Rating: 
Summary: An incredible wordsmith
Review: If your familiar with Mister Wolfe, these two books are further evidence of his masterful use of the language of the "whorl". He invents and uses words to fit every situation and he uses the language to paint some of the most believable environments in science fiction. I must admit to being completely taken in by the "Maytera's", the "sacred windows" and the azoth. Wolfe books are not the " can't put this down" variety - rather they almost demand you put them down and contemplate what you just read and what the words actually meant. If you're a patient reader and fascinated by incredibly detailed descriptions of "new whorls" and their inhabitants, you will thoroughly enjoy these.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Be Fooled!
Review: Some Wolfe fans find the Long Sun books disappointing. At first glance, the writing doesn't seem to be of the same beauty and complexity as that in the books narrated by Severian; the philosophical and metaphysical insights here seem less breathtaking. However, this is a Gene Wolfe novel, so appearances are expected to be deceiving. Patera Silk alone is worth the price of admission, and the plot of Long Sun is Wolfe's best yet, intimately connected to the presentation of the varied and fascinating cast of characters. THE BOOK OF THE LONG SUN rewards rereading perhaps even more than most of Wolfe's work.It is nice that all four volumes of this series are back in print. THE BOOK OF THE SHORT SUN, now two-thirds complete, may be Wolfe's best work to date (high praise indeed), and THE BOOK OF THE LONG SUN should be read before beginning on SHORT SUN.
Rating:
Summary: A little strange.
Review: The Book of the Long Sun is original for its perspective on what is quintessentially a work of science fiction. It tells the story of Patera Silk, a priest figure for a religious chapter in a city aboard a tremendous spacecraft, who is so human by way of how he is changed from the frist novel to Epiphany. While the series lacks the same depth of The Book of the New Sun, it offers instead a broader focus on culture and society, where the "truths" are less annotated by the characters and more the reader. The ending segment wherein the narrator offers defense for his manner of presentating events and biases does lend to some rereadability, and I suspect it may be just another work of Wolfe's that manages to be just as good or better the second time around.
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