Customer Reviews

Exodus From the Long Sun

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

We've all read "genetic superman" type books before, from Dune to Stranger in A Strange Land to The Stars My Destination, but Gene Wolfe (arguably the finest living writer in SF&F or any genre, including mainstream Lit) really achieves it here, with a portrait of a moral as well as physical and mental "superman" in Patera Silk. More overtly religious in tone than even Wolfe's masterpiece Saviour-of-the-Earth series "The Book of The New Sun", this is the story of a young pagan priest's coming of age, following his enlightenment by the Christian God, in the fantastical enVirons of a decrepit generation ship ruled by computer program "Gods" who don't want the passengers---who're unaware there's anything artificial about their Whorl--- to disembark once it reaches its destination. Besides the fascinating cast of characters, subtle plot twists and multilayered levels of meaning we've come to expect from Wolfe, this is mainly the story of A Beautiful Man. Patera Silk is a believable, moral man, gentle and peace-loving and Christian in nature without knowing Christ, who sees the best in all people and is STILL a genetic "superman", with unusual strength, stamina, reflexes and healing abilities and a facile mind. You ponder out the logical solutions to the many mysteries that await you in this book with him, often arriving at the same logical but WRONG conclusions that the vast body of misleading information leads you to, and love every minute of it! This series is not only highly entertaining and outre, as all Wolfe's work is, but also serves as a valid political commentary of the power structure of a typical human city and a beautifully-drawn portrait of a truly Beautiful Man, of which I haven't read many! My only negative about this fine series is the abrupt, unresolved ending (apparently to be continued in the Books of The Short Sun) and the revelation of a first person narrator, who is not the main character, near the end of the last author-omniscient third person narrative. Still, flawed Wolfe (and this means flawed in comparison to his perfect Book of The New Sun series) is better than 99 percent of all other writers in any genre. As always with Mr. Wolfe, read it and be enriched.

An extraordinary conclusion to an extraordinary series. Wolfe is the SF equivalent of Miles Davis. He frustrates those readers who come to read a space-opera like all the ones they have read and read again. Expecting another great Barry Manilow composition, they find their very world of expectations turned upside-down. This is very reminiscent of Delany's Neveryon series, a series that takes the standard rules and mores of a genre (there sword and sorcery) and completely subverts it. Wolfe's narrative is a maddening flirtation; each time his plot approaches a grand confrontation, or the sort of excitement that absolutely drives narratives of this sort, he deliberately omits the events. We are left to guess and extrapolate what took place from what is happening now. Wolfe declines to spoon-fed anything to us. Left significantly to our own devices, the experienced and mature reader is forced to become involved in Wolfe's novel. What DID happen when Silk climbed up into the engines of the zeppelin? Each reader who completes the book supplies his own answers to many questions here. This novel demands involvement and imagination from the reader. Just as any novel leaves much more work to the audience than a movie, Wolfe has demanded much of us here. This is an action story, but maddenly cuts away just instants before each big blockbuster expolsion, or each incedible escape. Silk is resolutely no sort of action hero at all. He refuses to fight or lie or cheat or oppose. Like Gandi, his unwillingness to participate in conventional intrigue and conflict make him a terrible enemy. He refuses to take to the battlefield and abide by the rules. Much like Wolfe. In the end, the reader is left starving and hungry. We have certainly enjoyed the reading, we won't forget such a work, but Wolfe has refused to completely satisfy. Like an almost-forgotten song, the wisps of his artwork haunt our minds; we recall them again and again and go back, seeking a staid sort of satisfaction that would leave us bloated and lesser in the end.

I am a fan of Gene Wolfe's writing since reading "The Book of the New Sun". For me, his writing requires concentration, absolutely no reading when I am tired or for a light escape. With high expectations I purchased all four books of the series "Book of the Long Sun". I knew it was unlikely I beginning a slam bam action techie SF space opera.

One of the things I like about his writing is that it is so unusual and unpredictable. There are few if any cliches in is work. Silk is not your usual hero. His growth in the four books is both logical and satisfying. I loved Oreb for his comic relief. "Fish heads?" And found the tales of the Maytera's curious and fascinating. Were they first bio's? I was never completely sure.

