Customer Reviews

The Sorcerer's House

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This new novel by Gene Wolfe is everything we expect of him: complex, surreal, expertly controlled, consistently surprising. Without a doubt, it's one of his best stand-alone works. While I would appreciate another series, it's good to know that Wolfe is still better than everyone else, and that this late in his career, he's still going strong.

In some sense, this strikes me as a return to form. "An Evil Guest", despite a magnificent plot, suffered from a very serious problem: Wolfe simply doesn't write well from a female perspective. His voice and attitude are so overwhelmingly male that the entire work just felt... off. "The Sorcerer's House" is more concise, extremely gripping, and, for lack of a better word, whole.

The epistolary form really plays to Wolfe's strengths. The narrator writes primarily to his brother (who eventually makes an appearance, in the most dramatic fashion), but we are also allowed to see the narrative from other perspectives, producing a dynamic loosely akin to parallax. Much, of course, is concealed, and we are eventually informed that we see only a possible order of events, rather than that in which Bax recorded them himself.

As to the Publisher's Weekly review Amazon has on display, I find it absolutely misleading. There are no stereotypes in this book, or if there are, they're treated subversively in an entirely original context. Moreover, the ending is ambiguous, but not "rushed". As always, Wolfe is in complete control of his material, and forces us to resolve the final chapters on our own.

Altogether, I really enjoyed this book. Gene Wolfe is one of the most accomplished authors writing in any language, and "The Sorcerer's House" does a great job reminding us of that.

Wolfe is at best an erstwhile novelist: the heart (and brains) of his oeuvre lie in the magisterial multi-volume epics ("The Sun Sequence" and "The Wizard Knight"), in which he creates and populates entire worlds with a Jehovian fecundity, and in his diabolical short stories (especially the innocuously titled ones like "The Cabin on the Coast," or "The Wrapper"), in which he takes your breath away with a sucker-punch. Reading his long works, you get the sense of watching him juggle chainsaws, jackhammers and electric eels to find that not only has he emerged unscathed (and having grown a couple extra arms) but carved out a unique, intricate sculpture out of a marble block you hadn't realized was there. Reading his short works, you feel you are witnessing a magic trick, where rabbits or elephants vanish, or materialize out of thin air.

Wolfe in medium doses can be less thrilling, due in part to his own program of sensibly treating single volume novels as something less (duh) than multi-volume ones, and in part to his protean nature as a writer: other than a few rhetorical flourishes, such as certain characteristic dialectical elisions in the dialogue, Wolfe does not really have a signature prose style. Ever the engineer, he invents a new prose style to suit the specs of each new work. And page by page, his single-volume novels by necessity lack either the formal variety of his short story collections or the baroque expansiveness of his epic works. His epics are jungles, his stories hothouses. His novels are gardens. Generic constraints cause their language to be well-tended, well-manicured, and, well, (God forgive me) Midwestern.

Having said all these mean, mean, mean, and nasty things, I have to admit that the Wolfe novels I love ("The Fifth Head of Cerberus," "Peace," "Free Live Free," "There Are Doors," and even a couple of Latro's diaries) probably outnumber the ones I don't (the near-ubiquitously frustrating "Castleview," for instance, or his, perhaps uniquely to me, stubbornly quixotic "Evil Guest," or "Pirate Freedom.) Still, reading all of Wolfe's major works, and many, if not most, minor ones, did not prepare me for "The Sorcerer's House."

In the best sense of the word, it reads like a great first novel. It has two qualities not found elsewhere in Gene Wolfe's output. For one, it is Wolfe's first work of significant length that demands to be read in one sitting. It is not just addictive (all his writing is), it is propulsive: suspenseful, light, easy, and fast-paced, with not a single extra word or excess episode and packed with weirdness, sex and violence, it grabs you like something created by the urbane imagination of, say, early Jonathan Carroll collaborating with the ruthless discipline of, say, Michael Connelly. But wait, there's more. Because for two, it's funny. Hysterically so. Up until now, most of Wolfe's best jokes have been hidden in his short stories or in brilliant moments, occasional stretches or supporting characters one (always mistakenly) thinks are being used for comic relief in his epics. But for me, this is the first time since that great '70's novella "Forlesen" that Wolfe has written a lengthy, sustained entirely comic work, whose humor, like "Forlesen's," tangoes with terror and dread. You'll feel like he is juggling rabbits. With tusks.

Read it now. It is a surprise, a delight, a brand new gift from an unsurpassed, unequalled author who has absolutely nothing to prove, and everything to show for it.

