3.0 

The Wolfe at the Door

By Gene Wolfe
The Wolfe at the Door by Gene Wolfe digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

An all new collection from an American literary icon

The circus comes to town… and a man gets to go to the stars.

A young girl on a vacation at the sea meets the man of her dreams. Who just happens to be dead. And an immortal pirate.

A swordfighter pens his memoirs… and finds his pen is in fact mightier than the sword.

Welcome to Gene Wolfe’s playground, a place where genres blend and a genius’s imagination straps you in for the ride of your life.

The Wolfe at the Door is a brand new collection from one of America’s premier literary giants, showcasing some material never been seen before. Short stories, yes, but also poems, essays, and ephemera that gives us a window into the mind of a literary powerhouse whose world view changed generations of readers in their perception of the universe.

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

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The Wolfe at the Door Reviews

3.0
“The amount of back patting the author did to themselves after writing each droll thinking they’re the cleverest of them all could be heard in every word.”
“The scope of this collection is incredible. I have been a fan of Gene Wolfe for many years now and his short stories are always fantastic. Every one of the stories collected in The Wolfe at the Door are unique and compelling. I recommend this collection to any reader that loves seeing the versatility of a writer. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC.”
“The police have never brought me to justice and they never will. My scientific knowledge stands at eight-hundred ninety five, highest in the known universe. My cruelty at nine-hundred and ten. To be honest, I am woefully behind on my classic sci-fi and hadn't heard of Gene Wolfe before--just the marketing email proclaiming him "one of the most important sci-fi and fantasy writers of our time." When I started reading the collection, I wasn't very impressed. He writes with an understated and unfinished quality that, especially in short story format, can feel rather underwhelming. What was interesting, was that I kept finding that even when I hadn't particularly enjoyed the story... I didn't think it was a bad story. There was always something that I kept turning over in my mind in fascination. In doing research on why he's regarded as "one of the most important," I found a Wired article that described a first experience reading Wolfe as "I think this Wolfe guy is a so-so writer, but he's an amazing creator of worlds." And I think that was the aspect that really shined in this collection. Each time I reached a new story, I found myself anticipating the ways in which the world was going to start out relatively normal and become something new and exciting (or terrifying). All of them were completely satisfying world building, despite the word constraints of short stories. As to the editing and ordering, I really enjoyed the structure of the stories. Reading it cover to cover, the stories flowed well and built on themes in ways that helped build my understanding of Wolfe and his work. It was very well done. And in terms of favorites, I am lingering on the stories: "Bea and Her Bird Brother," "The Old Woman in the Young Woman," "Volksweapon," "Thou Spark of Blood," "Frostfree," and "The Magic Animal." The Final section (Through the Mists and Out into the Void" was, in my opinion, the strongest and most interesting stories. Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.”

About 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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