The Knight and The Wizard, by Gene Wolfe, are the most approachable novels of Mr. Wolfe that I've read. Wolfe is perhaps the best English-language writer alive, and that he writes in the SF and fantasy genres is even more astonishing.

One can always identify Wolfe's writing by his use of the unreliable narrator. His books are stories told by their protagonists, and it's up to the reader to puzzle out who is truthful, who is lying, and when things are what they appear and when they are not. His masterwork, The Book of the New Sun, is tremdously difficult to interpret, and I've seen no less than five other books written by critics to untangle the mysteries of plot and character therein.

The Wizard Knight (published in two volumes) is much simpler, because it's set in a simpler world. It's the world of heroic legend, of Arthurian knights, of Norse gods. Our hero is an American high-schooler from the 1950s transported to a fantastic realm. He falls in love with the Queen of the Moss Elves, and becomes a knight to become worthy of her hand. As the story progresses, he loses some of his naivete and innocence, but his intellegence and cunning are always dedicated to his one overwhelming goal- to live with his one true love.

When I say it is simple, I mean two different things by that. First, the writing style is somewhat less ornate than Wolfe is know for, especially at first. Second, less has to be puzzled out than in many of Wolfe's other works, because this is an epistolary novel, and so the protagonist directly explains important details. Several mysteries are still left to the reader, of course, and although none has been announced, there was room left for a sequel. That too is typical of Wolfe; just because a book ends, doesn't mean that the characters have nothing left to do.

In summary: highly recommended, even to those who may have been intimidated by Wolfe's earlier novels.

Posted by: Boviate at 11:23 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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