I was never completely sure about a lot by the end of the last book. Who created the Whorl? And why? Who are the gods? Who is the outsider? Why was there a choice of two planets? Why were only a few citizens suppose to leave the whorl? Who wanted them to leave? Why were the "gods" fighting with each other? What the heck was "Quetzal"? What is an inhumi?

I came to read reviews from other readers to perhaps get a clue to what I missed in my reading. Some of the reviews were helpful because they suggested I am not alone in lacking understanding of the story.

I know Wolfe does not spoon feed his readers and that is one of the reasons I like him. However, I finished this series so puzzled and annoyed that I couldn't figure out the barest outline of what, where and why of the whorl. He created an involving, charismatic literary feast which left me all the more famished at the end.

Perhaps it's me and I need to reread them. I am still thinking about the books days after finishing them but it's not with satisfaction, it's with irritation.

I had the chance to read all four volumes back-to-back. A long-time Gene Wolfe fan, I am glad I did: because what emerged was, I think, the finest character study I have found in twenty years of reading science fiction. Starting with Silk's real revelation from a real god, and ending on an unresolved note (like much of Wolfe!), the story gradually reveals Silk's character, of an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances. Much is left unsaid; by doing so, Wolfe invites the reader to participate in assessing Silk the way his contemporaries would. At the end, the reader is left admiring a thoroughly good yet humanly flawed man coping with an especially ambiguous world, a character drawn as successfully as any in non-genre literature. The book has other complications, of religion and will and governance, but at the end, it is the character study which leaves the book stuck in my memory

Ending a wonderfully magical and original story of Patera Silk and his "Whorl", Gene Wolfe in no way failed to strengthen my love for his writing with this volume. Not only is the story itself captivating but his weaving of words with beautiful skill makes it all the more enjoyable. Patera Silk continues his political and spiritual adventure, where he learns not only about the truths of his Whorl and religion but about himself. Maytera Mint also continues her fight which brings interesting events into play, unveiling yet a bit more about the Whorl and its many wonders. This by far is one of the best SF series written and this book is at the top of the series

Many would say that The Book of the Long Sun is disappointing after reading the Book of the New Sun, but the BotLS is every bit as mysterious and twisting as any other major work by Wolfe.

In _Exodus from the Long Sun_, Wolfe ties up the BotLS but still leaves behind numerous puzzles. Years after reading this for the first time, I have yet to come to a satisfying conclusion on Silk's love for the former prostitute Hyacinth, or the nature of Pas by the end of the novel. Much of what befell the colonists who left the Whorl is revealed in the Book of the Short Sun (two volumes already released, one to come), but there's so much that the reader just can't immediately get.

My complaints about this volume of the BotLS is that the end is much too compressed. Wolfe set out to write a trilogy and ended up with four books, but writing five may have been worth it. The visit to Mainframe, a major event in the book, is but glossed over. Still, it was nice to have Horn give the reader several pages to summarize his views of the inhabitants of Viron.

I lke well written series because they grant the reader an extension and a chance to explore, in depth, the characters and the story itself. This series, however, is unlike any I have read in one respect. The first three novels were a marvel to read. They were as well written and satisfying as I have ever read. The forth and final volume, however, is not satisfying nor adequate to the story in even the slightest measure. If you spend three full length novels dealing with a population inside a generation ship trying to get to a particular destination and then do not deal with the obvious problems of arriving at the destination ie., the leaving of the ship, the re-integration of technology to the society, the populations resolution of where they have been and where they are arriving, the truth about the gods and worshiping, the kinds of planets to which they have arrived, the conditions of the planet in terms of weather, flora and fauna, the survival problems on the new planets, who went to each planet, the ship's aid to the colonists, the settlement problems, the resolution of hostilities, some final scene with the Calde resolving where he went and his involvement with the new settlement, the list is endless. Maybe I missed all of this. Maybe my forth novel was missing some pages. Did this not bother anyone else?? I can only hope that the forth novel was not the last and that a fifth novel is upcoming that deals with all of the stated issues to some completion.

