, and even more talk. Such events as the eventual restoring of sight to both blind characters, shown indirectly, are subtly and remarkably moving. And at the end, the most remarkable thing Wolfe has done, to my mind, is to have portrayed, over seven books (including _The Book of the Long Sun_), a character who is complex and fully human and often foolish but also as purely "good" as any character I have encountered in SF: Silk. It is a great book.
Rating:
Summary: Intense and moving, perhaps the best SF of 2001
Review: Gene Wolfe has published the last book in his _Book of the Short Sun_ trilogy, _Return to the Whorl_. This is a very intense book. I found it quite extraordinarily moving. I think it's the best SF novel of 2001, so far. It might be difficult to discuss it in detail without spoilers for all three "Short Sun" books, though on the other hand I'm not sure those spoilers are at all important to the books' reading experience. At any rate it answers a central question: the identity of the main character, though I don't really think any reader of the first two books will be surprised. One set of chapters of _Return to the Whorl_ is written, as with the first two "Short Sun" books, by "Horn", continuing the story of events on Blue after he has returned from his visit to the Long Sun Whorl, where he went to search for Patera Silk. But "Horn", it has become clear, much resembles Silk, and doesn't resemble his old self at all. He is approaching his home of New Viron, in the company of one of his twin sons, Hide, and the person he calls his daughter, Jahlee, who, we know, is an inhuma that he rescued in Gaon, the first place he came to upon his return to Blue. Also, of course, he is accompanied by the night chough, Oreb, who was Silk's bird as well. They are arrested on the word of a corrupt merchant when they reach the town of Dorp. This strand of the story tells of their imprisonment in Dorp, of Horn's realization of the corrupt nature of the government of that town, and his eventual fomenting of a revolution there. (Thus continuing a theme which became apparent in the first two books.) The other set of chapters is told in third person about a man always called "he", who calls himself Horn but is called by others Silk, on the Long Sun Whorl. "He" meets up with a blind giant named Pig, and with a man named Hound, and makes his way to Old Viron, the hometown of both Horn and Silk. There, as he looks for "Silk", he meets again Horn's father, the old manteion, a strange chem girl named Olivine, and finally his beloved General Mint and her husband, Bison, who is now Calde, Silk having resigned some years previously. "He" has promised to find eyes for his old chem sybil Maytera Marble (back on Blue), and he also promises to help Pig find medical help to restore his "een", as Pig calls them. And he is instructed by a godling to tell the people of the Long Sun Whorl to stop leaving the Whorl to go to Blue -- enough have gone, and now they wish to repair the Whorl and travel to another star system. All is resolved, quite satisfyingly. There are more visits (in astral form) to the "Red Sun Whorl": that is, Urth at the time of the beginning of the Book of the New Sun. There is plenty of action, and even more talk. Such events as the eventual restoring of sight to both blind characters, shown indirectly, are subtly and remarkably moving. And at the end, the most remarkable thing Wolfe has done, to my mind, is to have portrayed, over seven books (including _The Book of the Long Sun_), a character who is complex and fully human and often foolish but also as purely "good" as any character I have encountered in SF: Silk. It is a great book.
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