(urth) Wolfe in decline?

[Kieran Mullen]

    Sorry to omit previous discussions....

    I don't think Wolfe jumped the shark with Pirate Freedom.   I  
thought that it was an interesting story as well as an exploration of  
good and evil in a much more violent world.   The narrator is  
unreliable, of course as most are in Wolfe.    It seems silly to state  
that involving time travel immediately implies a poorIy written  
story.  I  even liked the Wizard-Knight series.   I found "The FIfth  
Head of Cerberus" to be unenjoyable - the story too thin and the  
narrative layers too complex.

     As for "An Evil Guest,"  I didn't like it because it wandered all  
over the genre map, so that it seemed incoherent.   The Lovecraftian  
elements were pulled out in the end without enough foreshadowing, and  
I could not find a character with whom I could empathize.   However, I  
think I need to reread it based on some insights brought up by this  
mailing list.   It's a bit like seeing "Rosencrantz and Guilderstern  
are Dead"  without any knowledge of Shakespeare.   You can admire  
parts of it, but it seems a bit incoherent.   I am still looking for  
some key understanding that will make AEG make more sense.

Kieran Mullen