Customer Reviews

The Devil in a Forest

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

 

 

I like Gene Wolfe a lot. The Fifth Head of Cerberus is one of the best and most intricate SciFi books ever written. The Book of the New Sun is very entertaining AND literate - not a common combination for the genre. The Devil in a Forest isn't quite on the same level...

It was obviously written for a younger audience as previous reviewers have pointed out, and though it still maintains some of the level of characterization I expect from Wolfe, the writing just isn't as complex as that found in his other works. Yet, the Wolfe-themes of the indeterminancy of Good and Evil are there -- as well as a critical look at religion and superstition.

Consequently, I don't recommend it to anyone other than those who find reading other Wolfe difficult, and hardcore Wolfe fans who wish to complete the bookshelf.

It's a quick read, with an interesting beginning that creates some intrigue as to what it will be about. Mark is a weaver's apprentice who lives near a medieval forest, somewhere unidentified. Mysterious murders have been occurring in the woods. A well known local drifter, or wayfarer, is suspected. A mysterious woman suspected of witchery is his friend, and may somehow be involved. Mark, by unlucky happenstance, ends up in the company of both of them while in the woods one day. They don't seem to him to be the dangerous people he has heard about. His contact begins the dangerous discoveries he will make, and exposes him and his nearby home village to violence. Without divulging answers, I was rather disappointed with the outcome. While there is an atmosphere of superstistion and mystical intrigue at times, it takes a back seat to a pretty mundane medieval crime story. The medieval life depicted is simply too short on details to have a great impact, and character development is pretty sparse. There was just not enough of any one aspect of this story to develop a good balance of elements, so nothing stood out. It was on the verge of becoming quite good at any given moment, and just never did. Wolfe's writing was strong, none the less, which helped me stay in it and quickly finish it. It probably will not stand out in your memory, if you read very often.

The story revolves around Mark, a young apprentice weaver, and the small village that he lives in as they go through the trials and tribulations of dealing with a highwayman, an elderly lady with an evil heart who may or may not be a witch and the soldiers who are sent in to deal with the highwayman. Wolfe is able to capture the persona of Mark quite well as he struggles to realize that the adults around him are not all powerful or perfect and that even at his young age, he may be more equipped to deal with some of the stressful situations then they are.

It doesn't appear that this is one of Wolfe's customary stories. There were no stories within stories and it didn't appear that the reader needed to be paying extreme attention to every detail to gather everything that is going on, both on screen and off screen. Also, Mark appeared to be an at least mostly reliable narrator. All in all a quick read that was enjoyable, but definitely not my favorite of Wolfe's novels.

While not the usual literary labyrinth we are used to from Gene Wolfe, The Devil in a Forest is a great read. Wolfe manages to turn the self-righteous townsfolk into characters as flawed as the bandits, and the king's men are even worse. If you've never read Wolfe before, this is a good place to get a preliminary feel for his writing.

A well told story but that somehow left me with a feeling
of emptyness. Rather unsatisfying.
Yes, I found it in the fantasy section of my local
bookstore and yes, it is written by Gene Wolfe, but
I did not find much of the classical elements of the
fantasy genre in the book. It is in fact quite
realistic.
A little village is torn apart between a ruthless
bandit and the king's men, but a good point of the story
is that it keeps teasing the
reader into wondering who really are the good guys and who are
the bad guys of the story. Is this a romantic,
Robin Hood-like type of outlaw? This situation is resolved at
the end.

I've read this book a few times. It's a short read, yet each time I read it I realise I've previously missed a lot of what's going on. Kinda like Wolfe's "Book of the New Sun" (which I have also read several times, with the same general result). A lot of the action is only hinted at, and it's up to the reader to fill in the gaps and work out what is really going on.
This book will make you think. Highly recommended, particularly if you are interested in History.

This book is aimed at a younger audience than Wolfe's other works. It would probably appeal to intelligent young teens or preteens more than Peace or The Death of Dr Island etc., the books I would recommend to adults reading him for the first time. If you've read his other novels or want to introduce a young friend to this greatest of contemporary fantasy writers, don't hesitate to try this. The Devil in a Forest has surprising depths and is probably Wolfe's most successful work as Bildungsroman.