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66 of 75 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent. Fantasy at its best., December 31, 2004
This review is from: The Knight (The Wizard Knight, Book 1) (Hardcover)
I am a fantasy fan, but one of my complaints about the genre is that what you find usually borders on two extremes. Either a novel is utterly derivative and full of cliche, shoddy writing, and the exact same plot filled with different names, or it is so high minded and literary that it is barely understandable. You either get "cheap thrills" (Robert Jordan) or art house fantasy (China Mieville). You rarely get the novel that is well written and truly enjoyable. But when you do get it (a la George RR Martin,) You get something special.
The Knight is that something special. With The Knight Gene Wolfe has finally taken all his talent, skill, and potential, and he has given us an accesible novel that is brilliantly done. The whole key to this hinges on the protagonist. Able is a young teenage boy who finds himself with the body of a true warrior. Able is a likeable hero with all the flaws of a teenage boy, yet at the same time he is basically a good kid. The story of Able's quest to be a Knight is well written, endearing, and filled with timeless value. It trancends being a story about Able and becomes a story about honor.
You have a strong main character. There are strong side characters. The pacing of the plot is brisk and moves at a nice clip. There are moments of humor and moments of horror. But throught it all Able's determintation to be a noble knight stands as the center of a great story.
There are some quibbles. You end the book still not really knowing why any of this has happened. There are far too many questions left unanswered. But this is classic Wolfe and this is what second volumes are for.
All in all a tremendous novel. If you are a fan of fantasy you need to read this book. Wolfe proves that talent makes the tale and sometimes the old stories are the ones worth reading (and writing.) Outstanding.
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exception: Wolfe at his Best, November 19, 2004
This review is from: The Knight (The Wizard Knight, Book 1) (Hardcover)
WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS:
Ask yourself, when was the last time you wanted to go back and re-read a book while still in the middle of your initial reading? Most fantasy books can be so good that you don't want to put them down. You keep turning the pages into the wee hours of the night hoping to find out if Frodo makes it to Mount Doom or if Harry defeats Lord Voldemort. These books are so good you want to revisit them again and again, each time discovering something new and delightful within the familiar journey. But with this book, it isn't so much the destination, but the journey itself. Yeah, Able will probably get to his sword eventually, but what the heck just happened in that last chapter? You have some idea of what just happened if you were paying attention, but Wolfe has a way of destroying your assumptions. "Did I just read what I thought I read?" you continually will ask yourself. It will not be uncommon for you to begin chapters over again immediately upon finishing them. You will be compelled to do this. Only the most well-crafted, densely-layered and tantalizing book could accomplish such a feat. Wolfe has already established himself as a master of this type of writing. With The Knight he takes his skills to the next level by creating an intriguing page-turner without sacrificing one whit of his noted literary engineering.
If you are a fan of the fantasy genre, then this book also will provide you with some delightful new takes on some old ideas. Wolfe dips his imagination into the deep pool of Norse mythology complete with its gratuitously violent legends and characters. His giants are more menacing than the slow-witted, ham-fisted oafs we have come to expect from Disney films and Cartoon Network. Not a one utters "fee, fi, fo, fum!" They are too busy engaging in tactical sneak attack maneuvers to thwart an advancing army or sacking and pillaging a small town. We also catch lush glimpses of Valhalla, Odin and the Valkyrie. These characters have not been Xena-tized for your protection. They are presented in pure Nordic tradition, glorious, grand violent warts and all.
This is a rich, sumptuous book that just begs to be devoured. We absolutely loved it.
WHY YOU SHOULD PASS:
While arguably one of his most straightforward and accessible works, The Knight is still brimming with Wolfe's unique brand of literary gamesmanship. He again employs the "unreliable narrator" device in order to tell his tale. While not a liar like Severian nor an apologist like Horn, Able is just too young and naive to perceive the events happening in the world around him. His attempts to explain complex, metaphysical events are obtuse at best leaving the reader to wonder what exactly is going on. He does not possess the skills necessary to translate his experience into something we can identify with. He more or less reports exactly what he sees without providing any sort of cultural context. Things happen because Able says they do and not because of any logical construct. Imagine a character seeing a UFO and describing it as "this thing flying around" and you get some idea of Able's limited narrative abilities. This might be a realistic approach to writing a book in the voice of a young boy, but after a few chapters of this, a reader may find themselves longing for just a hint of dramatic irony. They may also wonder why they can't just pick up a book by Gene Wolfe actually written by Gene Wolfe and not a simulacrum of a faulty translator. If this type of mind teaser does not appeal to you, then it is best to stay out of Wolfe's sandbox. He owns all the pails and shovels and he is not big on sharing.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Making a familiar theme fresh and new for once., March 22, 2004
This review is from: The Knight (The Wizard Knight, Book 1) (Hardcover)
I'll start off this review by saying I'm biased, Wolfe is my favorite writer and his Book of the New Sun is my all time favorite novel. This is typically good Gene Wolfe. If you like Wolfe, don't even bother reading the reviews, just go get it. If your one of those people who isn't sure they will like his work or felt his work was overly complicated in the past, this is a good place to start. Wolfe's language is cleaner and easier to read then the Sun Novels, and I tend to feel it reads and plots more like the Soldier Novels. Wolfe makes use of an unreliable narrator as he does often; I personally find unreliable narrators can really make a story. However, I find that sometimes readers struggle with this concept, that not everything the narrator is saying is entirely the truth or the whole story. The amount of fantasy that piles into the bookstores that resemble something of a soup opera than a harrowing tale staggers my mind. The theme of a knight in a fantasy world is surely not a new concept, but execution is the key. I think execution is where this book really shines; Wolfe takes the typical and makes it Fresh. The only flaw is that now I have to wait for the follow up. Write Faster Gene Wolfe!!!
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