Return to the Whorl: The Final Volume of 'The Book of the Short Sun' [Paperback]

Gene Wolfe (Author)

Book Description

Series: Book of the Short Sun | Publication Date: March 6, 2002

Gene Wolfe's Return to the Whorl is the third volume, after On Blue's Waters and In Green's Jungles, of his ambitious SF trilogy The Book of the Short Sun . . . It is again narrated by Horn, who has embarked on a quest in search of the heroic leader Patera Silk. Horn has traveled from his home on the planet Blue, reached the mysterious planet Green, and visited the great starship, the Whorl and even, somehow, the distant planet Urth. But Horn's identity has become ambiguous, a complex question embedded in the story, whose telling is itself complex, shifting from place to place, present to past. Perhaps Horn and Silk are now one being. Return to the Whorl brings Wolfe's major new fiction, The Book of the Short Sun, to a strange and seductive climax.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Few of the mysteries presented in the first two volumes of the Book of the Short Sun trilogy (On Blue's Waters; In Green's Jungles) are actually explained in this latest novel by one of SF's acknowledged masters, but Wolfe continues to provide literary entertainment of a high order. Horn, the supposed author of Wolfe's previous tetralogy, the Book of the Long Sun, continues his search for the now legendary Cald‚ Silk, the godlike former ruler of the city of Viron. Traveling back and forth between the aging generation starship known as the Whorl, the planets Green and Blue, and, strangely enough, the decadent and dying universe of Wolfe's much earlier Book of the New Sun sequence, Horn encounters a series of bizarre characters, some familiar from earlier books and others, like the blind giant known as Pig, new to this volume. Most of the novel consists of conversations between the various characters as they make their way from place to place on one world or another, attempting to answer some of the complex questions that the author has established over the course of 10 earlier volumes. Not the least of these mysteries is why Horn has begun to look like Silk, so much so that he is consistently mistaken for the legendary hero by people who know both men. For all its many beauties, Wolfe's latest novel is likely to remain opaque to any reader unfamiliar with at least the previous two volumes in the series. Still, longtime fans of Wolfe's complex plotting and ornate literary style will find much to cheer.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Horn's long journey in search of the missing hero Patera Silk carries him full circle from his home on the planet Blue to its sister world, Green, and even to the starship known as the Whorl. Shifting identities, elusive truths, and enigmatic encounters mark the conclusion to Wolfe's latest epic series (On Blue's Waters, In Green's Jungles) set in the same far future universe as his "Book of the New Sun" and "Book of the Long Sun" series. The author's attention to style as well as substance mark him as one of the genre's most brilliant contributors. Though dependent on previous series titles, this volume is recommended for most sf collections.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; First Edition edition (March 6, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312873646
• ISBN-13: 978-0312873646
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #767,925 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gene Wolfe is winner of the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, and many other awards. In 2007, he was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. He lives in Barrington, Illinois.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't give up after one reading!, January 10, 2002

By 

Marc Aramini (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Return to the Whorl: The Final Volume of 'The Book of the Short Sun' (Hardcover)

