The Wizard: Book Two of The Wizard Knight (Paperback)

by Gene Wolfe (Author) "I was not going to put in another list of names, but I thought what if he does not get the first part?..." (more)
Key Phrases: green horseman, old helm, dear owner, Sir Able, Sir Svon, Earl Marshal (more...)

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 the Hardcover edition.

From The Washington Post
With the publication of The Wizard, the unpredictable Gene Wolfe completes a dauntingly ambitious two-volume novel collectively entitled The Wizard Knight. The publisher has compared these books to the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, but the comparison seems specious at best. In sharp contrast to Tolkien's accessible, straightforward epic, The Wizard Knight is a dense, frequently mysterious creation that no one but Wolfe could have written.

The story began earlier this year in The Knight, which introduced Sir Able of the High Heart, who tells the tale in the form of a letter to his long-lost brother, Ben. While still a teenager, Able is transported from the "real" world of modern America to an overtly fantastical realm known as the Seven Worlds. These rigidly hierarchical worlds are bound together by complex metaphysical laws and form the backdrop for a painstakingly detailed Arthurian drama in which Able plays the dominant role. Shortly after arriving in Mythgarthr, the most Earth-like of the Seven Worlds, Able meets -- and makes love to -- Disiri, queen of Aelfrice, the world located directly beneath Mythgarthr. Disiri, who will become the obsessive focus of Able's romantic and erotic longings, transforms him from a gangling teenager into a massive, powerful physical specimen, the very model of a knight and champion. The tension between the untested boy on the inside and the huge man's body he presents to the world permeates the narrative, investing the story of Able's coming-of-age with an idiosyncratic flavor of its own.

One of the central achievements of The Knight -- an achievement Wolfe sustains in the second volume -- is its fresh, vivid rendering of some very familiar elements. Able's experiences in the Seven Worlds include knightly quests, pitched battles, trials by combat and assorted tests of honor. In the course of his adventures, he encounters flesh-eating ogres, bellicose giants, undead witches and warriors, seductive sorceresses and (of course) maidens in distress. Each of these encounters seems newly minted and original, and that is no mean accomplishment. One of the many high points is an airborne battle between Able and a fire-breathing dragon named Grengarm. This beautifully described set piece ends the opening installment, setting the stage for this larger, ultimately superior second volume.

As The Wizard opens, Able returns from an extended sojourn in Skai, the sacred realm above Mythrgar where gods dwell, and where time moves at its own, much quicker pace. For Able, 20 years have passed, while only months have elapsed in Mythgarthr. He is now, save at rare vulnerable moments, both a knight and a fully integrated man. He is also a wizard, although a complex vow prevents him from using his magical abilities. Accompanied by a telepathic flying unicorn and a pair of wonderfully characterized talking animals (a shape-shifting dog and a self-satisfied cat), he moves through the various levels of the Seven Worlds, searching for Disiri and gradually uncovering the hidden purpose of his life.

That purpose involves delivering a crucial message (a message that lies dormant in his memory, awaiting its proper moment) and dispensing the principles of knightly justice to all who cross his path. Able's quest takes him from the peasant villages ruled by King Arnthor (royal offspring of a dragon) to an enchanted island, and from the giant-built stronghold of Utgard to the contiguous worlds above and beneath him. Along the way, he finds (and loses) a magical sword, converses with gods, suffers loss and imprisonment and ultimately rescues Arnthor's kingdom from an encroaching race of quasi-human cannibals.

The Wizard is a larger, more expansive volume than its predecessor. The narrative is broken down into a smaller number of longer chapters and proceeds in a much more fluid fashion. Having established the novel's background so thoroughly in The Knight, Wolfe is now free to linger over dramatic moments, to explore the mysteries of his magical kingdoms and to develop even his most minor characters with care and intelligence. The result is a satisfying, wide-ranging novel that contains enough marvels and mysteries (not all of which are resolved or explained) to populate an entire series.

The Wizard Knight is, in the oldest, truest sense of the word, a romance. It is the work of a man who believes in his bones that the knightly virtues he so lovingly describes -- faith, honor, courage, fidelity -- are essential elements of the human soul, elements we ignore at our peril. This underlying belief powers the story, carrying it past those moments when Wolfe's typically garrulous characters ramble on and the narrative momentum flags. Mostly, though, Wolfe keeps this complex creation thoroughly under control, driving steadily toward a moving conclusion that celebrates the benign magic -- and ultimate healing power -- of love and friendship. As the talking cat tells us in one of his less sardonic moments: "Magic and art have a great deal in common." Gene Wolfe has spent a lengthy, productive career proving that very point. In the two substantial volumes of The Wizard Knight, he proves it once again, transmuting the overworked materials of traditional fantasy into something strange, memorable and new.

Reviewed by Bill Sheehan
Copyright 2005, The Washington Post Co. All Rights Reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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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: 9 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #860,689 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 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!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars unexpected but predestined ..., October 16, 2005

By	Marc Aramini (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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

I waited a while to post on this book, because I wanted to read it again before I formed a solid opinion. I have championed Wolfe's other series to no end, and I just wanted to leave a few comments that might help readers other readers here.

The first time you read a Wolfe book, you expect that certain things you want to happen actually will. There was so much buildup to Skai in the Knight that you wanted Able to spend his time there and hear about the awesome gods. Then the Wizard seems to go off on a long tangent about Gilling and Idnn, and it wasn't what you were expecting. Then you go back to The Knight, and realize this is exactly how the story had to develop. Because the gods that are chronicled are not from Skai, but from Mythgarthr.

The aelf want to be better, so they implore the king of their gods to make the world better, and send a champion messenger, Able. The entire quest is not about ascending to Skai, but in getting Arthnor's attention enough to convince him to change, so that the artificial people of Aelfrice can themselves change for the better.

Where is the real Able? This seemed to be a big loose end to me. It turns out that when Arthur Ornsby went wandering away into the forrest at the beginning of The Knight, he cut a piece of spiny orange tree that had been planted by the original Able. Perhaps this triggered their big switch.

Other nice touches: the ghost of Ravd appears to Toug watching over Svon, but is only listed as a golden knight with a lion's crest. The earl marshal, when he visits Aelfrice, splits in two, leaving one version of himself sitting there. Perhaps the same thing has happened to Able? It seems almost certain that Garvaon slayed Gilling for his love of Idnn.

In any case, the book is much better the second time through. You realize that the big disappointments of the two books (in book one, Able won't use a sword and act like a knight, in book two, Able won't use his magic and act like a wizard) are intentional and important. While Able is both knight and wizard, his honor and his message of setting a good example is more important than weilding a sword or exercising his magic.

17 of 20 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 (REAL NAME)

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.