Rating: 
Summary: Over Rated
Review: I eagerly sought out this book because of the glowing review in American Heritage. They called it the best science fiction ever written ... far better than Asimov.Forget it. Favorable reviews call it "subtle"; "disjointed" suits far better. The story isn't particularly interesting, it doesn't qualify as literature by any stretch and the joke about the dog guarding the gates of Hades is pathetically juvenile. Don't bother with this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding Book
Review: I haven't read a book this good, in any genre, in a long time. Very challenging and thought provoking reading, but not for readers who are looking to simply be entertained. Now I know why, at age 13, I was unable to get through Wolfe's The Shadow of the Torturer when it was originally published--both books are tough reads for inexperienced or casual readers, but rewarding if one reads carefully. I'm glad I've given Wolfe another chance, after seeing so many passionate references to his books over the years.
Rating: 
Summary: Now this is more like it!
Review: I liken another of Gene Wolfe's works, The Book of the New Sun, to the myriad pieces of a mosaic that have been jumbled and have no mortar to hold them together. There are pretty bits and pieces but no overall impression that emerges from it. The stories in The Fifth Head of Cerberus, however, are more like three paintings -- a triptych, as it were. Each brush stroke is thoughtfully applied, revealing only as much as Wolfe wants us to see. The synergism of the three stories -- between the slight overlaps of theme, character and location -- becomes entrancing. The key to why this works is focus. Each tale has a unique story structure. Each of the three has a different voice and perspective. Symbolism and allusion are used sparingly and well, enmeshed with Wolfe's imagery to add depth to the stories. There is an attention to detail that fleshes out the stories convincingly, giving them a distinct sense of place. In the title story, Wolfe describes a melancholy world of decaying grandeur where the humans make your skin crawl and the most sympathetic character is a machine. The second tale is in some ways the strongest entry and in others the weakest. The imagery is lyrical and haunting, told in an intriguing folkloric style. I enjoyed the issues of identity and consciousness Wolfe raises, and the elliptical change in subject to convey these. But, unrelated to this theme, he peppers throughout the story awkward sentence structure and the use of vague pronouns. This seems to be intentional, as if Wolfe enjoys these little mental misdirections. It pulls me out of the experience of the story and so detracts from the work, though not greatly. In my favorite of the three, Wolfe lets us peer over the shoulder of an officer and read the private journals of one of his prisoners, presenting them to us out of chronological order so that important hints are dropped in the most careful way, culminating in a clever conundrum: is he really what we think he is or merely mad from long confinement? It's rewarding fun to fit these puzzle pieces together. All in all, Wolfe delivers enough of a payoff to be satisfying, and yet keeps the reader wanting more -- in just the correct proportions to be both entertaining and thought provoking.
Rating:
Summary: Now this is more like it!
Review: I liken another of Gene Wolfe's works, The Book of the New Sun, to the myriad pieces of a mosaic that have been jumbled and have no mortar to hold them together. There are pretty bits and pieces but no overall impression that emerges from it. The stories in The Fifth Head of Cerberus, however, are more like three paintings -- a triptych, as it were. Each brush stroke is thoughtfully applied, revealing only as much as Wolfe wants us to see. The synergism of the three stories -- between the slight overlaps of theme, character and location -- becomes entrancing. The key to why this works is focus. Each tale has a unique story structure. Each of the three has a different voice and perspective. Symbolism and allusion are used sparingly and well, enmeshed with Wolfe's imagery to add depth to the stories. There is an attention to detail that fleshes out the stories convincingly, giving them a distinct sense of place. In the title story, Wolfe describes a melancholy world of decaying grandeur where the humans make your skin crawl and the most sympathetic character is a machine. The second tale is in some ways the strongest entry and in others the weakest. The imagery is lyrical and haunting, told in an intriguing folkloric style. I enjoyed the issues of identity and consciousness Wolfe raises, and the elliptical change in subject to convey these. But, unrelated to this theme, he peppers throughout the story awkward sentence structure and the use of vague pronouns. This seems to be intentional, as if Wolfe enjoys these little mental misdirections. It pulls me out of the experience of the story and so detracts from the work, though not greatly. In my favorite of the three, Wolfe lets us peer over the shoulder of an officer and read the private journals of one of his prisoners, presenting them to us out of chronological order so that important hints are dropped in the most careful way, culminating in a clever conundrum: is he really what we think he is or merely mad from long confinement? It's rewarding fun to fit these puzzle pieces together. All in all, Wolfe delivers enough of a payoff to be satisfying, and yet keeps the reader wanting more -- in just the correct proportions to be both entertaining and thought provoking.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, but where are the Cliffs Notes?
