⇒ Download Litany of the Long Sun Nightside the Long Sun and Lake of the Long Sun Book of the Long Sun Books 1 and 2 Gene Wolfe 9780312872915 Books

Litany of the Long Sun Nightside the Long Sun and Lake of the Long Sun Book of the Long Sun Books 1 and 2 Gene Wolfe 9780312872915 Books

Download As PDF : Litany of the Long Sun Nightside the Long Sun and Lake of the Long Sun Book of the Long Sun Books 1 and 2 Gene Wolfe 9780312872915 Books

Litany of the Long Sun Nightside the Long Sun and Lake of the Long Sun Book of the Long Sun Books 1 and 2 Gene Wolfe 9780312872915 Books

This fantasy novel is very similar in style to Neil Stephenson's Anathem. As in that work, the author in Litany of the Long Sun constructs an alien culture and landscape centered on a quasi-religious order. In doing so, many terms and references are completely foreign to the reader. However, unlike Anathem, no glossary or appendix is included to explain these foreign terms. The result is many pages in which the reader is somewhat left to his own devices in interpreting the text.

Now, I'm used to a period of familiarization, but I've never read an entire book and still been left largely in the dark as to the nature, function or even any explanation whatsoever concerning so many terms and characters. Even the most foreign and difficult to grasp fantasy landscapes clue the reader in to an extent necessary to understand and enjoy the narrative. As an example, what is a "sybil"? Is it a robot? Is it a part biological, part mechanical hybrid? One of them eats, while another does not. One is 300 years old while another is 90 years old and on the verge of wearing out. What is their origin and/or function?

I was able to follow the story through the first "book", but midway through the second book, I lost my way. Perhaps dialogue such as the following contributed to my confusion:

"They'll beat it out of you, grab the deck and send you with him.
It'd be a lily grab on you, Jugs, `cause you helped him. As for
the Patera here, Crane saw to his hoof and rode him to Orchid's
in his own dilly, so it'd be candy to smoke up something... Only
if you go flash, if you roll him over to some bob culls with
somebody like me to say Pas for you, we'll all be stanch cits and
heroes too. You scavy I never turned up the bloody rags, riffling
some cardcase's ken? You scavy I covered `em up and left him be?
Buy it, I washed him if he's stand still. And if he wouldn't, why,
I rolled him over."

Huh?

I'm aware that this is a follow up to a previous series by the author, but was assured that reading the prior works was not necessary to an understanding of this series. Perhaps I was misinformed. In any event, this work, which encompasses the first two "books" in a series of four, was sufficiently unsatisfactory that I will not proceed to the conclusion, a rarity for me.


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Litany of the Long Sun Nightside the Long Sun and Lake of the Long Sun Book of the Long Sun Books 1 and 2 Gene Wolfe 9780312872915 Books Reviews

A classic. Gene Wolfe has a sly and erudite sense of humor, and a rich classical education to draw upon.
very good
The story is of Patera Silk, a devout priest whose future is enmeshed with the gods he serves, takes place within the Whorl, a giant, cylindrical starship that has traveled for generations and is faced with political rebellion and war. Through a series of strange events, Silk finds himself caught up in intrigue and espionage, running against a major crime lord, befriending a cyborg soldier, and encountering at least one of the gods of Mainframe. All of the characters are rich in detail and truly engaging. Oreb the talking bird is my favorite! The books of the Long Sun stand on their own but is also part of the universe of the books of the Short Sun.
The mysteries in the Book of the Long Sun are clear (though abstract at times, rewards the reader with repeated reading). THE LONG SUN gradually introduces a plot that will later shakeup the city of its setting and by the end of the four-volume work totally change the Whorl in which the characters live. The transformation of Silk from naive dogmatic priest to a secular authority of sophisitication is interesting and enlightening. These stories are a part of me and will stay with you too long after you've read them. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.
I first started reading Gene Wolfe a couple years back when I read his New Sun books. I was impressed by the original tetralogy - The Shadow of the Torturer, The Claw of the Conciliator, The Sword of the Lictor and The Citadel of the Autarch - while I was less awed by his follow-up, The Urth of the New Sun. It was clear, however, that Wolfe is a good writer who understands what makes science fiction/fantasy writing stand out interesting characterization, exotic settings and well-constructed plots, with an avoidance of the regular genre cliches.