Gene Wolfe has done more for the potential of speculative fiction than anyone else. After I read this book for the first time, I was impressed, but I wasn't sure if there was as much beneath the surface as I expected from a Wolfe book.
After re-reading it and pondering it at great length, I think that Wolfe has done such a good job making supposedly secret things obviously hinted at in the text that we stop looking for the right questions to ask because we THINK we know all the answers. If you think you have figured out everything on one reading of this text about the changes in an individual and in a home that render it impossible to go home again, here are some questions that I have found the answers to (at least, I think so)on a close re-reading (I wouldn't advise reading these questions unless you've read the text at least once):
When exactly does the majority of Horn's essence leave the narrator to go ride a beast with three horns? (and what is that beast?)
Why are plant genetics important to the story?
Why does the narrative technique and tone change so drastically between On Blue's Waters and In Green's Jungles? Why is that island on Blue made up of big trees, and why is it important? Who and what are the vanished people, and why do the animals with doubled limbs seem so similar to the ones we have on earth? Why does the narrator travel (a debatable word) to Urth, and what is the REAL importance of the secret of the inhumu, which is no secret at all? How many fair young girls in the text are spies? What is the fate of Urth? What really happens to Horn when he falls in the pit, and why do the Vanished People appear to him at that particular time? Why is the fact that Urth's sea is saltier than Blue important? How can we know that there will probably be no more New/Long/Short Sun books? What does the Cummean have to do with the inhumu and the vanished people? Is Chenille really stuck in Sinew's basement on Green? Why does Babbie look more human than Cillinia (Scylla)in the narrator's "dream" travel?
The didactic message of this text has been exposed on the surface, but the real conflict has been hidden by the master. You have to learn to look for the right questions (as with any Wolfe story) to ask the text (I've tried not to spoil this fine work; but I feel it is impossible to spoil a Wolfe book.) Remember to ask why, and you will find that Wolfe makes much more sense and has plotted out his universe with far more reason and surprising skill than the surface message would indicate.
I have managed to answer all of the above questions to my satisfaction (but perhaps not to everyones) and hope to find more of the right questions to ask of this masterpiece, Gene Wolfe's best work since The Book of the New Sun (and I believe it MIGHT even contend with that as my favorite book). Never stop asking the text questions, and it will not fail you; believe me.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Books like RETURN TO THE WHORL make life worth living., February 6, 2001

By 

Jacob G Corbin (Prairie Village, Kansas United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Return to the Whorl: The Final Volume of 'The Book of the Short Sun' (Hardcover)

It's quite possible that RETURN TO THE WHORL may turn out to be Gene Wolfe's last book. If so, it's one of the most awe-inspiring valedictory performances ever written. At an age where most writers have retired, died, or reached the point of self-parody, Wolfe has concocted a towering and dizzyingly impressive fiction about family, love, God, and the act of writing itself. The multiple narrative threads in ON BLUE'S WATERS and IN GREEN'S JUNGLES lay as thick as kudzu by this point, but Wolfe ties them off one after another with (we imagine) a sly smile and a magician's flourish. For longtime readers, this will come as no surprise; what is surprising is the sudden, deft, and skillful resolution of many questions left over from GW's other two long masterpieces, THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN and THE BOOK OF THE LONG SUN. RETURN TO THE WHORL is the capstone to the edifice that is Wolfe's life's work, and anyone who bears a deep and abiding love for reading -- science fiction or otherwise -- will find much in this book to profit from. Good fishing!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SATISFIED READER.... Good Fishing, January 29, 2001

By 

H. Kaiser (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Return to the Whorl: The Final Volume of 'The Book of the Short Sun' (Hardcover)

Gene Wolfe has always asked a lot of his readers. This conclusion of his current Book of the Short Sun trilogy is just about his most demanding work. But I feel that it is one of his most rewarding also. You won't really be able to access this work unless you've read its predecessors: On Blue's Waters and In Green's Jungles. And perhaps you need to have read his Book of the Long Sun quartet, a direct prequel; as well as his Quintet of Urth books that are connected as well. Reading all of these works is one of the most rewarding voyages in contemporary genre fiction and contemporary "literature".

I've been a Wolfe fan since the 60's and each year I am more impressed with his imagination, erudation, and writing skill. This new work blew me away. Many questions posed by the preceding works are answered; while some remain as puzzles for the reader to ponder. I was greatly moved by the human events in the life of the novel's principle narrator. Moved to tears a couple of times by his friendship with Pig and Pig's long sightless quest for vision along the length of the giant starship; followed by the narrator's donation of an eye combined with the transfer from Pig to the narrator of Silk-In-Mainframe.

Maybe I have always been a (...) for talking animals... But I especially enjoyed the talking night chough Oren's part in this complex story.

This is a specialized work for a specialized audience. It can be hard going for the unititiated. But work put in by the reader on Wolfe's fiction rewards much more than work put into other author's work. This is a true adventure in reading and I urge you to read all the preceding works if you are intrigued to do so.