I have enjoyed all of his books that I have read, but his stand-alone novels that most impressed me (like Matthew) were <i>Peace</i> and <i>The Fifth Head of Cerberus</i>. They are, in my opinion, at the level of the New Sun books; Wolfe at his finest. For a brief, mysterious, and thoroughly entertaining read, <i>The Sorcerer's House</i> is also excellent. It is a bit less dense and complicated than those other two I have mentioned.<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 5:57 PM, David Stockhoff <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dstockhoff@verizon.net">dstockhoff@verizon.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
Free Live Free blew my mind before TBotNS.<div class="im"><br>
<br>
On 10/12/2011 5:18 PM, Matthew Knapton wrote:<br>
</div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;"><div class="im">
I'm a big fan of The Fifth Head of Cerberus, and also Peace. Peace is crazy. I'm not really sure if it's one of the best books I've ever read or one of the most boring, but I recommend it to people just about every chance I get so I suppose I liked it.<br>
<br></div><div class="im">
On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 10:04 PM, Lane Haygood <<a href="mailto:lhaygood@gmail.com" target="_blank">lhaygood@gmail.com</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:lhaygood@gmail.com" target="_blank">lhaygood@gmail.com</a>>> wrote:<br>
<br>
New Sun, Long Sun, Short Sun = Solar Cycle.<br>
<br>
I personally found "The Wizard Knight" to be below Wolfe's usual<br>
quality. Or maybe I just really hated Abel as a protagonist.<br>
Either way I don't think they'd make essential Wolfe for me.<br>
<br>
I haven't read Pirate Freedom or Home Fires, but An Evil Guest was<br>
great.<br>
<br>
There Are Doors and the seminal Fifth Head of Cerberus remain two<br>
of my favorite non-Solar Wolfe books.<br>
<br>
Sent from my iPhone<br>
<br>
On Oct 12, 2011, at 3:59 PM, Jay <<a href="mailto:miltonwjackson@gmail.com" target="_blank">miltonwjackson@gmail.com</a><br></div><div class="im">
<mailto:<a href="mailto:miltonwjackson@gmail.com" target="_blank">miltonwjackson@gmail.<u></u>com</a>>> wrote:<br>
<br>
> I'd try tackling his short stories next myself. The Island of<br>
Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories is a great<br>
introductionto them.<br>
><br></div><div class="im">
> <a href="mailto:johnwwoolley@comcast.net" target="_blank">johnwwoolley@comcast.net</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:johnwwoolley@comcast.net" target="_blank">johnwwoolley@comcast.<u></u>net</a>> wrote:<br>
><br>
>> Plunging into the middle of the conversation ...<br>
>><br>
>> Ages ago, I read "The Book of the New Sun", and loved it to the<br>
point that I was handing out copies of the first volume to anyone<br>
I could get to agree to try it. Wonderful, spectacular book. Then<br>
I read "The Urth of the New Sun" and was much less impressed;<br>
ditto with "The Devil in a Forest". Then "Soldier of the Mist", a<br>
pretty fine piece of writing and a really ambitious and strange<br>
(and rather challenging) project. The other day I started "The<br>
Book of the Long Sun", and once again, Wolfe is just blowing me<br>
away with his prose and story-telling and characters (Patera Silk,<br>
Chenille, Auk, even the bird!); I've nearly reached the end of the<br>
second volume, and am completely loving it.<br>
>><br>
>> So ... what else of Wolfe's should I make sure to read? I think<br>
I'd better go back and reread "New Sun", and the "Short Sun"<br>
volumes seem to be a continuation of "Long Sun". (Right?) But what<br>
besides or after those?<br>
>><br>
>> -- John Woolley<br>
>><br>
>> ______________________________<u></u>_________________<br>
>> Urth Mailing List<br></div>
>> To post, write <a href="mailto:urth@urth.net" target="_blank">urth@urth.net</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:urth@urth.net" target="_blank">urth@urth.net</a>><div class="im"><br>
>> Subscription/information: <a href="http://www.urth.net" target="_blank">http://www.urth.net</a><br>
> ______________________________<u></u>_________________<br>
> Urth Mailing List<br></div>
> To post, write <a href="mailto:urth@urth.net" target="_blank">urth@urth.net</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:urth@urth.net" target="_blank">urth@urth.net</a>><div class="im"><br>
> Subscription/information: <a href="http://www.urth.net" target="_blank">http://www.urth.net</a><br>
______________________________<u></u>_________________<br>
Urth Mailing List<br></div>
To post, write <a href="mailto:urth@urth.net" target="_blank">urth@urth.net</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:urth@urth.net" target="_blank">urth@urth.net</a>><div class="im"><br>
Subscription/information: <a href="http://www.urth.net" target="_blank">http://www.urth.net</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
______________________________<u></u>_________________<br>
Urth Mailing List<br>
To post, write <a href="mailto:urth@urth.net" target="_blank">urth@urth.net</a><br>
Subscription/information: <a href="http://www.urth.net" target="_blank">http://www.urth.net</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<br></div>
---<br>
avast! Antivirus: Inbound message clean.<br>
Virus Database (VPS): 111012-1, 10/12/2011<br>
Tested on: 10/12/2011 5:19:39 PM<br>
avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2011 AVAST Software.<br>
<a href="http://www.avast.com" target="_blank">http://www.avast.com</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
---<br>
avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean.<br>
Virus Database (VPS): 111012-1, 10/12/2011<br>
Tested on: 10/12/2011 5:57:49 PM<br>
avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2011 AVAST Software.<br>
<a href="http://www.avast.com" target="_blank">http://www.avast.com</a><div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
______________________________<u></u>_________________<br>
Urth Mailing List<br>
To post, write <a href="mailto:urth@urth.net" target="_blank">urth@urth.net</a><br>
Subscription/information: <a href="http://www.urth.net" target="_blank">http://www.urth.net</a><br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br>