Rating: 
Summary: A new quest on a new world
Review: With On Blue's Waters Gene Wolfe begins a new trilogy to stand with (and perhaps complete) the other series in his Urth cycle, the Book of the New Sun and the Book of the Long Sun. This trilogy, called The Book of the Short Sun, tells the story of the adventures of the settlers of the Whorl, a generation starship, as they colonize two habitable planets, Blue and Green. In this trilogy Wolfe has adopted a rather unadorned first-person voice, stylistically suitable for the novel's narrator, a seemingly straightforward man named Horn. Horn was a teenager when he boarded a lander to leave the Whorl: Now he is a man in middle age, well settled on Blue with a wife and children and a prospering business. Yet he readily leaves to search out his former teacher and mentor, the one-time Calde of the City of Viron, Patera Silk. On Blue's Waters follows Horn as he begins his quest for Silk, which will, over the course of the trilogy, take him across Blue (much of the narrative takes place aboard a small ship), to the virulent jungle planet Green, and at last back to the Whorl where he and Silk were born. Blue was not uninhabited when the humans offloaded from the Whorl. It's former owners, known variously as the Vanished People and the Neighbors, are still seen from time to time. This species, as well as humans, are plagued by creatures known as inhuma. As Green makes its approach toward Blue the inuhuma fly from one planet to another, where they feed off the humans as they fed off the Neighbors, gaining nourishment and more from the blood they drain. Horn makes his way toward the city of Pajarocu, where a working lander waits to return to the Whorl. Along the way he collects a surrogate family. There is Seawrack, a siren-like woman who is a foster child of a strange entity of Blue's oceans; Krait, an inhumu who becomes Horn's adoptive son; and Babbie, a hus, an animal of Blue who cannot speak, but may be intelligent. Much has been made here and elsewhere of the difficulties in accessing the writings of Gene Wolfe. Wolfe writes dense, subtle and sometimes contradictory novels, and often employs a highly ornate style. Some have suggested that On Blue's Waters is perhaps a place for Wolfe neophytes to begin, as Horn "speaks" far more plainly that Severain, the narrator of The Book of the New Sun. In truth, however, this simplicity is, like so much of Wolfe's work, deceptive. The nature of many characters remains unclear throughout the series; motivations are never plainly explicated. The events may seem to be clear -- Horn leaves his home and family, sails across an ocean, finds new friends -- but are, perhaps, far less understandable than they first seem to be. In truth, On Blue's Waters is vintage Gene Wolfe. If you are among his fans (as I am), it is an engrossing and wholly satifying return to his themes of virtue, piety, sin and redemption, as well as a first rate romp across an alien world. If you've read and enjoyed other volumes of the Sun series, you must continue onto the Book of the Short Sun. However, if you've disliked Wolfe in the past, there's no assurance this novel will provide a friendlier introduction. The hardbound edition is a very handsome volume, with good binding and paper (something which would be of great importance to Horn) and a nice dust jacket design. I would recommend the purchase of a hardcover edition to Wolfe's fans, as there is no writer more worth rereading.
Rating:
Summary: A new quest on a new world
Review: With On Blue's Waters Gene Wolfe begins a new trilogy to stand with (and perhaps complete) the other series in his Urth cycle, the Book of the New Sun and the Book of the Long Sun. This trilogy, called The Book of the Short Sun, tells the story of the adventures of the settlers of the Whorl, a generation starship, as they colonize two habitable planets, Blue and Green. In this trilogy Wolfe has adopted a rather unadorned first-person voice, stylistically suitable for the novel's narrator, a seemingly straightforward man named Horn. Horn was a teenager when he boarded a lander to leave the Whorl: Now he is a man in middle age, well settled on Blue with a wife and children and a prospering business. Yet he readily leaves to search out his former teacher and mentor, the one-time Calde of the City of Viron, Patera Silk. On Blue's Waters follows Horn as he begins his quest for Silk, which will, over the course of the trilogy, take him across Blue (much of the narrative takes place aboard a small ship), to the virulent jungle planet Green, and at last back to the Whorl where he and Silk were born. Blue was not uninhabited when the humans offloaded from the Whorl. It's former owners, known variously as the Vanished People and the Neighbors, are still seen from time to time. This species, as well as humans, are plagued by creatures known as inhuma. As Green makes its approach toward Blue the inuhuma fly from one planet to another, where they feed off the humans as they fed off the Neighbors, gaining nourishment and more from the blood they drain. Horn makes his way toward the city of Pajarocu, where a working lander waits to return to the Whorl. Along the way he collects a surrogate family. There is Seawrack, a siren-like woman who is a foster child of a strange entity of Blue's oceans; Krait, an inhumu who becomes Horn's adoptive son; and Babbie, a hus, an animal of Blue who cannot speak, but may be intelligent. Much has been made here and elsewhere of the difficulties in accessing the writings of Gene Wolfe. Wolfe writes dense, subtle and sometimes contradictory novels, and often employs a highly ornate style. Some have suggested that On Blue's Waters is perhaps a place for Wolfe neophytes to begin, as Horn "speaks" far more plainly that Severain, the narrator of The Book of the New Sun. In truth, however, this simplicity is, like so much of Wolfe's work, deceptive. The nature of many characters remains unclear throughout the series; motivations are never plainly explicated. The events may seem to be clear -- Horn leaves his home and family, sails across an ocean, finds new friends -- but are, perhaps, far less understandable than they first seem to be. In truth, On Blue's Waters is vintage Gene Wolfe. If you are among his fans (as I am), it is an engrossing and wholly satifying return to his themes of virtue, piety, sin and redemption, as well as a first rate romp across an alien world. If you've read and enjoyed other volumes of the Sun series, you must continue onto the Book of the Short Sun. However, if you've disliked Wolfe in the past, there's no assurance this novel will provide a friendlier introduction. The hardbound edition is a very handsome volume, with good binding and paper (something which would be of great importance to Horn) and a nice dust jacket design. I would recommend the purchase of a hardcover edition to Wolfe's fans, as there is no writer more worth rereading.
Rating:
Summary: An exquisite labyrinth!
Review: Wolfe continues to amaze with a story that looks simple on the surface, but will continue to mystify until the next insallment. Simply the most rewarding read today!
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