Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing but . . .
Review: . . . it's still Gene Wolfe, which makes it worth while. I've said before, in my review of the first half of the Book of the Long Sun, that this work pales in comparison with its predecessor, the Book of the New Sun. The second half is, if anything, even more disappointing. And for the same reasons as the first half: a less compelling setting, a less complex protagonist, a general scaling back of the otherworldliness that put the Book of the New Sun firmly in my top 10 books (not just sci-fi, but literature) of all time.
And there's some new flaws here. By the time I was halfway through the book, it seemed as though Wolfe was dealing with way too many characters and plotlines and his narrative starts to jump all over the damned place. It's probably the first time, in my experience of his work, that I've seen him make this sort of technical error. I didn't care for what he was doing in the first half, but he did, admittedly, pull it off - here the wheels start to come off.
Also, there's less and less theological and philosophical content, and far more political intrigue and endless conversation. Not that that isn't to my taste, but I don't see this as being a stong point of Wolfe's, and it shows.
But I think I understand what's going on here: the Book of the Long Sun, while written after the Book of the New Sun, takes place, chronologically, long before the bulk of the New Sun's action (yes, there is a connection, though it took me an embarrassingly long time to figure it out). Wolfe doesn't mine some of the same rich theological territory simply because his characters haven't gotten to that level of developement. Perhaps I should have read this first. I don't know.
Despite all that, when the end of this beast came around, I found myself moved - far more so than I'd have expected 100 or even 50 pages earlier. Perhaps it's the abruptness of the ending - something of a cliffhanger. Or perhaps I like Patera Silk more than I realize. Not sure. Whatever the case, when I finished this, I found myself retrospectively enjoying it more than I did in the heat of the moment. Which would suggest that this work would be ammenable to a bit of re-reading.
But, before all that, I believe I'll give the Book of the Short Sun a try. Seems as though there's a chance it'll pull this all together.
Rating:
Summary: Hell to read but glad to have read it
Review: (note: this review encompasses the entire Book of the Long Sun)
WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS:
If your tastes in speculative fiction are refined to the point that you can no longer stomach the latest Star Trek novelization (time travel as deus ex machina in every single plot line is now enforced by Executive Order) you would serve your palate well to indulge in Wolfe's masterful opus. Please forgive the exuberant hyperbole, but quite frankly his tetralogy is the Ulysses of speculative fiction. A person could devote an entire lifetime to unraveling its mysteries. It will test your patience, will and mental ability. The reader, like an augur, will need to divine clues from the entrails of Wolfe's twisted lexicon. (Disclosure: we may have read that last sentence somewhere else, so if you are the original author, send us a note and we will cite you. Until then, we will claim it as our own).
WHY YOU SHOULD PASS:
Wolfe has always been into punishing his readers with his characteristic obtuseness, but in Long Sun he takes his lexiconic sadism to a whole new level. This is a very dense and layered book. Not only is it difficult to grasp what is occurring at a given moment, but as soon as a chapter begins to build some steam and we begin to empathize with the characters, the plot abruptly halts and switches to one of the other, various parallel plot lines. He keeps his characters at arm's length from the reader. We never get the chance to connect emotionally with any of them. The only character in the book that we seem to identify with isn't even human. Oreb the talking bird can communicate more in his disyllabic utterances than the other characters can in pages of dialogue.
His main characters also have a tendency to speak in a very stylized slang that is difficult to understand. Others may speak in the Queen's English, but employ extremely annoying mannerisms interspersing their words with non-words such as "ah, uh, um, ahem, etc." in dialogue passages that may continue for several pages. These parts cannot be "skimmed" because they may contain important plot points. The abused reader is then required to slog through these frustrating lines. Any reader who manages to finish every word of these books should be mailed a Merit Badge by the publisher.
A novel needs to be more than an exercise in sterile word-smithing and genius plot-development. At some point, the reader wants to actually enjoy what they are reading. Stephen King put it best when he wrote about the unspoken agreement between the author and reader. If the reader agrees to commit the time to follow the author to the end of the story, the author promises to make it worth it. This tetralogy is a serious time commitment, but in the end it is too long a journey to undertake with strangers.
READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW AT INCHOATUS.COM
Rating:
Summary: An Epiphany of Self Realization!
