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nayneyneigh's review against another edition
4.0
This is a pleasant surprise after the first installment which unimpressed me. Wolfe saved the grand, heroic adventures worthy of Beowulf or Lancelot for the second half and it was a delight to experience. Many of mysteries are given clear explanations (not all, this is a Gene Wolfe novel) by the end. I'm glad I returned to keep this series.
jdashcastillo's review against another edition
4.0
“I’m an oath-breaker, since I broke that one when the Osterlings were besieging Redhall. Some of you were there, and will not forget the storm I raised. Tonight I’m going to break it again, openly and for as long as I can.”
Very solid book and having Wolfe’s take on a more traditional fantasy approach was really cool. I did like The Knight a bit more than this and felt like I wasn’t really as invested at certain points following Toug and Svon. All in all the ending, especially the last chapter, really solidified this book for me as a solid read.
Very solid book and having Wolfe’s take on a more traditional fantasy approach was really cool. I did like The Knight a bit more than this and felt like I wasn’t really as invested at certain points following Toug and Svon. All in all the ending, especially the last chapter, really solidified this book for me as a solid read.
ronsos's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed the combination of Celtic legends in the storytelling along with the cosmology based on Norse and Christian concepts. The early and late parts of the story were really enjoyable, but that long middle section in Jotunland was a real drag.
Wolfe has a way of telling you stuff that isn't what he's really telling. It can be intriguing at times but also frustrating when characters are endlessly dancing around a topic.
Reviewing this as a single novel since that's what it is.
Wolfe has a way of telling you stuff that isn't what he's really telling. It can be intriguing at times but also frustrating when characters are endlessly dancing around a topic.
Reviewing this as a single novel since that's what it is.
thinde's review against another edition
2.0
This continuation of the series only magnified the flaws of the first book. While the characters were sympathetic, the story was a hot mess.
I had to struggle to finish. An editor could have trimmed half of the narrative branches and the story would still have been unnecessarily complex.
I had to struggle to finish. An editor could have trimmed half of the narrative branches and the story would still have been unnecessarily complex.
arthurbdd's review against another edition
5.0
In Wolfe's classic duology, he provides a memorable examination of the assumptions and philosophy of not just fantasy fiction, but the entire tradition of adventurous, fantastic literature dating back to the chivalric romances through the medium of a knight who in some senses is no real knight at all - and in others is the realest of them all. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/2022/05/16/a-chivalrous-sorcerer/
mcnevinh's review against another edition
5.0
Five stars. I reread paragraphs, and chapters, immediately after finishing them, for their sheer beauty and surprise. Gene Wolfe is definitely coming with me to the desert island; I would want either this, or The Book of the New Sun (including its end coda, The Urth of the New Sun.)
But how to explain this one? It feels like living inside Myth. The story is told in the form of an endless letter to the main character's brother, after the hero--Sir Able--has disappeared from our world. A line of dialogue or description can change one's entire sense of what is transpiring. Heroism can suddenly appear a monstrous as he describes what happened. He'll come to major events and say, "I don't want to talk about that." Mysteries transform into still other mysteries, and into dazzling revelations, with masterful finesse. And brief recognitions can reframe the book's universe.
There are clearly people, like me, who will absolutely love this duology. Others will hate it for many of the same reasons. I understand why they would. I'm not saying they're wrong, but I do expect to reread this myself, probably more than once.
But how to explain this one? It feels like living inside Myth. The story is told in the form of an endless letter to the main character's brother, after the hero--Sir Able--has disappeared from our world. A line of dialogue or description can change one's entire sense of what is transpiring. Heroism can suddenly appear a monstrous as he describes what happened. He'll come to major events and say, "I don't want to talk about that." Mysteries transform into still other mysteries, and into dazzling revelations, with masterful finesse. And brief recognitions can reframe the book's universe.
There are clearly people, like me, who will absolutely love this duology. Others will hate it for many of the same reasons. I understand why they would. I'm not saying they're wrong, but I do expect to reread this myself, probably more than once.
glassglassmadeof's review
5.0
quite possibly my favorite wolfe text currently. disability justice long before the conversation was as open as it is nowadays, but rendered with intense chivalry and care, and in characteristic fashion, leading one to question the very basis of our world’s fabric to increase “the stock of harmless good cheer in the world” as justin mcelroy might say
theatlantean's review against another edition
1.0
Okay, I have only looked at the first, and read a few pages. I thought I'd see what was going on with this one first...
The answer is, incomprehensible nonsense, that grows tired by about the third paragraph. There are a few books that work with a vernacular style of writing. Pilgerman, A Clockwork Orange and Feersun Endgin come to mind. But characters portrayed only by their wonky way of talking are usually tiresome. Pratchett makes good use of it in the odd character.
But when it is the main protagonists in the first two chapters, it is seriously annoying. When I find myself reading 2 chapters of a book that fails to entertain, says nothing, and speaks in a difficult to follow lingo, I throw it away. Gene Wolfe has been good in the past. He has also been stultifyingly dull. This is one of the latter. Some reviews suggest these books are somehow original in the fantasy market. Rubbish. There is nothing new here, and the literary trick of having a boy in a man's body has little mileage any more... since Tom Hanks in Big, actually, and that was due to the skill of the actor.
Avoid.
The answer is, incomprehensible nonsense, that grows tired by about the third paragraph. There are a few books that work with a vernacular style of writing. Pilgerman, A Clockwork Orange and Feersun Endgin come to mind. But characters portrayed only by their wonky way of talking are usually tiresome. Pratchett makes good use of it in the odd character.
