Customer Reviews

Calde of the Long Sun

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Some writers are content to have us interested in their characters. Wolfe's style forces us to think and learn to love them. Yet the pace is fast, and pulls us along at disturbingly realistic paces, his charcters at times lost, at times knowing but always 3-D. And the scope of the story is vast and fast - the city revolution you thought would last till the last book of the saga is already, it seems, over by the end of the book. A word of warning? Check out the characters from the earlier books again before you start- otherwise they may do something vital before you remember them fully

I desperately want to give Caldé of the Long Sun four stars as I have been keenly fixated on exploring the previous two novels in the series. Also, I read this third book of 300 pages in the series in merely two days, so it's obvious I was still captivated by Wolfe's prose and plot. BUT the book starts abruptly and continues to stagger and waver until the very end. It's like the book itself received a good conk on the head and isn't able to walk straight... much like the characters in Caldé of the Long Sun.

As in Lake of the Long Sun (book 2) when the characters were strained through hardship the main cast themselves changed in attitude and speech transforming them for the worst. It was difficult to follow them even though they should have been familiar after reading about them for 500+ pages. The change was unwanted. In Caldé of the Long Sun, this strain becomes overbearing when the hardships pile upon injury which stack upon disconnectedness. The characters' profiles which were molded in Nightside of Long Sun are shattered. It is difficult to sympathize with a cast you have since grown distant from through unfamiliarity.

What causes this abrupt change is a series of head concussions, perpetual bodily injury, insomnia, starvation and over activity of Auk and Silk. Their thoughts are poorly formed and wandering as they draw up improbable scenarios, talk to long dead individuals and skew their own memories of the past. These passages are not reader friendly; I found myself frustrated when encountering each delusional monologue. How many times can Silk get shot, knocked unconscious, bruised, battered and beaten? While dragging yourself through Caldé of the Long Sun you'll be surprised how often; and then sigh as you encounter injury after injury.

Some of the more minor characters come and go from the plot without knowing what happened to them, if they have left or have died or are just quiet. I found myself rereading entire pages to see where the characters have disappeared to and often gave up and wrote it off. Granted, it's easy to lose someone in a dark tunnel during the 200 pages of darkness, darkness, darkness.

There are parts of Caldé of the Long Sun which perk my interest in reading about the generation ship which the entire cast find themselves on and how everything seems to by alphabetized (sibling, class seating, villages, etc). I even became intrigued with new mysteries like the Plan of Pas, the greater importance of the Outsider and the Windows. I' eager to read the last book in the series as I expect all these mysteries to be meticulously unwrapped and enjoyed like a Christmas present.

Long awaited sequel in the Book of the Long Sun. The structure of this strange place slowly comes together. It's quite incredible how the heat, the smells and the colours of this planet come to life in this series.

One of the finest of a series of fine literature from Gene Wolfe. More than the usual poetry and narrative excellence, which for Gene Wolfe, is saying alot. A fine third component to the Long Sun series. I can't wait for the finale!

As in the first two books of the series, this one limps along at a less than rapid pace, despite being rife with godly possession, swapped body parts, mechanical soldiers, and one priestly space vampire. It was in this book I began to notice Wolfe's need to have his characters talk and talk about what they know (or think they know) and how they came to know it, as well as his tendency to skip important events only to have his characters talk about them later. This is all fine and good, and is all part of that unique Wolfe atmosphere, which is one part 'huh?' and two parts 'WTF?!' I still believe the encompassing story of the Whorl, the "gods" who created it, and where it's going are the hooks in this series. But given its size (over 1400 pages), at each long-winded conversation I couldn't shake the feeling that Wolfe's characters were being paid by the word.

The action really picks up in this one. Ultimately, the series is disappointing, though. See my review of the fourth book.

If it weren't for the astonishing reviews for this series ("telling someone what is great about Gene Wolfe's writing is like trying to tell someone what's great about Mozart's music...") I probably would have stopped reading this book halfway through it. I've been reading sci-fi/fantasy for 25 years. During this time, I have grown to appreciate more literary works. Calde does in fact contain well written, at times transcendant passages, but the story itself is ludicrously overwrought and complex. Wolfe forgets that a good story, regardless of whether it is pulp or artistry, must entertain the reader. Calde was technically proficient, but cold and lifeless. After being mildly disappointed with the first two books, I have continued to read on, hoping that Wolfe's style would click with me. Unfortunately, it just didn't happen.

After first twoo books of the series I really did't expected much. But what I got here totally dissapointed me. Patera Silk again finds himself in countless situations from which he is trying to get out unscarred. The whole world and characters are presented kinda "shy?", and one can not put himself in role of Patera silk, one can not live inside him a live trough his "adventurs". Wolfe, at the end of a novel, invetns a relatively "unknown" method called deus ex machina. He got so tnagled in a web of characters and situations that this was the only way out. How logical? judge for yourslef. Rather plain writing also doesenßt serve this book as a good messenger, yet long conversation which lead nowhere, tedious pace and flatstone characters totally kills this book. I gave it three stars just for the sake of the "old glory". But if you want honest oppinion, do not read this book.