The Wizard: Book Two of The Wizard Knight [Paperback]

Gene Wolfe (Author)

Book Description

Series: Wizard Knight | Publication Date: September 22, 2005

A novel in two volumes, The Wizard Knight is in the rare company of those works which move past the surface of fantasy and drink from the wellspring of myth. Magic swords, dragons, giants, quests, love, honor, nobility-all the familiar features of fantasy come to fresh life in this masterful work.

The first half of the journey, The Knight -- which you are advised to read first, to let the whole story engulf you from the beginning -- took a teenage boy from America into Mythgarthr, the middle realm of seven fantastic worlds. Above are the gods of Skai; below are the capricious Aelf, and more dangerous things still. Journeying throughout Mythgarthr, Able gains a new brother, an Aelf queen lover, a supernatural hound, and the desire to prove his honor and become the noble knight he always knew he would be.

Coming into Jotunland, home of the Frost Giants, Able -- now Sir Able of the High Heart --claims the great sword Eterne from the dragon who has it. In reward, he is ushered into the castle of the Valfather, king of all the Gods of Skai.

Thus begins the second part of his quest. The Wizard begins with Able's return to Mythgathr on his steed Cloud, a great mare the color of her name. Able is filled with new knowledge of the ways of the seven-fold world and possessed of great magical secrets. His knighthood now beyond question, Able works to fulfill his vows to his king, his lover, his friends, his gods, and even his enemies. Able must set his world right, restoring the proper order among the denizens of all the seven worlds.

The Wizard is a charming, riveting, emotionally charged tale of wonders, written with all the beauty one would expect from a writer whom Damon Knight called "a national treasure." If you've never sampled the works of the man Michael Swanwick described as "the greatest writer in the English language alive today," the two volumes of The Wizard Knight are the perfect place to start.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. The teenage boy who wandered into another set of realities in Wolfe's The Knight has attained his ambition of knighthood. Now, as Sir Able of the High Heart, he returns in this sequel riding a steed that's not a horse, wielding his magic sword and bound by oath not to use his new otherworldly powers. Such a summary is like saying a spoonful of tap water constitutes the whole of all oceans. Wolfe's words wash over the reader with transparent grace and charming playfulness as he spins his profoundly imaginative, metaphysically complex, yet ever-entertaining tale with astonishing naturalness. In trademark Wolfian fashion, the memory-altered protagonist acts as narrator, telling the truth whenever possible and to the full extent of his own understanding. This second volume satisfactorily supplies many answers to the riddles and allusions of its tantalizing predecessor, but posits new mysteries as well. The novel stands alone and might even be best if read before The Knight, but will surely drive readers to the first as well. The conclusion hints at possible further adventures. Outstanding fantasy these days is often convincingly and compellingly anti-Tolkien, but Wolfe proves one can tell an epic, myth-based story of honor, loyalty, courage and faith relevant to our own dark times. This is fantasy at its best: revelatory and inspirational.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* The second volume of the Wizard Knight concludes the story begun in The Knight [BKL D 15 03] by first bringing Sir Able back after 20 years in limbo, with his maturity and prowess increased. He is promptly dragged into a welter of murderous intrigues when somebody murders the king of the giants. The scramble to find the culprits and the intrigues involved in the succession eventuate in a complex, even convoluted tale, with so many characters and subplots that a proper summary would far exceed the limits of a Booklist review. Eventually, Sir Able slays dragons, preserves his honor, allows other knights to preserve theirs, rescues the virtuous and sets down the vicious while trying to tell the one from the other, and ends up being restored to his true love in a world strongly redolent of that of the Arthurian legends. But there is hardly a piece of northern European heroic literature from which Wolfe doesn't borrow with his usual scholarly flare and in his exquisitely turned prose (in Wolfe's hands, even dialect works). Arising from the same sources as Lord of the Rings, the Wizard Knight is one of the few fantasies that can justly be compared with it. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (September 22, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765314703
• ISBN-13: 978-0765314703
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 8.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,288,172 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

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What goes on in your mind?, October 21, 2006