But when it is the main protagonists in the first two chapters, it is seriously annoying. When I find myself reading 2 chapters of a book that fails to entertain, says nothing, and speaks in a difficult to follow lingo, I throw it away. Gene Wolfe has been good in the past. He has also been stultifyingly dull. This is one of the latter. Some reviews suggest these books are somehow original in the fantasy market. Rubbish. There is nothing new here, and the literary trick of having a boy in a man's body has little mileage any more... since Tom Hanks in Big, actually, and that was due to the skill of the actor.
Avoid.
katieg's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The second volume of the Wizard Knight continues to follow Able and Co as they negotiate confrontation with the Frost Giants and the complex nature of honor and vows. For anyone who reads the first installment and wants to pick up the second I would say that it would be to your benefit to read it immediately, this book feels less like a sequel and much more like a volume 2 to one work, and I imagine based on how it was published that Wolfe likely wrote the entire thing to be read as a single volume. Mostly I suggest this because of the density of the writing style which took me a while to acclimatize myself to despite reading both books in one month.
I didn't end up enjoying this second one as much as the first because character moments never really hit as hard for me as they did in the first. Reunions that I was anticipating in particular were either entirely omitted or incredibly brief, and there wasn't a narrative payoff that I wanted. That being said I don't think that character interactions were a particular goal of this book. I think this series is much more concerned with its world-building and how it reconstructs and combines its inspirations, this second volume plays much more with Arthurian inspiration and I did enjoy the approach to Morgan le Fey and Arthur here. That being said I don't think that the world-building would be a draw for a lot of readers, it does not reimagine social, political, or economic differences from our own world to a dramatic degree through which the reader can slowly be drawn in with inventiveness and imagination. Rather, the book seems concerned with its place within the literary canon of epics about knighthood and honor. The inclusion of The Riders by Lord Dunsany in the first volume, and the dedication to him in the second work points to that. I don't fault this purpose, but it certainly isn't entertaining fantasy in my mind.
Having read the whole series I also think I can point to the aspects of the prose that I find so unusual in this type of work. The first is the way Wolfe transitions between scenes and settings. The transitions being that there aren't any. In the first volume the chapter tends to end whenever the scene changes (the chapters are also noticeably shorter) this is not as often the case in the second volume, yet rarely are scene breaks ever used. This disoriented me at times, especially when an unspecified amount of time passed or great distances were travelled with no explanation, or the explanation was offered retroactively paragraphs or pages later. I think this represents the way that the characters can sometimes 'slip' into Aelfrice or the other worlds, but it could definitely be confusing. The second thing about Wolfe's style is that there is not direct characterization for any of the characters. If you want 'show don't tell' I have never read a book that took it to as far as an extreme as I saw here. Able never offers any real statement or judgement of the characters around him, or of himself, this offers room for a lot of reader interpretation of the characters and their actions, and while Able in particular I found to be remarkably consistent, it also meant a lot of distance between the reader and the characters.
Overall I found this book among the most challenging and demanding fantasy I've ever read. If you're a person who enjoys epics whether they be Icelandic sagas, Mallory, or even Beowulf I think this may offer a similar, modern experience. For the average fantasy fan I would recommend it much more stringently.
I didn't end up enjoying this second one as much as the first because character moments never really hit as hard for me as they did in the first. Reunions that I was anticipating in particular were either entirely omitted or incredibly brief, and there wasn't a narrative payoff that I wanted. That being said I don't think that character interactions were a particular goal of this book. I think this series is much more concerned with its world-building and how it reconstructs and combines its inspirations, this second volume plays much more with Arthurian inspiration and I did enjoy the approach to Morgan le Fey and Arthur here. That being said I don't think that the world-building would be a draw for a lot of readers, it does not reimagine social, political, or economic differences from our own world to a dramatic degree through which the reader can slowly be drawn in with inventiveness and imagination. Rather, the book seems concerned with its place within the literary canon of epics about knighthood and honor. The inclusion of The Riders by Lord Dunsany in the first volume, and the dedication to him in the second work points to that. I don't fault this purpose, but it certainly isn't entertaining fantasy in my mind.
Having read the whole series I also think I can point to the aspects of the prose that I find so unusual in this type of work. The first is the way Wolfe transitions between scenes and settings. The transitions being that there aren't any. In the first volume the chapter tends to end whenever the scene changes (the chapters are also noticeably shorter) this is not as often the case in the second volume, yet rarely are scene breaks ever used. This disoriented me at times, especially when an unspecified amount of time passed or great distances were travelled with no explanation, or the explanation was offered retroactively paragraphs or pages later. I think this represents the way that the characters can sometimes 'slip' into Aelfrice or the other worlds, but it could definitely be confusing. The second thing about Wolfe's style is that there is not direct characterization for any of the characters. If you want 'show don't tell' I have never read a book that took it to as far as an extreme as I saw here. Able never offers any real statement or judgement of the characters around him, or of himself, this offers room for a lot of reader interpretation of the characters and their actions, and while Able in particular I found to be remarkably consistent, it also meant a lot of distance between the reader and the characters.
Overall I found this book among the most challenging and demanding fantasy I've ever read. If you're a person who enjoys epics whether they be Icelandic sagas, Mallory, or even Beowulf I think this may offer a similar, modern experience. For the average fantasy fan I would recommend it much more stringently.