Soldier of Sidon [Hardcover]

If you're yet to become involved in Gene Wolfe's writings, you shouldn't be reading this, you should be reading the reviews for his epic "Book of the New Sun" and then buying that. But if like me you are already a fan, this is certainly a treat. Again we find Latro struggling to live day to day, with no past and a only a glimmer of hope into finding his future. Set in the wonderfully detailed world of ancient Egypt, Latro must make many journeys in order to honour his friends, himself, and his memory, meeting many fascinating creatures and powerful Gods and Goddesses along the way. Soldier of Sidon is definately my favourite of the "Latro" novels, and whilst most certainly the easiest to dissect, I feel this makes for a more enjoyable read. Get involved with Latro now, then complete your collection with this wonderful tale of heroism and struggle. You won't regret it.

Ahh well, least i tried to give it a title. hehe Any way, i wanted to write here and say that i was very impressed with the quality of the product and the high speed of the delivery too. I would indeed recommend this seller.

The Book, well, depends on the style of reading/ writting you like because Gene (bless him) is a rather thougtfull chap and you can definatly tell this in not just this but allot of his other titles too. The way this title has been written is rather unique and can only be experianced as its a sort of 3rd party, first party from a diary not the character sort of thing. God get a copy and find out. Again, im gratefull for the quality of service so i can finish this trilogy that ive enjoyed allot.

J.

fantasy, ancient world, historical fictionA mock introduction tells of a manuscript found during excavations when building the Aswan Dam. This book is supposedly a translation of that manuscript, the earlier two books, Soldier of the Mist and Soldier of Arete, being transations of manuscripts from the British Museum.

This manuscript, like the other two, is written by Latro, who is a veteran Roman mercenary. Latro though has been cursed by a god: as a result he loses his memory each night. Thus the manuscript/book is not just a diary but an aide-memoire, which Latro has to be reminded to read each morning. As a consolation for the curse, Latro can see and talk with the gods and their servants.

In this book Latro journeys down the the Nile, searching for a cure for his curse. Being a veteran, he is given command of a sqaud guarding a boat captained by his friend Muslak, on a mission to investigate rumours of gold mines far to the south. Also on the boat are the expedition commander, two priests and two 'river wives' for Latro and Muslak, hired for the voyage from a temple.

Things soon start to get strange. One of the priests seems to temporarily lift Latro's memory loss. A large cat and a strange woman are seen on the boat at night sometimes. An experience at a temple gives Latro a servant who has powers over snakes. Later, Latro makes friends with a monkey no one else can see and wrestles and defeats an evil spirit inhabiting a child, again which others cannot see.

The device of the manuscript works extremely well. It shows Latro to be honest and a good judge of character. It serves to make the supernatural ordinary, since Latro records the fantastic in his usual manner. It also makes certain story elements more shocking, as the record suddenly becomes terse and the narrative jumps. The book itself finishes as Latro runs out of space on the manuscript. The hook into the next book is a quest for Latro to recover something treasured he has lost.

This book/series stands out as a unique example of a realistic fantasy, where gods and mortals fit together naturally. The ancient world is brought to life, rather than some fake fantasy realm. The attention is to realism: for example, language. Latro writes his manuscript, in Latin which some other characters cannot read. On their journey all have problems communicating wiith locals as languages change. Latro understands enough Greek to talk to a Greek merchant they meet.

This series is highly recommended and well on its way to becoming a classic. If you have not read any of the previous books, the final advantage of the manuscript-as-memory device is that there is no back story to assimilate.