Storeys from the Old Hotel [Paperback]

Gene Wolfe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 1995

Hailed as "one of the literary giants of science fiction" by The Denver Post, Gene Wolfe is universally acknowledged as one of the most brilliant writers the field has ever produced. Winner of the World Fantasy Award for best fiction collection, Storeys from the Old Hotel contains thirty-one remarkable gems of Wolfe's short fiction from the past two decades, most unavailable in any other form.

Storeys from the Old Hotel includes many of Gene Wolfe's most appealing and engaging works, from short-shorts that can be read in single setting to whimsical fantasy and even Sherlock Holmes pastiches. It is a literary feast for anyone interested in the best science fiction has to offer.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Warning in his introduction that this anthology contains "some of my most obscure work," Wolfe ( Castleview ) goes on to briefly describe the background of the 34 "storeys," which include some intriguing ideas. Unfortunately, the ideas are generally more provocative and interesting than the stories themselves. In "Straw," for example, Wolfe postulates the invention of the hot-air balloon in 500 A.D.; the story, however, about five balloon soldiers carrying pincer maces and searching for food and straw, goes nowhere. Not entirely disappointing, the collection includes such highlights as "In Looking-Glass Castle," "The Recording" and "The Marvelous Brass Chessplaying Automation." Best is "From the Desk of Gilmer C. Merton," a hilarious series of letters between an up-and-coming SF/horror writer and his agent. The bulk of the works remain either frustratingly short ("To the Dark Tower Came," "Continuing Westward"), far too long ("Trip, Trap," "The Rubber Bend") or simply pointless ("The Flag," "Redbeard").
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This collection of 31 stories, first published in a limited British edition, assembles previously uncollected material by one of the genre's most intelligent and lucid writers. From a pair of stories featuring the detective March B. Street ("Slaves of Silver," "The Rubber Bend") to a locked-room mystery aboard an interplanetary spaceship ("Cherry Jubilee"), these tales display Wolfe's quirky, literate style. Although some stories are little more than mood pieces, others ("Trip, Trap," "The Marvelous Brass Chessplaying Automation") pierce the veil of the fantastic with an eerie, indefinable clarity. Libraries with a strong audience for speculative fiction will want to consider this.
Copyright 1992 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: 360 pages
• Publisher: Orb Books (December 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312890494
• ISBN-13: 978-0312890490
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #675,691 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

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Look at what some publishers pass up!, October 25, 1999

By 

Michael A. LeJeune ([e-mail]) (Spartanburg, SC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Storeys from the Old Hotel (Paperback)

I should try to load this review down with penetrating insights into Mr. Wolfe's methods and modus, and his (to me, lofty) place in the post-modern literary world, but I get toungue (finger?) -tied and flounder and it comes off sounding lame. Suffice it to say that this short story collection is interesting in that it is comprised almost entirely of stories that were never published or published only with great difficulty. Not all, or even most, of these stories are science fiction (but then, what of Mr. Wolfe's work has ever been exclusivly SF? And who cares?) These tales form a diverse collection ranging from a various ghost stories, wide ranging fantasy pieces, a light meditation about life as seen from a train, and, as always (Mr. Wolfe's forte'), some very incisive comments on humans and why they do the weird things they do.

My own favorites are "The Sightings at the Twin Mounds," "The Death of the Island Doctor," "Redwood Coast Roamer," "A Solar Labyrinth," and "Redbeard."

If you've never read Wolfe, this is a good place to start. If you have read Wolfe and you don't have this book, then what the heck are you waiting for?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not all bad, but Wolfe has done much better, October 5, 2009

By 

A. A. Chapman "Southern Chaps" (Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Storeys from the Old Hotel (Paperback)

Gene Wolfe is famous, and rightly so, for his New Sun books and countless imaginative and thought-provoking (and sometimes head-scratching) short stories. Storeys from the Old Hotel gathers what must be the comparatively mediocre leftovers. On the whole, these feature Wolfe's most frustrating qualities: oblique story-telling, endless dialogue, and seemingly lacunose plots. On his better days, these can be worked up to levels inconceivably ingenious (Book of the New Sun, for example), but can sometimes (as with this collection) leave one wondering, "why bother?"

There are, however, some stories worth reading here: the first Liavek story is more entertaining than the usual Gene Wolfe and actually has a surprisingly effective ending. "The Marvelous Brass Chess-Playing Automaton" is another very entertaining piece, with the good kind of Wolfean twists. "Straw" may seem incomplete at first, but keep thinking about it. "Love, Among the Corridors" is a moving retelling of the Galatea story, with role-reversal and addition. "From the Desk of Gilmer C. Merton" is hilarious metafiction. "Death of the Island Doctor" has a special, old-school-graduate-student charm. Finally, "Redwood Coast Roamer" is a set of flash-fiction stories quickly sketched on a long train ride, but they're surprisingly good at every turn.

Completists will want this one, if only for the diamonds in the rough. For others, I would suggest Endangered Species or The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, August 4, 2002

By 

Caterwaul (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Storeys from the Old Hotel (Paperback)

The very title is a gentle pun: "storeys" rather than "stories", and it opens the door to another of Gene Wolfe's just slightly cockeyed universes. I usually read Wolfe's books with an unabridged dictionary nearby, and I am never annoyed at interrupting my reading in order to refer to it. As with all his books, reading him is a slow process, and yet that only makes me feel that I am getting more for my money.

His characters are real. While they are all characters in the other sense of the word, none seems unbelievable.

Read this book. And read "Free Live Free."