I read the five volumes of The Book of the New Sun back in the day.  Loved them.  I've yet to read the following stories in that sequence, although I do have them.  I love his style of writing and the world that he was able to invoke.

Last edited by ThornPlutonius (11/28/2014 9:04 pm)

Yeah, I have read a bunch of Wolfe, spanning most of his career. He's a really interesting case. His style can by so smooth and natural-seeming that it's easy to miss some of the weirdness that's going on. I also go back and forth on whether he's an artichoke or an onion in terms of whether there's a core of some intended "meaning" under the layers or whether he's more a Vancian stylist where the layers are the point. I think the Book of the New Sun is definitely his masterwork. The Soldier or Arete books are great, though, and the Book of the Long Sun and Book of the Short Sun are both totally fascinating if somehow a little less satisfying. His recent stuff, like An Evil Guest is also good, though it sometimes feels like he's excercising his style more than anything else. The Fifth Head of Cerberus is fantastic, and Seven American Nights is really good. I'd like to see him and Christopher Priest in some sort of literary cage match someday!

For weird adventure gaming purposes, I think both the New Sun and Short Sun are invaluable. I’ve read New Sun twice, and just got through Long Sun last summer. That means I’m on the borders of the Short Sun, which promises to involve vampiric aliens on a new world recently colonized by a human generation ship. I expect I shall not be disappointed!