That irritates me a little, too. I normally get back into things fairly quickly, though.

Agree with most of what you say here. Character tracking is the one issue I have with this series and for me it's due to several factors.
-The sheer number of characters both central and non-central to the story
-Unconventional naming makes those names unrecognizable and hard to tie to a character as they are also not gender-indicative
-(As mentioned) characters dropping in and out of timeline


The Song of Ice and Fire books also have multiple characters but it is much easier to track and recognize them thus keeping the flow smooth. Conventional names and affiliation with Houses is a big part of that but RR Martin just does a much better job in that regard IMHO.

I think Martin kills so many people it's easier to manage what's left.

I'm half joking.

I'm reading A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White. It's different, but I'm enjoying it two thirds of the way through. First part of a trilogy and I'm certain I'll read the other two.

RIP Gene Wolfe. By far my favorite author and one of the GOATs of any genre, IMHO.

Wolfe went on to write over 30 novels, with his best best-known work, The Book of The New Sun, spanning 1980-1983. The series is a tetralogy set in the Vancian Dying Earth subgenre, and follows the journey of Severian, a member of the Guild of Torturers, after he is exiled for the sin of mercy. Over the course of the series the books won British Science Fiction, World Fantasy, British Fantasy, Locus, Nebula, and Campbell Memorial Awards. In 1998 poll, the readers of Locus magazine considered the series as a single entry and ranked it third in a poll of fantasy novels published before 1990, following only The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

https://www.tor.com/2019/04/15/gene-...iam-1931-2019/

“Time itself is a thing, so it seems to me, that stands solidly like a fence of iron palings with its endless row of years; and we flow past like Gyoll, on our way to a sea from which we shall return only as rain.”

Haven’t read any of his work. Been wondering what I’ll read next once I finally kill off the Malazan books. Now I know.
Would you recommend I go with The Book of the New Sun as a representative selection of his best works?

TBotNS is definitely his magnum opus. It’s a very very dense literary work, however. The Fifth Head of Cerberus is often mentioned as a good introduction to him. I would probably recommend diving into the deep end with New Sun. That’s what I did and I fell in love with him. The rest of the Solar Cycle is great, too. New Sun is followed by Urth of the New Sun, The Book of the Long Sun, and The Book of the Short Sun. New Sun is standalone, though. The Soldier series and his short stories are fantastic, too.

You’re in for a treat, man. I wish I could experience him for the first time again. No one rewards rereading like Wolfe, however. I can’t sing his praises loud enough

Thanks Shifty. Good luck in the final push to the end of the semester.

No prob and thanks. It’s been a tough one. Had to put Malazan on the back burner a little. Will be able to pick things up a little soon.

Thanks for the recommendation. Added to my goodreads queue.

Sure. Put him on the short list, man.

“He’s the finest living male American writer of SF and fantasy — possibly the finest living American writer" - Neil Gaiman

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/19/o...ion=Obituaries

"I have my own list, very different from theirs. At the top of it is the name GENE WOLFE.

Gene Wolfe has never won a Hugo.

Nebulas, yes. World Fantasy Awards, yes. Locus Awards, BSFA Awards, Campbell Memorial Award (not to be confused with the Campbell New Writer award). Even the Rhysling Award for poetry, and something called the August Derleth Award. But never a Hugo. Eight nominations, zero wins.

I would rank Wolfe as one of the greatest SF and fantasy writers of the past half-century, right up there with Roger Zelazny and Ursula K. Le Guin. Yet he remains without a rocket." - GRRM

https://grrm.livejournal.com/424135.html

"Gene Wolfe is the greatest writer in the English language alive today. Let me repeat that: Gene Wolfe is the greatest writer in the English language alive today! I mean it. Shakespeare was a better stylist, Melville was more important to American letters, and Charles Dickens had a defter hand at creating characters. But among living writers, there is nobody who can even approach Gene Wolfe for brilliance of prose, clarity of thought, and depth in meaning." -Michael Swanwick

https://nebulas.sfwa.org/grand-masters/gene-wolfe/

"Well yes, he's a god. It is to the mainstream's eternal shame that they haven't recognized him. He is one of the great living authors." - China Mieville on Wolfe

http://strangehorizons.com/non-ficti...china-miville/

How to Read Gene Wolfe
https://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2007/gwng0704.htm

I put Dust of Dreams aside and started on BotNS last night. Only got a few pages in (I read at bedtime,sometimes for longer than others) but I like it already.

I'm a little burned out on Malazan, gonna' give it a rest for a while then finish it up.

Parts can be tough but it’s a rewarding experience. It’s unlike anything else I’ve read. The whole series isn’t that long. Including Urth which concludes Severian’s arc.

I hear you on Malazan. I love it but I need a break again. My dad gave me Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa the other day. Gonna knock that out and then wrap up Malazan.

thats a good one. I've read it 3 times. that story was originally published as a serial in a newspaper IIRC.

I havent read much Fantasy in the last couple months that wasn't a comic. I did read the Konrad Trilogy late last year. It's set in Warhammer fantasy. I'd give it a 7/10. I bought a stack of Warhammer paperback books for cheap. Konrad was easy reading and it fills you in on lore as needed. The rest of the WH books I tried reading seemed hack. I couldn't get into them.

I got hooked right away. Got about 1/5 of the way through it in 2 days. My dad lived in Sagamihara for about five years when he was young. Was basically raised by the Japanese maid. She would take him all over the country. Anyway, he loves Japan and is always recommending Japanese Lit to me.