Gene Wolfe's reputation as one of the finest storytellers and literary stylists in contemporary science fiction is re-affirmed in "Exodus From The Long Sun" the final book in the "Book of the Long Sun" saga. Readers would be well-advised to start with the first book, "Nightside the Long Sun", to catch all the nuanced character shifts and indeed, get a better feeling for Wolfe's fictional landscape, but nonetheless, I found this a compelling, rather rousing, tale to read. There are intriguing, often compelling changes which occur to several major characters, as apparent heroes become villains and vice versa. Wolfe has been a major influence on other contemporary writers of fiction, most notably those from Great Britain, since his prose style is similar to Banks and Mieville especially. For this reason alone Gene Wolfe's fiction is worthy of attention to serious fans of science fiction literature. I look forward to reading the other novels comprising the "Book of the Long Sun".

I disagree with the seeming masses who still think Gene Wolfe is a literary force to be reckoned-with and post their reviews here saying just that. We've now come a Long Way, mostly downhill, from the Book of the New Sun series. It's very sad.

Somewhere along the line (3rd book probably) through his initially fascinating and absorbing follow-up Long Sun saga Gene Wolfe lost interest. The wonderful Patera Silk (like some other characters) became a ghostly shadow of his former self and the poor reader was thereafter forced to endure through hundreds of pages of endlessly trivial and tedious dialogue which simply wasted the poor trees it is printed on. What a Long Slow whimper of a climax!

Like many others who still seem to think so, I too once thought Gene Wolfe was a very great and immensely subtle novelist who had superbly transcended his genre. But age has wearied him and the years condemn. The attention span has withered and the well of inspiration is nearly dry. With respect, I think Gene should take a Long Break and enjoy his old age, perhaps reading a little (say) Haruki Murakami in the deck chair of his Setting Sun to remind himself what undiminished top notch literary powers still look like.

When I started the Long Sun trilogy (Nightside of the Long Sun: 5 stars), seemingly held to high standards by popular readers, I fell in love with the detailed sumptuousness of a chaotic day in Silk's life. The foundation of the series was had utmost perfection for a further three books to build upon. I told myself that when I would eventually come to the conclusion of book four, I would lament/celebrate with a glass of champagne. However, when getting into the meat of the spanning plot (Lake of the Long Sun: 4 stars and Caldé of the Long Sun: 3 stars), I found the characters to be waning in their behavior, leading me to unnecessarily confuse who was who and who held what intentions. It was at this point that I decided the conclusion of the series didn't earn its weight in champagne. Sad.

`Exodus' does pick up speed from where Caldé seemed like it was dragging a codpiece full of coal. Much of the book four plot takes place in or around the subterranean tunnels, where Silk's revolution, the Trivigaunti army from the next city over, the tri-centennial biochem soldiers and the deposed city government of the Ayuntamiento are in a free fall of alliances and backstabbing. The nuances of the good-willed agreements becomes increasing complex as does the perpetual name dropping of the military: generals, generalissimos, lieutenants, sergeants and of the clergy: pateras and mayteras. Then there are the nicknames of some of the cast and I KNOW there's an index of names but I find it inconvenient as each synopsis is too brief.

Amongst the plethora of negotiating platitudes, there is the quiet crescendo of revelation, the unveiling of the some of the secrets the Whorl has in store and where the Whorl is headed. Some of these mysteries have light shed upon them while most secrets, ultimately, remain enigmatic due to the author's elusive prose or possibly because of his myopic view of science in the Long Sun series. The answers I've been dying to hear reveled, rather than being dwelled upon and inferred, are shortcoming. For the series as a whole, it's very poor science fiction and the technology and reasons for the broader background (The Whorl and all its wonders) are elusive. THIS would be the said baby's breathe, a visual superfluous addition to a floral bouquet, which is missing to the greater whole.

Additionally, I deduced who the Outsider was in book one didn't need to be bluntly told that the Outsider is the God of the Gods, the creator of the Mainframe Gods, the ultimate Maker. Book four becomes a little preachy when these matters are demonstrated while the other nine Gods often reveal idiosyncratic (BTW: I tend to use this word a lot in my reviews) tendencies and makes for a rather vibrant polytheistic culture.

Parting questions to raise debate: Does Wolfe snub the polytheistic cultures (as presented in the Whorl), brushing them off as amnesic and superstitious while placing his views of a monotheistic God on a self-imposed alter? Good Silk took refuge in the Outsider and began to shun the other nine `Gods' because he himself believed in this monotheism or did Wolfe superimpose his conversion of faith on a character of his own creation?

Sorry Wolfe, you're novels don't appeal to me but your one short story, The Ziggurat, gives me hope that your collections can redeem your alleged high reputation.