Rating: 
Summary: A journey of uncertainty.
Review: This set of 3 novellas that actually should be considered a novel is an intricate work that one can easily be submerged in. From the story of Number Five in the opening novella up to the search for the abos in the last, this masterwork of Gene Wolfe is characterized by a fascinating sense of uncertainty in his search for the meaning of what it is to be human.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: Three seperate stories, which when completed, reveal a fourth hideen story that proves to be as perplexing as the other three. While none of the three stories are directly connected in any major way, one character travels through the first and third, and is the author (apparently) of the second.These stories do not directly tell the reader the truth behind the mystery of the abos, indeed, only the third is directly related to the search for them. Yet, we find ourselves catching glimpses of hints of them, hiding here and there. In the first story, a character is accused as an abo. Initally this is discounted - the character doign the accusing has an ulterior motive, of which the reader is well aware. Yet in the third story, the accused is revisited, and having read this third story - I am no longer sure. Who was an abo? Were they all abos? Or no? Did the abos intermingle witht he human populace to such a degree that they forgot themselves? Did some humans, seeking to return to a simpler form of life, become the Free People, the term the abos call themselves? Did the abos ever exist? While the book doesnt provoke any of these thoughts while reading it, in retrospect and rumination - it provides a thought-provoking read. If humanity met a shape-changing species that took on our form - how would we tell ourselves from them? Would there be any difference? A great book.
Rating:
Summary: Wolfe is the best author alive
Review: When I originally read this book, I had trouble making it through the first of the three novellas. I wasn't prepared for Wolfe's many layers, and thus missed a great deal of symbolism and hidden meaning. When I came back to this book and read the final two novellas, something clicked and I realized how beautiful and subtle a writer Wolfe is, filled with ideas. The stories are interpretable many ways, and thus with each reading of them I find myself thinking more and more, and enjoying the book more and more. For anyone who is interested in the deeper meanings of Wolfe's works, I would suggest searching the Internet Public Library for criticism on him, specifically the Post-Colonial thought found throughout the novellas in Fifth Head of Cerberus. Get this and all of Gene Wolfe's works.
Rating:
Summary: Wolfe is the best author alive
Review: When I originally read this book, I had trouble making it through the first of the three novellas. I wasn't prepared for Wolfe's many layers, and thus missed a great deal of symbolism and hidden meaning. When I came back to this book and read the final two novellas, something clicked and I realized how beautiful and subtle a writer Wolfe is, filled with ideas. The stories are interpretable many ways, and thus with each reading of them I find myself thinking more and more, and enjoying the book more and more. For anyone who is interested in the deeper meanings of Wolfe's works, I would suggest searching the Internet Public Library for criticism on him, specifically the Post-Colonial thought found throughout the novellas in Fifth Head of Cerberus. Get this and all of Gene Wolfe's works.
Rating:
Summary: Subtle and thought-provoking
Review: Wolfe delivers three unique tales spanning two planets, which examine the notion of identity. As always, the characterizations are subtle and convincing, and Wolfe leaves the reader with plenty of food for thought. The futuristic aspects are almost off-handedly (but never less than expertly) scrawled in the background, providing a suitable stage and setting for the story, without intruding unduly on the author's real focus.
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