I am a long-time fan of Wolfe's and have read and enjoyed most of his books. This one was a disappointment, for a reason that surprised me. I think Wolfe is a fine writer. The writing in this book is, well, strangely amateurish and awkward.

Several other reviewers commented somewhat negatively on the narrative device that Wolfe uses. Chapters consist of letters, mostly from the protagonist but a few to him. I didn't mind this. It didn't get in the way and after a while (when I realized this would be the format for every chapter), I even liked it. It provided a way for Wolfe to switch first-person perspectives. More interestingly, letters from the protagonist to different people showed different aspects of the same writer.

What I found disconcerting was the very stilted and awkward writing style itself. At first I thought these were simply meant to reveal a quirkiness of the narrator. But the oddities were found in letters from all writers. Some of the writing was just bizarre, but not in the way that one might expect from a Garcia Marquez, Borges, or other writers in the magical realism genre. Rather, the writing was embarrassingly sophomoric (high school not even college). Sentence were clumsy, the flow between sentences was often jerky. The characters themselves were described in ways that made them seem, not fey (which would be consistent with the story) but just loopy.

Wolfe is in general a good enough writer that I suspect the style he adopted here reflected a deliberate choice. But I'm not sure why. It didn't work for me, at least.

The Sorceror's House is a beautifully subtle new novel by master fantasy and SF author Gene Wolfe. The novel's protagonist is a recently released convict who, seemingly by complete coincidence, comes into possession of an abandoned house. As he moves in, he discovers that the house already has a few odd inhabitants...

A large part of the enjoyment of this novel is the process of discovery, as the protagonist slowly finds out more and more about the odd nature of the house and its inhabitants, as well as the relations between the other people living in his new town. Because I don't want to spoil this process of discovery, I won't say much more about the plot of the novel, aside from the fact that it will slowly suck you into its own twisted reality, and that it's perfectly suited to be read and re-read, because everything, from the very first page on, will have acquired a new meaning by the time you're done reading The Sorceror's House for the first time.

Fans of Gene Wolfe know that this author likes to play games with unreliable narrators, such as the protagonist of the SOLDIER books, whose memory is wiped out at the end of every day, or Severian from The Book of the New Sun, who claims to have a perfect memory. In the case of The Sorceror's House, the novel actually consists of a series of letters. The vast majority are written by the erudite and intriguing main character, and addressed to his twin brother, his former cell mate, or his brother's wife. It's the epistolary format of The Sorceror's House that sets up lots of opportunities to twist the reader's perspective, because it allows the writer of the letters to tailor the content (not to mention tone) to the addressees. The very last letter of the novel is a perfect example -- and I guarantee you'll have a smile on your face when you read it.

I wouldn't call The Sorceror's House a major novel in Gene Wolfe's impressive oeuvre, at least when compared to masterpieces like The Book of the New Sun or THE WIZARD KNIGHT, but that doesn't mean that it isn't a supremely elegant fantasy novel, with a memorable narrator and a Twin Peaks-like atmosphere of "everyone in this small town has a secret". If you're already a fan of the Wolfe, definitely pick up a copy of The Sorceror's House... and if you're not, maybe this quote from Neil Gaiman (about THE WIZARD KNIGHT) will convince you: "Gene Wolfe is the smartest, subtlest, most dangerous writer alive today, in genre or out of it. If you don't read this book, you'll have missed out on something important and wonderful and all the cool people will laugh at you."

I have just finished Mr. Wolfe's newest, and I find myself wondering which of the several possibilities this book leaves open is real. Wolfe is a strange author, and is in fine form in this novel; unlike his last (An Evil Guest), the Sorcerer's House feels finished and fully realized. While I don't think this is his best--that honor goes to Peace and the Book of the New Sun, in my opinion--it's certainly an excellent and enigmatic book. I will say that, along with Wolfe's other output of late (An Evil Guest, Pirate Freedom, The Wizard Knight, and Soldier of Sidon), The Sorcerer's House seems more plainly written and less evasive than his output from the 80s and 90s.

This is the latest delightful tale from Gene Wolfe published in 2010. Although short 300 pages ), it seems to be a larger tale than it is. Maybe Gene Wolfe is really a sorcerer, or a warlock. It seems every time I read a Wolfe book I'm surprised by his style and ingenuity. There are a few parts that remind me of Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, which is a good thing.