By 

Big Shrike "Do the evolution!" (LA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wizard (The Wizard Knight, Book 2) (Hardcover)

This is better than anything else I have read in the last two years. I will not summarize the plot because you will find that elsewhere, but I prefer to check the negative feedback. I feel sorry for the people who read this book and seek a linear, easy-to-discern story. Just because the plot is disjointed, convoluted, complex, and yes, perhaps contradictions abound, (all revealing many different emotions and levels of maturity) does not translate to "a mess." Go read some milk-toast fantasy to satisfy your mundane literary aspirations! There is a bountiful "mess" of galant adventure and introspective sophistry to be found within these novels. The prose is magical. The story is invigorating. Satisfaction is assured. Gene Wolfe's body of work shames most want-to-be masters of sci-fi and fantasy. Give these novels a read with a steady mind. Perhaps a second or third read will find new, overlooked insights. You may find within these novels a plethora of goodness which changes your perspective on the world around you. Or at least takes you upon a journey of chivalry and courage. Cheers!

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worthy, but not excellent, Successor to the Knight, November 15, 2004

By 

B. Davis "HakMajik" (Fort Mill, SC USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Wizard (The Wizard Knight, Book 2) (Hardcover)

The Wizard, the concluding part two of "The Wizard Knight" duology, is a strong read. It does not, however, meet the lofty level of excellence that its predecessor, The Knight, met. Whereas "The Knight" will retain its place on my shortlist of best fantasy novels ever written (and the top one of 2004), The Wizard is (merely) a good read.

Gone, in my estimation, are the intricacies of The Knight-- the striving to attain (or have accepted) Able's Knighthood; the heart-wrenching moments associated with the absence of Disiri; the subtle nuisances flowing through the text as a result of the protagonist's youth (but not Able's).

In its stead, are near-standard fantasy fair battles: Jotunland, RedHall, the Five Fates (description only) and the concluding sequence. And of them all, only the concluding, final chapter of the book (comprising, of course, the final battle) is exemplary. And, as with many Wolfe novels, the end rushes in: a swift wind undeterred by a readers desire for a less abrupt cessation. Additionally, the swift rise and sudden disappearance of Toug (and his centric views) and Mani (gotta love that Cat) were both hearteningly fresh and sorely noticed.

Nonetheless, this book is better than all but the finest of fantasy (or other fictional) work. Its highpoints are very good: the ruinous portrayal of Morcaine; the torn relationship between Idnn and Svonn; the tattered mind of Etela's mother; Baki and Uri.

I can only hope that Wolfe returns to this universe. It's worthy of more of his time just as The Wizard was worthy of mine.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dark, sometimes obscure, but compelling, April 21, 2005

By 

booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Wizard (The Wizard Knight, Book 2) (Hardcover)

After living in Skai for thirty years, Sir Able is back in Mythgarthr (only a few months passed in the Mythgarthr dimension). One condition of Able's return is that he not use his magical powers. Instead, he must fight as a knight. Fortunately for him, the Valfather has given him one of the great dogs of his own hunt, as well as a young unicorn to ride. Together with Able's bowstring made of severed souls, and his sword--equiped with dead knights prepared to join in battle, although only sometimes in aid of Able, he hardly misses those magical powers.

Able returns to a complicated political situation. The frost giants are restive and attempts to placate them bog down when the frost giant king is attacked. Even when he escapes the frozen lands of the north, Able is unable to find peace. There is a dragon to fight, and a message to take to the king. The result of that message, when finally delivered, leaves Able in prison while the kingdom falls into horrible war and defeat.

Author Gene Wolfe creates a powerful and fascinating world--with strong ties to Germanic myth. Able, and the squire Tong, try to understand what is happening around them, make decisions that might not always be wise, and face a world where good and evil are vague terms--and making the choice between them is often difficult.

THE WIZARD is a compelling and fascinating read. Often dark, sometimes obscure, filled with so many characters that the list of players at the beginning comes in very handy, THE WIZARD is still hard to put down. WOLFE has become one of the major literary authors of contemporary Science Fiction/Fantasy. With THE WIZARD, it is easy to understand how he's achieved this popularity.