A review by cheezvshcrvst
The Knight by Gene Wolfe

5.0

This 5 star review is that of a reread (a reread that remembers little but recalls much of the overall story and that of the sequel, The Wizard.) Look, we get it, this one is overwhelmingly vague and nebulous. Lots happens and yet, arguably, not much actually occurs in the sense that the very superficial plot is… what? It’s there: boy suddenly a man seeks to prove himself a knight worthy of the respect and stature afforded a hero of the realms of man, elf, god, etc. The story is a confusing, near-garble of allusions to multiverse traversal (you got that, right?), explorations of sexual exploitation/the cringe that is a coming of age story entirely reliant upon sex as both catalyst and justification, and something supposedly epistolary to an unseen and not-yet-revealed brother from our world. Wow. If this was a more straight-forward story, it would be an epic and mind boggling amalgamation of genre-defying gender examination and spit-in-the-face of the hero myth tropes. Well, guess what?, this is a Gene Wolfe novel: it’s non-linear, there’s lies and omissions in the narrative with many carefully woven-in references and metaphors that serve as both character development and relationship growth, and there’s often something sinister masquerading as a friend or companion even as the very real friends and companions seem to be anything but helpful or useful. You’re not getting anything easy here. You’re not smart for “getting it.” The Knight leaps and bounds in mystery and misdirection, much as in any Wolfe novel or short story, but it’s strength is in its love of the story it is telling: a critique of the coming of age hero myth. Because, yes, those stories are toxic, violent, and unnecessarily self-gratifying. Will our hero, the boy-man Able, be more than that? And why or how is he in this world? Equal turns captivating and baffling, The Knight holds up as a worthy classic of contemporary fantasy. Just try not to take yourself more seriously than you have to, and you may enjoy a dragon-slaying adventure.