The entire book is composed of letters written mostly by our lead narrator, a ex-con named Baxter Dunn to his twin brother George. Baxter was recently released from prison and is writing to his brother for some much needed money, but his luck changes as he discovers an abandoned house. He decides to find a Realtor to see if he can find the owner and live there rent-free in exchange for much needed repairs to the strange house. He meets Realtor's Doris Griffin and Martha Murrey and finds out that the previous owner Zwart Black has left the house to him in his will. He later finds out that a certain Mr. Skotos has left him valuable real estate and a large bank account! Who were these people? What did they want in return?

The house seems to have many rooms; some without entrances, some without exits, and with the strangest people and animals arriving and disappearing. As he tries to unravel this mystery, he will meet a werewolf, a changeling pet fox, a pair of strange butlers, a dwarf and a host of eccentric people. Some of the supernatural creatures in this novel are somewhat unique and original. The ending is unpredictable and is climaxed by some unanswered questions. Does this mean a sequel?

Although Gene Wolfe is 80 years old, his mind remains forever young and imaginative. This novel displays Wolfe's great story telling abilities and even though this is not quite a five star novel, it is highly recommended reading for any fantasy fan.

This is a fine Wolfean work, and by that I mean an entertaining novel that works as a straightforward story as well as a many-layered text. For Wolfe fans who disliked "An Evil Guest," this new novel is far more satisfying; for those unfamiliar with his work, this is a fine (though perhaps not the best) place to start.

In brief, the novel describes the adventures of Baxter Dunn, a man with two Ph.D's who has just served his time in prison for fraud. Upon his release he stumbles upon an apparently abandoned house that, oddly enough, he finds that he has inherited. The house (as in many similar fantasy novels) not only changes with time, but also is a doorway to other places and a home to many creatures. The rest of the story deals with the puzzle of what the house is, and why it is now Dunn's, with many smaller puzzles along the way.

The novel is written as a set of letters, and this plays to Wolfe's strengths. As a writer his watchphrase is "show, don't tell" so there are no info-dumps or expositionary musings. Characters say spiteful things, they don't "say things spitefully." As in real letters, dialog is paraphrased, details are implied and you can't always believe what you read. However, unlike some less accessible Wolfe works, a careful reader will be able to discern much of what is unsaid. I enjoyed reading each letter on the level of the reported action, as well as what it revealed about the writer and finally whether or not it was to be believed. Some of the "surprises" were telegraphed a bit, but were still quite enjoyable. There are a lot of curious details that will encourage re-reading and re-re-reading to disentangle the narrative thread.

I won't go into plot details (just read the Amazon.com synopsis).

It has a simplistic title and cookie cutter fantasy cover--Yet somehow it equals and surpasses many classics of literature, fantasy or otherwise. No one will believe me, yet it's true that The Sorcerer's House is better than any Tolkien, Martin or Jordan (I'm not just guessing, I've read them all). Wolfe's prose may go over many a reader's head on many occasions and his writing style and complexity are on par (for comparison purposes) to that of Philip Pullman, Guy Gavriel Kay, David Foster Wallace or Thomas Pynchon. Plot and pacing are as fast and exciting as any Zelazny (Lord of Light, Amber Chronicles), Gibson, or any of the best pulp fictions. Lord Dunsany, Tolkien and Edmund Spenser are the closest of Wolfe's peers. If you think you're up to the challenge then you should definitely pick this up. Very rewarding novel.

The Sorcerer's House offers a gripping fantasy set in a modern town in the American Midwest and tells of Bax, an educated man staying at a motel who writes letters to his brother and others revealing the story of an empty house in town, his move into it, and his confrontation with the supernatural. His life is changed - and each letter builds upon the saga in this gripping story, a highly recommended pick for fantasy and science fiction readers with an affinity for the supernatural.

The story in this book is told through a collection of letters. This idea is certainly not new, but it does possibly introduce a new element to Wolfe's work. As is common among many of Wolfe's novels, we must at least assume that it is possible that we have an unreliable narrator (or narrators, or curator). As is often the case, we must also assume that important events are probably happening "off-camera". The main question to ask with this style of story telling is, how much of the story should we take at face value? Particularly as the majority of it is coming from a man we know to be a liar, i.e. a con-man convicted of fraud. Furthermore, how many, if any of the events "on-camera" are out of order?

With that said, the book can, of course, be read through with none of these questions being asked or answered and still be an entertaining read. The interplay between real and fairy, the mysteries of the many sets of twins, the magic, the supernatural... all of these elements make for an entertaining read. One which I plan on revisiting shortly.