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I could literally write a book about Gene Wolfe’s “Solar Cycle” and why it’s one of the most underrated masterpieces in contemporary fiction.
The Boom of the New Sun:
I. Shadow of the Torturer
II. Claw of the Concilliator
III. Sword of the Lictor
IV. Citadel of the Autarch
* V. Urth of the New Sun (coda novella, published much later)
Book of the Long Sun:
I. Nightside the Long Sun
II. Lake of the Long Sun
III. Caldé of the Long Sun
IV. Exodus from the Long Sun
Book of the Short Sun:
I. On Blue’s Waters
II. In Green’s Jungles
III. Return to the Whorl
I would read the books in this order. Long Sun is almost as good as New Sun, but Short Sun is a slightly lesser project... though still amazing.
SHORT is an immediate sequel to LONG, though it focuses on different characters.
LONG seems like it will be a sequel to NEW, but in fact their chronological relationship is MUCH more complicated, and does not truly become clear until you read SHORT.
My god, though. What an under-appreciated talent.
His work in other genres like horror and mystery is less satisfying to me. It’s his Dickensian-by-way-of-Lovecraft works that really put him over the top.
All you dweebs should read this shit.
There’s a reason Ursula K. LeGuin Called Wolfe the “Melville” of speculative fiction
Sad
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