Soldier of Arete

Rating:
Summary: A VERY learned book.
Review: I saw from the previous reviews of this book that many people found it and it's predecessor, Soldier of the Mists very confusing. What's seems to be at issue with these books is the high degree of learning required to completely understand the story. Gene Wolfe seems to have done a lot of research in writing these books. Without having a pretty thorough knowledge of the Persian Wars of the beginning of the Fifth Century B.C. as well as the Classical Greek tongue, a reader is just not going to get everything out of these books that is in them (Yes, Gene Wolfe is playing with the Classical Greek language in these books). By the end of the book, I feel that it is possible to draw definite conclusions about the identity of Latro. As you read these books, think about the following: Who was Latro revered as in Thrace? In Greek mythology, who are the only figures able to decend to the underworld and come back at will, as Latro does unwittingly? Latro believes that he is a Latin speaking mercenary in the army of the Great King. So who is the patron god of the Latin speaking people? In Greek myth what often is done to the Greek God of War by the other gods when he over steps his bounds? Think on these things, read the book again. I think it will make more sense.

Rating:
Summary: A VERY learned book.
Review: Soldier of the mist was a great book, and this was a good sequel, but you can see the problem with writing it. Unless you have a brilliant memory the plot becomes more and more difficult to follow, the memories more difficult to call up, like Latro we are referring to our journal to see what went before, and I think Wolfe, brilliant writer that he is, realised the limitations of this style of writing and decided to abandon number three. Confusing and difficult to read, this book is not a patch on the first!

Rating:
Summary: No surprise that the trilogy was not completed.
Review: Soldier of the mist was a great book, and this was a good sequel, but you can see the problem with writing it. Unless you have a brilliant memory the plot becomes more and more difficult to follow, the memories more difficult to call up, like Latro we are referring to our journal to see what went before, and I think Wolfe, brilliant writer that he is, realised the limitations of this style of writing and decided to abandon number three. Confusing and difficult to read, this book is not a patch on the first!

Rating:
Summary: A great sequel
Review: Two books, no plot! I think Wolfe wrote these books just to show how unimportant a plot really is.

And take my word for it, these books prove he's right!