|
|
|
|
Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun tetralogy (Nightside the Long Sun, Lake of the Long Sun, Caldé of the Long Sun, and Exodus from the Long Sun) is well worth reading, especially if you've enjoyed his other work, but perhaps even if you haven't. It's in a more conversational, accessible style than, e.g., The Book of the New Sun or The Fifth Head of Cerberus. I'm having trouble thinking of a comparably excellent treatment of the generation ship; Heinlein's Universe doesn't come close, and Blish's Cities in Flight stories aren't exactly about doable generation ships. Most of the story is taken up with political struggles within and between a couple of cities in the ship, but all the time the reader knows that this is a ship, with a destination; slowly the main characters learn this, and absorb its implications, and then -- well, the ending seems hasty and enigmatic, but there is a sequel trilogy: On Blue's Waters, In Green's Jungles and Return to the Whorl. This Book of the Short Sun is even better than The Book of the Long Sun, and about on par with the earlier Book of the New Sun.
The Long Sun tetralogy has been reprinted in two omnibus volumes by St. Martin's Press:
Back to the
Book Reviews page.
Back to my home page.
Email me:
Jim Henry.