Review: Epiphany of the Long Sun: Calde of the Long Sun and Exodus from the Long Sun (Book of the Long Sun, Books 3 and 4)
by Gene Wolfe is a continuing saga of the books of the Long Sun series. As with art, (which these books clearly are), it sometimes takes repeated readings (and countless musings) for the meaning to be fully understood. When reading Wolfe's novels, there is always the hidden truth that things are not always what they seem. Epiphany is the continuation of the intrigue and revolution that grips Viron. A city within the "Whorl" that is a giant starship of planetoidal proportions. Some questions are answered in this book but new plots are introduced. For example the politics and culture of the women of Trivigaunte. The mystery of the novel persists and continues to ask, who are the gods of Mainframe? The sequel: On Blue's Waters (The Book of the Short Sun, Vol 1) should make-up for any short-comings of this work. The end was a little confusing and leaves you wanting more. Dr. Crane was one of many great characters! The question persists, when will we meet the mysterious god called the "Outsider" who initially gave Patera Silk his enlightenment and the inspirational mission to save Viron? You are left wondering, are the gods indeed supernatural? Or are they something created by something else? In these works, there are numerous parallels to our society, literature and ourselves. A good example is that there is some similarity of General Mint to Joan of Arc. In my humble opinion, the true epiphany of this work is we are all part of Viron here on Earth, our "Whorl." Highly recommend!
Rating: 
Summary: too long, too many characters
Review: hugely disappointing.
I really liked the gemlike New Sun series (if not the character of it's violent protagonist, Serverian). While Paterna Silk has a better personality, gentle, funny, humble and self effacing, there is no story here. As is stated by the reviewer below, this is not really sci fi or fantasy. It's a novel, I guess. Yes, the characters are inside a massively huge space ship, big enough to hold land, buildings, lakes, sky, half a world (or whorl), but they are oblivious to it. The book might as well have been written about a Catholic priest in a corrupt third world country. Too many words, too many characters. and another annoying aspect of this series, many of the important events in the story, like Silk's "enlightenment", happen off camera, so to speak. What we see is the character's later reaction to events, omitting the important events themselves.
There are intimations of metaphysics and mysticism, but they peter out to nothing in the end. is it Political intregue? Mystery? I love Oreb, the bird that speaks two word sentences and acts as a sort of Greek chorus for Silk, but, as I get to the end, I feel cheated of my time and money. I have no idea why this was written. Was Gene Wolfe paid by the word? What was he trying to say? What was the point of all this verbage? Do I have to read another three books before I come to appreciate what was written in the 1000 some pages I already read??? Why didn't an editor cut out some of the bewildering profusion of useless characters, subplots, and verbage? I guess cynical answer is, once the author has you hooked expecting there to be something here, the publisher can keep getting more of your money in increments. I have a copy cheap if anyone wants it.
Rating: 
Summary: Dissapointing
Review: I have thoroughly enjoyed The Book of The New Sun and this being the case, I expected very much from the The Book of The Long Sun. I'm sorry to say that I was dissapointed. The idea itself is great, but the plot is not what I had expected. The end of the second volume (with Silk down in the caverns) was promising enough, with lots of hints of secrets yet to be discovered. Sadly, the third and four volumes don't meet these expectations. The plot becomes almost completely political and detective-like, with no science fiction at all and certainly none of the philosophical and supernatural hints that made The Book of The New Sun so great. I got lost in all the intrigues and characters which didn't interest me at all: the Trivigaunte politics, the schemes of the councillors, the fight for ruling Viron... it was completely boring. The end itself was frustrating, nothing was solved, no mistery unveiled. I intend to read The Book of The Short Sun nevertheless, perhaps it will be better...
Rating: 
Summary: More than just "science fiction"
Review: I started reading The Book of The Long Sun series after a professional re4viewer called Gene Wolfe "the best science fiction writer you've never heard of". I was drawn into the first book (Nightside The Long Sun) by the first line, and I have never enjoyed reading any novel more than these. The Long Sun storyline is epic -- It's essentially about the end of a world and the struggle for a new beginning, told in the most intimate "ground level" way possible. It's about religion, power, intrigue, and even romance. The lead character, Silk, is a young man who posseses wisdom and power he does not know he has, and it's wonderful to watch him develop. One must read these books in order, as each volume of the four picks up where the previous one left off. Wolfe creates a world (he calls it the "whorl") slowly and carefully, starting with wonderful human (and animal) characters, allowing the reader to learn by observation rather than by description. The story is intensly human, and the technology which makes this "science" fiction is revealed bit by bit. One starts by thinking the "whorl" is almost medieval, but Wolfe's misdirection here is masterful. Truly, the Long Sun series is among the best fiction -- not just science fiction -- I have ever read. It's up there with Tolkien, Bradbury, and Asimov for sure.
