Litany of the Long Sun: The First Half of 'The Book of the Long Sun' [Paperback]

Sounds a typical sci-fi theme, but Wolfe's approach is anything but typical. He relies on dialogue and very little narrative, and one has to use one's imagination to piece together and understand the whorl. I struggled to put the book down, and when I wasn't reading it, bored all those around me by talking about how wonderful it was. Fans of space opera attracted to the books will not get what they bargained for. But stick with it and you will be rewarded. Wolfe's books are like extended literary dreams, and you'll be haunted by them afterwards.

For love, all love of other sights controls,
And makes one little room, an everywhere.

The Book of the Long Sun is the fullest expression of Donne's sentiment I know of in English prose. Set within the stifling heat of the enclosed whorl, Wolfe's work is more focused than the vast canvas of time and space covered in the Book of the New Sun. There is, however, still plenty of scope for his trademark intense mastery of detail when describing people and places.

The character of the central protagonist, Silk, is surely one of the most finely-realised portraits even Mr. Wolfe has managed, and his progress and development through the turbulent events of the novel means by the end his stature has metaphorically and literally cracked the bounds of the world in which he was born.

The final postmodern twist will mean you reach the end of the book and will want to go right back to the beginning... but this novel (unlike much of what passes for fantasy these days) will bear (and indeed, requires) multiple re-readings.

Read it now!

Wolfe's novels have been said to be poetic, full of prose and the author himself has been said to be the modern day Melville. After reading 264 pages of Nightside of Long Sun, I didn't feel that the words were meticulously chosen or arranged into a flowery literary bouquet. The vocabulary didn't strike me as challenging the intellect nor did it pressure me to reach for the dictionary. Perhaps other reviews and recommendations have simply over exaggerated the writing style of Wolfe or perhaps it's just that I've been around the block a few times in the terms of the written English language in modern sci-fi literature. However, this one point doesn't deduct from the respect I have for the author, the novel or from the situation Silk finds himself in. It seems a blessing to be able to easily relate to the characters and schemes to willingly.

With that popular oversight aside, the flow and texture of the plot is unparalleled. The purposeful transgressions of main character Silk have a progressive element. While each hectic situation Silk finds himself in seems to be abrupt and unplanned, the further unfolding of the plot reveals a meticulous attention to the detail of the plot. Even in between chapters the crossover is seamless; paragraphs merge like beads of oil atop a level aquatic surface. What else can be said...it's beautiful. The one-on-one connections of Silk are intrinsically loose, which is acceptable merely because there are three books which follow in the series; the precedence is set, the foundation laid. I can envisage a great unfurling of the bolt of contextual plot which Wolfe has woven.

On a personal level, my reading has been cut back over the past few months because of a string of bad books (including Pohl, Busby, Bear, Pellegrino, etc). When I started reading Nightside of the Long Sun, I felt the dedication of the author to truly create a work of literature for the sake of literature itself and for the sake of the genre while being courteous to the reader's attention and persuasive to the reader's intellect. It is obvious that Wolfe is a gifted writer, writes with the reader and genre in mind, works scrupulously through an idea and LOVES his production, unlike much of the other popular novels spun out for word count or profit.

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Having just finished the first book of the tetralogy, Nightside of Long Sun, I quickly delved into the following book to relish in the exposure of details and telescoping personal relationships. I wasn't apprehensive knowing that a master like Wolfe steaming headfirst into the wonderful scene of the Whorl.

Two aspects of Lake of the Long Sun appealed to the science fiction reader in me. First, the flow of the plot yields intriguing hints to the origins of the nebulous Whorl. Bits of tech rear up occasionally, the mindset of the creators becomes topical and persuasive clues to the layout of the cities and landscape within the enticing chapters. Second, the physical structure of the Whorl is briefly brought to light and makes my spine tingle with anticipation of enlightening details of the grand panorama of the ambitious plot. Combine these two points together and the result is a sci-fi fusion tailored for the keen-eyed reader.

Layered atop this is a continuing dynamic intercourse of personal relationships, each strand of connection as interesting as the next. Through half of the novel, the interrelationships are sturdy, tried and tested and remained true. However, the last half sees a change in location and pace, whereas the associations weaken and warp to the point of questioning if these characters are of the same cast as before. The change is beyond dynamically steady, seemingly to the point of the bonds being forcibly stressed to create the rifts seen in the second half. I felt uncomfortable reading dialogue which should be familiar but comes across as unnatural, strained.

The fleeting glimpses of three-century-old technology of pre-Whorl creates exciting passages and the inclusion of hidden secrets makes for a multi-faceted reading experience, the fast change of pace and place threw me off the greater overview of the epic plot, ultimately ending in a predictable conclusion though through erratic means.