The Fifth Head of Cerberus (S.F. Masterworks) (Paperback)

Mr. Wolfe has an amazing imagination, as you will immediately see upon reading any of his novels. Fifth Head is filled with haunting visions of a distant colony in the far future; technology is advanced in some areas but antiquated in many others. The society and culture are masterfully rendered.

The second novella is about a young man finding his twin; the viewpoint of these people is so strange and alien that I should have quickly become confused or bored. And yet I didn't; such was Wolfe's mastery of the writing style. No matter how strange things got, you read right along as if you had no other option.

The third novella consists of a military captain reading a prisoner's diary, returning to the society of the first novella. Again, the pure imagination is astounding. The characters seem like real, tangible people, not prefabricated creations placed down for our amusement. They are real people coping with impossibly strange situations.

If you're looking for a good book to read, then read The Fifth Head of Cerebrus. No, it's not light reading, but it's worth every minute. After reading this book, I immediately became a Wolfe fan. Great, amazing stuff.

Oh, and if you liked this book, I recommend Frank Herbert's "Dune" and Dan Simmons' "Hyperion." These books also have outlandish and amazing scenes, worlds, people, technology, etc.

Dr Marsch is the constant character who appears briefly in the first tale, is the author of the second and has his memoirs and tape recordings as the focus of the final instalment. Human cloning, cultural upheaval and history are the elements investigated in this novel. The narrative is often gothic like in the first story which I feel is the strongest single piece of the whole novel.The fantastical nature of the second part often left me feeling slightly bogged down, the history of the colonys are addressed here and although cleverly written had me rushing to finish it. Dr Marschs' memoirs are used in the final story to conclude and explain issues brought up in the first two parts. It leaves alot to the readers imagination.

Having just finished this book I cannot conclude whether it was an average book or a true classic of the Sci-Fi genre. This is because the story is eloquently written and the issues highly emotive and interesting but I did think the middle was ponderous to say the least. I will read this book again to give an overview of the whole concept - but it may be some time!

This review may seem to contradict but I would suggest you buy and see for yourself.

In short, this novel does what all great works of art do - it gives you plenty of room to shape your own meanings out of the text rather than impose them on you. In fact it is not really a novel at all - the three interlinking stories stand alone in themselves, but each one only becomes complete in light of the other two.

You will either love this, or hate it. If you like your endings neatly tied together, with all the mysteries explained in a strong dénouement, then avoid this book, and everything else by Wolfe. If you enjoy an intellectual and moral puzzle, then read this, not once, but over again (I am putting in my agenda to re-read in a year, to see if I come up with other conclusions than I did the first time round). A true classic of this or any genre.