Review: Out of the many, many fine books Gene Wolfe has done, this is probably considered his greatest single novel (as opposed to the Long Sun, Short Sun, etc series, all of which deserve their critical acclaim) due to its richness and complexity. People looking for an easy way to break into Wolfe's writing won't find it in this book, he piles on the head hurtin' stuff pretty early and it doesn't let up, adding layer upon layer of meaning and detail to the point where the reader cannot ignore it, you have to spend time actively interepreting the novel or reading it becomes a wasted effort. Such is the genius of Wolfe and of not taking the easy way out. The novel actually consists of three fairly separate novellas and while Wolfe could have devised some vague basic linkage and taken three novellas and dumped this arbitrary linkage over them and been done with it, he goes way further than that. The novellas are all different, but they're also all connected in some way, either through offhand scenes or subtle clues or overarching themes or perhaps all of that and more. There's a reason for nearly everything done in the book, from the placement of the novellas to the order of events happening in each section, heck, even the titles are chosen for specific reasons that resonate within the structure as a whole. The first novella sets the scene, a pair of sister planets orbiting each other, colonized by man, and rumored to have once been home to a race of shapeshifters who may have been so good at shapeshifting that they took humanity's place and then promptly forgot they did (the "copy is not the original, or is it?" argument), one of the ideas explored throughout the novel is this question of identity, whether the human race has really been replaced and if so, do the new people count as humans since they're like them in every way. And would anyone even notice? This is not typical SF stuff and it's not told in a typical SF way, for every nuance that I "got" I'm sure a hundred more went over my head, this is a book that demands rereading and is so far from the "So, Zolgar, we meet again" type of SF that fans of literate, intelligent novels will want to jump up and cheer. For all the literary tricks in the novel, it never comes off as pretentious, Wolfe is exploring real themes with real resonance and it all works with the scheme of the novel, none of it can be confused with arty indulgence. Still kind of in print (most bookstores seem to carry at least one copy) it's an excellent introduction to Wolfe, since the longer series can be a bit overwhelming, but again, don't think you're getting off easy. Smaller doesn't mean simpler and shorter doesn't mean less work is involved. People who demand a little more effort from their book and want more than simple entertainment, regardless of genre, should give this a look.
Rating:
Summary: An amazingly literate science fiction story.
Review: The three novellas are actually one novel about individuality and the ways we lie about ourselves.
Stunningly well written--expect it to haunt you.
Rating:
Summary: amazing
Review: this book is absolutely fabulous. three novellas that are inextricably linked and when viewed as a whole begin to form a larger story that is never directly mentioned in the novellas. i have only read this book once and like everything else by wolfe, it warrants a close re-reading. absolutely wonderful! even if you are not a big sf buff (like me) this book can still be appreciated. highly literate and breathtakingly written
Rating:
Summary: amazing
Review: this book is absolutely fabulous. three novellas that are inextricably linked and when viewed as a whole begin to form a larger story that is never directly mentioned in the novellas. i have only read this book once and like everything else by wolfe, it warrants a close re-reading. absolutely wonderful! even if you are not a big sf buff (like me) this book can still be appreciated. highly literate and breathtakingly written
Rating:
Summary: You should read it more then once...
Review: This book is just another example of Gene Wolfe's prowess at taking the human soul, converting it into alphabetica, and then deciphering the jumble of letters until they spell out the very thing that contrived them. This book leaves you feeling like that. You need to read it more then once. The best thing is, you'll want to.
Rating:
Summary: This is a puzzle in disguise
Review: This book is neither a novella or novel; rather it is an intricate puzzle in the form of a book. Who are the abos? The shoadw children? And are the hill men either of these, or something different? Like many of Wolfe's books, this is one that doesn't get boring or repetetive in time, it gets more and more fascinating. Each time you read it, you find a new piece to the puzzle.
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