Rating:
Summary: More than just "science fiction"
Review: I started reading The Book of The Long Sun series after a professional re4viewer called Gene Wolfe "the best science fiction writer you've never heard of". I was drawn into the first book (Nightside The Long Sun) by the first line, and I have never enjoyed reading any novel more than these. The Long Sun storyline is epic -- It's essentially about the end of a world and the struggle for a new beginning, told in the most intimate "ground level" way possible. It's about religion, power, intrigue, and even romance. The lead character, Silk, is a young man who posseses wisdom and power he does not know he has, and it's wonderful to watch him develop. One must read these books in order, as each volume of the four picks up where the previous one left off. Wolfe creates a world (he calls it the "whorl") slowly and carefully, starting with wonderful human (and animal) characters, allowing the reader to learn by observation rather than by description. The story is intensly human, and the technology which makes this "science" fiction is revealed bit by bit. One starts by thinking the "whorl" is almost medieval, but Wolfe's misdirection here is masterful. Truly, the Long Sun series is among the best fiction -- not just science fiction -- I have ever read. It's up there with Tolkien, Bradbury, and Asimov for sure.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as "The Book of the New Sun"
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed "The Book of the New Sun", Wolfe's earlier epic. I bought both the "Litany" and the "Epiphany" volumes of the Long Sun, and read them together over a couple of weeks. While Wolfe can often write amazing prose, and has fascinating characters, his plot development often leaves the reader feeling confused. The "Long Sun" is more grating in this respect than was the "New Sun". Wolfe constantly brings chapters to a close with the characters in a moment of crisis. He begins the subsequent chapter by leaping forward in time, and the characters are engaged in completely different activities from where the previous chapter left them. There is eventually an explanation as to how they got out of their predicament, but we only come to know this through their intermittant discussions of what occurred. This technique was used right up to the end of the work, where vast chunks of story seem to have been excised. The reader is left only with a confused glimpse of what happened, since we are forced to interpret events through the ignorant eyes of the inhabitants of the whorl. I don't mind having to work to get through a book, if the reward is sufficient. The "New Sun" was not an easy read, either. However, it is not a compliment to the author to say that one must re-read his work several times to understand it. If that is the case, it simply means that the author is not writing clearly. And that is most definitely the case in "The Book of the Long Sun."
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as "The Book of the New Sun"
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed "The Book of the New Sun", Wolfe's earlier epic. I bought both the "Litany" and the "Epiphany" volumes of the Long Sun, and read them together over a couple of weeks. While Wolfe can often write amazing prose, and has fascinating characters, his plot development often leaves the reader feeling confused. The "Long Sun" is more grating in this respect than was the "New Sun". Wolfe constantly brings chapters to a close with the characters in a moment of crisis. He begins the subsequent chapter by leaping forward in time, and the characters are engaged in completely different activities from where the previous chapter left them. There is eventually an explanation as to how they got out of their predicament, but we only come to know this through their intermittant discussions of what occurred. This technique was used right up to the end of the work, where vast chunks of story seem to have been excised. The reader is left only with a confused glimpse of what happened, since we are forced to interpret events through the ignorant eyes of the inhabitants of the whorl. I don't mind having to work to get through a book, if the reward is sufficient. The "New Sun" was not an easy read, either. However, it is not a compliment to the author to say that one must re-read his work several times to understand it. If that is the case, it simply means that the author is not writing clearly. And that is most definitely the case in "The Book of the Long Sun."
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Beyond Words
Review: I've read the Long Sun Books six times, so far. They continue to amaze and surprise me, as if I've never read them before. For instance: They are extremely funny--something I've not heard much about. (For example: The scene where Patera Silk meets Patera Gulo. And nearly every time the night chough Oreb speaks.) These books are also deep and moving. Sometimes, great art is too big for words. Or, perhaps, we have to enlarge ourselves in order to absorb it. So I feel I am still reading this astonishing story; it is still working on me, changing me, and someday I may be able to express its achievement. Just now, I can't. And wait until you finish Wolfe's Short Sun books. I feel certain you'll understand then.
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