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    The Best of Gene Wolfe: A Definitive Retrospective of His Finest Short Fiction
    Unavailable
    The Best of Gene Wolfe: A Definitive Retrospective of His Finest Short Fiction
    Unavailable
    The Best of Gene Wolfe: A Definitive Retrospective of His Finest Short Fiction
    Ebook812 pages14 hours

    The Best of Gene Wolfe: A Definitive Retrospective of His Finest Short Fiction

    By Gene Wolfe

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    From a literary perspective, this will certainly be the best collection of the year in science fiction and fantasy. Gene Wolfe, of whom The Washington Post said, "Of all SF writers currently active none is held in higher esteem," has selected the short fiction he considers his finest into one volume.

    There are many award winners and many that have been selected for various Year's Best anthologies among the thirty-one stories, which include: "Petting Zoo," "The Tree Is My Hat," "The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories," "The Hero as Werewolf," "Seven American Nights," "The Fifth Head of Cerberus," "The Detective of Dreams," and "A Cabin on the Coast." Gene Wolfe has produced possibly the finest and most significant body of short fiction in the SF and fantasy field in the last fifty years, and is certainly among the greatest living writers to emerge from the genres. This is the first retrospective collection of his entire career.

    It is for the ages.

    At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateMar 17, 2009
    ISBN9781429968379
    Unavailable
    The Best of Gene Wolfe: A Definitive Retrospective of His Finest Short Fiction
    Author

    Gene Wolfe

    Gene Wolfe (1931-2019) was the Nebula Award-winning author of The Book of the New Sun tetralogy in the Solar Cycle, as well as the World Fantasy Award winners The Shadow of the Torturer and Soldier of Sidon. He was also a prolific writer of distinguished short fiction, which has been collected in such award-winning volumes as Storeys from the Old Hotel and The Best of Gene Wolfe. A recipient of the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, the Edward E. Smith Memorial Award, and six Locus Awards, among many other honors, Wolfe was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2007, and named Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2012.

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    Reviews for The Best of Gene Wolfe

    4/5

    35 ratings6 reviews

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    • 5/5
      From the first moments when you read Gene Wolfe, the quality, maturity, and craft of his writing is evident. His writing slows a reader down; you can't race through him. His work must be digested, processed, and reflected on. In some cases, the writing is so excellent, you'll want to read it out loud just to hear the effect of his words. This is a great introduction to a master.
    • 3/5
      I have read every word of this book and have been very surprised to find that I wasn't blown away by any of the stories and really didn't like most of them very much. Since the mists of time when I read the Fifth Head of Cerberus (novel form) I have thought I liked Gene Wolfe's writing. He is undeniably intelligent and his craft is excellent. But stacking all of these stories next to one another has forced onto my awareness that there isn't much human feeling in his work. His characters have feelings, a little--mostly muted, which is fine--but I don't feel much in response to them. The most clear sensation I had, after admiration of his prose, was awareness of the unpleasantness and even dreariness of his worlds.
    • 4/5
      I've been planning to experience more of Gene Wolfe's work since I read The Fifth Head of Cerberus, so when I spotted this in the library, I couldn't resist. He's a very good short story writer, knowing just how to manipulate the reader and keep them intrigued while making them think.

      Some of the stories aren't so good, but most of them are brilliant, and in this volume each of them has an afterword explaining something about them and why Gene Wolfe picked them for this collection. I think I liked 'The Eyeflash Miracles' most.
    • 5/5
      This is my review of the book The Best of Gene Wolfe... I concur with another reviewer on Library Thing who writes that Gene Wolfe is the best American Sci Fi writer.And I would go further and say that his writings (ideas, plot lines, dialogue, thoughts and execution) is well crafted..... one of the best literature available in any genre. For example, in this collection of some of his best work, there is a story of a blind boy. Now stop and think for a minute, once you know the boy is blind... it is virtually impossible not to see the world through his "eyes".... it changes the perspective of the story completely and you cannot get it out of your mind that you "see" things that he cannot see, yet you do not see things he cannot "see" and at the same time you "see" things he sees but that the others cannot see... yet, the reader does not really "see" anything. It is like a magician writing a story... with a slight of hand, you know that when the magician is good, I mean really good... you just can't figure out how he or she does the "trick" but you know it is a "trick." Gene Wolfe is a master magician.... you know he is playing with your mind, but you don't know exactly how he does so and when you finish the story... you want to re-read the story all over again to see if you can figure out "how" he did the trick, just like a great magician.... you want to see the trick over and over so that you can try to figure it out.... but instead, you are only left with knowing it is a trick that appears to be real. Kudos to Gene Wolfe, a master magician and may you never tell us "how" you do the trick, it would spoil it for us all. Paul Floyd, Mpls, MN, USA.
    • 5/5
      A wonderful collection of short stories by Gene Wolfe. Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      I get that science fiction is supposed to be an escape and reader of the genre don't want or enjoy depth of theme, meaning or language. But Gene Wolfe is the best American science fiction writer. Period. he might approach the top 50 American writers alive today if such a list were possible to compile. If you hear someone complain that his work isn't good, they aren't getting it. That's fine. No one can read the classics all day without a little fun but Wolfe is the Joyce of science fiction.