<div dir="ltr"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Aug 21, 2008 at 2:08 PM, Matthew Groves <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:matthewalangroves@gmail.com">matthewalangroves@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
What would your personal Best of Gene Wolfe's Short Fiction anthology<br>
contain? I would include all the novellas from The Island of Doctor<br>
Death and Other Stories and Other Stories.<br>
<div></div></blockquote><div><br>I'd probably select a bunch of uncollected stuff I wouldn't get a chance to read elsewhere. For example, I quite liked the second story in Strange Birds ("A Sob in the Silence"). I'd probably pick some of Wolfe's really short stories too, stuff about as long as "A Solar Labyrinth" or "My Book." (Though I don't think "My Book" would make my personal cut). "Seven American Nights" would be there (as it is in real life), and I might well include "Tracking Song." I'm not as keen on the Death / Doctor / Island stories as most, but I suppose one of them rather does have to be there. I don't want to see the whole "Wolfe Archipelago" though.<br>
<br>Judging from the stories Tor lists, it looks like Wolfe has chosen some very representative work from across his career. Unsurprisingly, there's a lot from The Island of Doctor Death. I expect Storeys from the Old Hotel will be well-represented in the final book too. I'd be pretty surprised if "A Solar Labyrinth" weren't included. I wish there were more Solar Cycle-related fiction to add. I like "The Night Chough," but I'm not sure it's a terribly strong story, and it doesn't make all that much sense without some knowledge of the ways of the Whorl.<br>
<br>-Matt<br></div></div><br></div>