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The Wizard Knight
  
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The Wizard Knight (Hardcover)

by Gene Wolfe (Author)
3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

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Paperback (paperback / softback) £14.99 £10.49 47 used & new from £0.01

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 928 pages
  • Publisher: Gollancz (22 Sep 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0575077093
  • ISBN-13: 978-0575077096
  • Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16.4 x 7.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,116,409 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #76 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > W > Wolfe, Gene

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Product Description

Roz Kaeveny, TLS

"A sophisticated meditation on dream and on the nature of fiction and its illusion. Wolfe deserves respect for the endless invention with which he not only subverts genre convention but challenges the assumption of all fiction."

Review

"A sophisticated meditation on dream and on the nature of fiction and its illusion. Wolfe deserves respect for the endless invention with which he not only subverts genre convention but challenges the assumption of all fiction." (Roz Kaeveny TLS )
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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (4)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.3 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Will Be Re-Read..., 13 Feb 2007
By Mr. Stuart Holdaway (Heathrow, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Wizard Knight (Gollancz S.F.) (Paperback)
I can see why some people might not like this book - it's huge, and drags in some places. However, it's a gripping read and I was hooked from start to finish.

It's not a typical fantasy novel, I feel - or perhaps just not the sort that I tend to read. I found it a lot more serious than books I usually read, though not in a negative way. The depth of the narration makes it easy to empathise with the characters, although I must admit that the way some of them behave (including the main character, in fact) occasionally had me wondering if they were the sort of people I would like to know.

As someone mentioned, it has a slight dry part, around two-thirds/three quarters of the way in (about half-way through 'The Wizard'), but I still enjoyed reading it. As for the comment about magic being used to finish the story in a satisfactory way (a happy ending), the theme of the entire story is honour, and Sir Able has promised not to use his gifts, and only uses them when forced to.

The book reads as though it could continue at the end, which I hope very much it will - it's always sad to reach the end of a good story, especially one as long and involving as this - if I get the chance to follow Sir Able again, I certainly will. This book will definitely be re-read.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A phantasmagorical read, 28 May 2006
By Tristan Fitzgerald "Trisfitz" (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Wizard Knight (Gollancz S.F.) (Paperback)
I totally disagree with the previous review, to the extent that I wonder whether we read the same book. Admittedly, I'm a long-time admirer of Wolfe's writing, having loved the 'Books of the New Sun'. As usual, the author does his trick of conjuring up a highly readable narrative which has hidden depths. The story, on the surface a conventional fantasy quest, frequently slides into symbolist visions that remind me of the paintings of Gustav Moreau.

The story is narrated by Able, a boy who is brought from our world to a realm which mixes Norse and Arthurian mythology. He's not the most disciplined narrator, often clumsily skipping back and forth as he writes, giving Wolfe a crafty chance to create suspense by offering hints of what's to come. He can also be somewhat simple-minded and of a bit of a bully. Mind you, if you were an eleven year old boy given the body of a strapping knight, you'd probably be tempted to throw your weight around too.

So is this a clever book that's doing something new with fantasy, or just an entertaining yarn? I really don't know, but I do know I throughly enjoyed it.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A must for ALL true fantasy fans, 28 Nov 2006
By Mr. P. G. Lewis "Mumbles" (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Wizard Knight (Gollancz S.F.) (Paperback)
This is my first Gene Wolfe book that I have read and wow was I blown away.

An absolutely amazing story with such detail that I have only ever come across in the likes of Tolkien. The whole story follows Able through his life following the kind of character that you would actually want as a best mate anbd the kind of worlds that you wish you could travel to today.

A hefty book but every page is a turner and well worth it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Glorious Romance of Knights, Dragons and Faery
What a truly extraordinary book. It's a proper, deeply old-school high fantasy. It has knights with pennants on their lances when they joust and giants and dragons and magic... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Breakfast

1.0 out of 5 stars Just Awful
i've never felt the need to review a book on here before, but this book has earned my utmost contempt.

A complete waste of time. Read more
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1.0 out of 5 stars A tedious mess of a book
I started this book in high spirits, thinking it looks really interesting, and gradually as I read I was let down further and further until I ground through the last 300 pages or... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Dan

4.0 out of 5 stars This stuff has to be read twice, and absorbed properly...
Gene Wolfe has the annoying habit of making his characters waffle when they speak. On and on they rattle. They never get to the point straight away. Read more
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5.0 out of 5 stars A Knight of ghosts and shadows / I summoned am to tourney
I'm not given to reviewing books on Amazon often, but I'm frankly amazed that some reviewers found this fantastic book unreadable or uninspired. Read more
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1.0 out of 5 stars Absolute Rubbish
This must be quite the worst fantasy book I've ever read. The major flaw is that it's written in the first person... Read more
Published on 5 April 2007 by Jamie Lang

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, but heavily flawed
What could have been a fairly good, albeit somewhat mundane two-novel series (which has been collected as one in this printing, the two novels being known separately as "The... Read more
Published on 6 Feb 2007 by James McGovern

5.0 out of 5 stars A gripping fantasy epic
I was somewhat taken aback by some of the more negative reviews here of this novel, as I got so much pleasure from reading it. Read more
Published on 15 Jan 2007 by Megamunch

1.0 out of 5 stars In brief
I wrote a long and in-depth review about this book a few weeks ago and it still has not been published. Read more
Published on 10 July 2006 by Secret Squirrell 99

3.0 out of 5 stars Half good,
Ok, so you're probably a fantasy reader if you're thinking about getting this book. But let me stop you, if you want magic then don't come here, as the title is suprisingly... Read more
Published on 25 Jun 2006 by Christian Burns

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