Reviewing Gene Wolfe books for the first time always seems like an exercise in frustration because Wolfe is Wolfe and I know if/when I revisit this there will be a million new things that give me a new appreciation for Wolfe and I'll feel better about it than I do now. I will say, though, that it's a testament to Wolfe's mastery of the craft that he can draw so, so much out of such a hackneyed premise as "a boy is whisked away to a magical land". ( )

(...)

The Knight has a pompous title, and Wolfe makes pompous claims to Truth – as fathers of boomers might make. Part of The Knight‘s appeal indeed is the Romantic idea of an heroic past that never existed. Lots of boys want to be the unacknowledged son of the king – as Richard Rorty once said. And there surely is no shame in enjoying well made stories like this as a grown-up.

There might even be value in stories like this to teach children the value of honesty or compassion – even though I would not want my children to take Sir Able of the High Heart as an example – quarrelsome, reckless, violent, and morally inconsistent as he is in this first part. Able makes lots of promises he doesn’t keep. I hope Sir Able – and with him Wolfe – will redeem himself in book two, that allegedly focuses on the Bildung of wisdom indeed.

Entertainment or boyish guilty pleasures notwithstanding, with adult wisdom, and an honest acknowledgement of the plethora of human atrocities committed in the name of God, Truth or the King, we have to acknowledge it for what it is, this idea of an heroic past that Wolfe perpetuates – to his defense, like so many others do. It is an honest, misguided dream maybe, a naive longing for something that never was.

There’s truth in names, sometimes: it will forever be a Fantasy.

Full review on Weighing A Pig Doesn't Fatten It ( )

The Knight is the first part of Wizard Knight. The Wizard being the second. He might have titled it Knight Wizard instead. It delivers in many of the ways Wolfe fans would expect, but offers a fresh feel to boot. It is an approachable classical fantasy novel. Its slow pace may not appeal to all, but its intellectual depth is characteristic of the author. Gene Wolfe makes use of deception again in the form of a first person narrator with a child's mentality, partaking in a fantasy adventure with simple constraints and set-pieces masking complex world-building. At bottom it is another tale about the fight for what you love, the courage dreams inspire.

It shares some images that correspond to common dreams, and in this way the construction of a dream flows through the story, as does the construction of a hero. Dream-logic and fantasy-logic are utilized to great effect, and for a child hiding in an adult's body, Able makes for a fascinating character. It is convincing in the same way a dream is, and though many initial causes are left to the reader's imagination, the book gets better the further you proceed and makes for an easy, light, Wolfean adventure.

Sir Able's learning curve can be steep at times, but he picks much of it up quick. From sword-fighting to archery. Of course he meets the requisite number of dragons, orcs and fae creatures. He ventures between realms and meets with more than one suspicious innkeeper. It bears much resemblance to Jack Vance's light fantasy yarns, which I know were a big influence on Wolfe. Able makes his share of mistakes, leading to occasional comedy, a mcguffin or two, and plenty of opportunities to interact with a glorious cast of fantasy-trope-weilding jokers. But he embraces the role thoroughly. All in all, the tale is told in retrospect, with the benefit of a lack of confusion in the narration, with the organization that comes with time, experience and familiarity. It is a comforting tale in my opinion, rather than one wrought with anxiety and tension. There is peril of course, but I could always depend on the hero to pull through, almost to a fault.

Drink the water and eat the food of the faeries and you will be trapped in their world. Everyone knows that by now. But you really want to see the main character partake of these escapades, and a little trouble never does them any harm, since at the end of the day, they're going to return home safe and sound. Right? Okay, maybe with a only a few stab wounds.

I figure they split the novel in two for marketing reasons. If the second part goes down as easily as the first I will have to binge-read it as quickly as I did this one. ( )

Classic Gene Wolfe fare... Great story, confusing [rose. Exactly what you buy his books for ( )

What I love most about this book is how the language makes my brain feel entirely re-wired for the duration. I think I must have re-read it 6 times in a row just for the sensation until I was able to list the incidents in the plot one after the other - and considering how bad my memory is that takes a bit. Through the last half of 2004 I kept coming back to it. Somehow it takes familiar elements and produces something so new. Young boy finds himself in the body of a grown warrior, what surprises could that have for someone who's read Fantasy since the 1950s? ( )