The Book of the Long Sun is another Wolfe tetralogy that demonstrates that a decade after his New Sun books, Wolfe is still in top form. Litany of the Long Sun comprises the first two books of the four Nightside the Long Sun and Lake of the Long Sun. The volume opens with a young man named Silk getting a divine vision. Silk is a patera - a rough equivalent of a priest - in some sort of far future space colony referred to as the Whorl. This world is clearly artificial and is illuminated by a long glowing light that is the Long Sun of the title.

Although seeming set in the future, in many ways things have regressed technologically, and the Whorl is now filled with city-states that are often at odds with each other. The people worship a series of gods that are vaguely reminiscent of the Greek or Roman gods. In particular, there are nine deities that require worship and a number of minor gods. One such god, the Outsider, is responsible for Silk's vision.

This vision will lead Silk on a series of adventures as he tries to save his manteion (roughly, a church) from purchase by a shady yet wealthy man named Blood. These adventures will teach him much about the nature of his world and the gods that inhabit it.

There is a lot that goes on in this first volume, and the plotting is intricate enough that I have only scratched the surface. Since really each book is merely a segment in the entire story, it is hard to review them (or even Litany) individually; in a way, it is like reviewing individual chapters in a novel. But everything that I've read in this story thus far (that is, the whole Litany), shows that this is another good work by Wolfe, on a caliber with his New Sun works. This, so far, seems to be really good science fiction (with a few dashes of fantasy).
My third favorite of the Sun tetralogies. New Sun is first followed by Short Sun. But it's Gene Wolfe and I've never read anything by him I didn't love. The print here is very small. Unless you have perfect eyesight you'll need a lot of light and glasses but it's well made and the print is good.
This fantasy novel is very similar in style to Neil Stephenson's Anathem. As in that work, the author in Litany of the Long Sun constructs an alien culture and landscape centered on a quasi-religious order. In doing so, many terms and references are completely foreign to the reader. However, unlike Anathem, no glossary or appendix is included to explain these foreign terms. The result is many pages in which the reader is somewhat left to his own devices in interpreting the text.

Now, I'm used to a period of familiarization, but I've never read an entire book and still been left largely in the dark as to the nature, function or even any explanation whatsoever concerning so many terms and characters. Even the most foreign and difficult to grasp fantasy landscapes clue the reader in to an extent necessary to understand and enjoy the narrative. As an example, what is a "sybil"? Is it a robot? Is it a part biological, part mechanical hybrid? One of them eats, while another does not. One is 300 years old while another is 90 years old and on the verge of wearing out. What is their origin and/or function?

I was able to follow the story through the first "book", but midway through the second book, I lost my way. Perhaps dialogue such as the following contributed to my confusion

"They'll beat it out of you, grab the deck and send you with him.
It'd be a lily grab on you, Jugs, `cause you helped him. As for
the Patera here, Crane saw to his hoof and rode him to Orchid's
in his own dilly, so it'd be candy to smoke up something... Only
if you go flash, if you roll him over to some bob culls with
somebody like me to say Pas for you, we'll all be stanch cits and
heroes too. You scavy I never turned up the bloody rags, riffling
some cardcase's ken? You scavy I covered `em up and left him be?
Buy it, I washed him if he's stand still. And if he wouldn't, why,
I rolled him over."

Huh?

I'm aware that this is a follow up to a previous series by the author, but was assured that reading the prior works was not necessary to an understanding of this series. Perhaps I was misinformed. In any event, this work, which encompasses the first two "books" in a series of four, was sufficiently unsatisfactory that I will not proceed to the conclusion, a rarity for me.