Revision: So upon further pondering... this book is certainly 4 stars. I don't know why I was grading it harder for certain, but looking back I would have to bring down a lot of other books to feel like I was properly grading these things. And as for my claims on the main character... umm, false. It is a way to read it perhaps, but it really doesn't fit. I next jumped to Able (the main character) is to Wolfe as Prince Myshkin is to Dostoevsky. But this is rather presumptuous on my end (presumptuous that I actually understand the intention of either author) and I think again totally missing the boat. It could perhaps make for an interesting discussion, but I don't think Wolfe is trying for something that creates an especially accurate parallel.I think my original comparison from the last book actually still holds up the best. Parzival. Except I am not entirely certain what Wolfe intends a modern audience to do with an example of knighthood. Wolfe himself most blatantly cites Gawain and the Green Knight. And this has similar explorations as Parzival. But I think the Parzival parallels are far more obvious. Although thankfully Wolfe mostly keeps his hands clean of the courtly love tradition. It is somewhat vaguely present but not as relevant as it is in the Eschenbach and Anonymous ventures.Anyways, all this to basically say, the book keeps on giving. I still hold to my emotional detachment problem, though do not want to press it as too dramatic. But basically I keep pondering this book. I would say that's a pretty good sign of the books longevity.-------------------------------------------Initial Review/Wandering Pondering/Airheaded-Thing:There is a part of me that still wanted to give this three stars, but I didn't think that would properly convey how I felt about this book. I think I am actually grading this harder than most my books because of the quality of the writing. And to reemphasize the point which I made for The Knight, the writing for this book is simply incredible. I can't stress that enough. However, I can't completely place my thumb on what kept me from loving these books entirely. I am pretty sure one complication was a lack of emotive connection with the main character. Or many of the characters for that matter. There are several characters I thoroughly enjoyed, but I rarely ever felt a sympathetic note for any character. There was one that I found myself rooting for at times. But it wasn't the main character. I didn't dislike the main character, he was just ... well for lack of a better explanation, he was a "you" character. Now, I don't think I could win an argument for this point, and I actually think I could raise some pretty good points to defeat myself, but intuitively the main character comes across as intended to be a vessel for the reader in Wolfe's world. Now this may sound similar to almost any other fantasy novel, but it is not exactly what I mean. He is not the eyes of the reader, who is being introduced into the fantasy world. He is the reader. This of course sounds like I should then associate quite well with him. But in the end it acted quite differently. And I will unfortunately fail at trying to properly explain that. And if this covers my review in a negative pallor it is not meant to be. I am unfortunately stressing the faults. Let me say some excessive general praise which I will then qualify into nothingness: This is the best contemporary fantasy I have read, post-Tolkien (I wouldn't call Tolkien contemporary, but I just want to be clear). I will say The Book of the Dun Cow/The Book of Sorrows are not contemporary fantasy, because I think it doesn't fit in the contemporary fantasy mold and most importantly because I don't want to pitch that battle. That's why I hate "best" style comments... Hyperbole somehow broke in me.Basically if you never thought you would find a challenging read in the fantasy section, and want one, read this. And it is not only challenging, it is entirely worthwhile. A side-note: A passing knowledge of Norse mythology/cosmology could help. He has a number of allusions, plenty I imagine I didn't pick up. But the Norse myths are a bit more foundational than the rest. It is not essential, but I think it would help you get your legs under you.I could keep creating blurbs and tangents on this book... I think it will just cloud things up more... I think I am going to stop.
Though I do not read much contemporary fantasy, I picked up The Wizard Knight because of Wolfe, and I am glad I did. Wolfe uses myth and even popular fantasy tropes in an irreducibly original way. The cosmos he presents takes its forms from the myths and folklore of northern Europe, the romantic corpus of the Middle Ages, Catholic theology, and British Faerie writers such as George MacDonald, but his synthesis is wholly his own. It is populated by vivid creatures alternately beautiful and terrifying, gods and dragons and giants and elves, not to mention a bevy of knights and lords and ladies. The primary attraction, however, is Wolfe's writing. It is rich and restrained, full of surprises. Moreover, it always points beyond itself, hinting at things beyond the book's pages; he solves his mysteries with new mysteries, constantly gesturing away from the action of the book toward an unfathomable blue horizon.That said, my feelings while reading The Wizard Knight were definitely mixed. Almost until I reached the end, I planned to give these books three stars each rather than four. The characters are frustrating and unpleasant at times, no doubt by intent. The protagonist is gradually loaded up with a variety of allies, many of them supernatural, some (like the Fire Aelf girls) for the longest time pointless and annoying. The journey from start to finish is indulged with countless detours whose relevance is not usually clear. Nevertheless, these detours prove to be the heart of the book. Twice while reading the first volume I almost gave up, and then something stunning would happen, and I would be enthralled for another hundred pages. The second volume similarly had long spells that struck me as rather flavorless and uninteresting, but I knew to push through them and was richly rewarded. I cannot help but feel that Wolfe could have made some more interesting plot decisions and decluttered certain areas, but Wolfe must have had his reasons, and at this point I do not wish to complain too loudly, given the positive experience I am left with.To give an account to myself of the meaning of the book and its dazzling cavalcade of images, I think I would have to read it again, or three times, or maybe even five. At times Wolfe seems to adulate the demanding ideals of chivalry and the sad, stoic attitudes of a lost paganism; at other times, these ideals seem cruel and inhuman. Like the book itself, everything wears a double face; the base becomes noble, the noble is revealed as base, and often the two are mingled together inseparably. The cosmic hierarchy is always present, incessantly pressing in on the story; but Wolfe leaves us with enormous ambiguities, offering only the slightest glimpses into the worlds furthest above and below the "middle realm" parallel to our own. One gets the sense that the heart of the narrative, the "reason" for everything that happens, is buried irretrievably deeply in the fabric of Wolfe's vision. Ultimately, I do not think one can explain Wolfe's meaning without flattening it, reducing it to a dubious skeleton; only by engaging with the books themselves can their treasures be slowly revealed and appreciated.Despite the work this entails, and my discontent with certain aspects of The Wizard Knight, I believe this is worth doing.
What do You think about The Wizard (2006)?
So last night at midnight I had 57 pages left in this book, but I had to get up in the morning at 6:30. So what did I do? Wolfe didn't leave me much choice as I was sucked into the story and ended up finishing it last night around 1:15am. Wolfe is such a compelling storyteller and this book was wonderful. A great fantasy book that feels fresh and new while incorporating that which makes fantasy fantasy. Not only is it fantasy, but he talks a lot about honor and what it really means to be a knight. Here is an excerpt that I liked from the story:-"What a man knows hardly matters. It is what he does" (p. 387)
—Scott
This is the follow-up the Wolfe's The Knight, and it did everything that I could have hoped for in a book and then even more. If you don't read this book you are missing out on an experience that can forever bless and curse you. Bless because it is so well written and the story ends so magnificently that it literally brings joy, and cursed because every book that doesn't live up to its standards will be thought less of because it didn't make the same cut.I just want to add something to the way this book turned out. I stayed up until three in the morning to finish the last little bit, and when I did I cried. I'm not kidding here. The ending seemed so perfect, and it felt like this was Gene Wolfe's way of praising God and it moved me unlike any other book I have ever read. I absolutely love this book and recommend it to anyone anywhere that wants to have a great experience.
—Gericke
There is an approach that Gene Wolfe takes that is simple in concept but seems overwhelming to the readers. The Wizard Knight series has everything that a fantasy reader would desire, Brave Knights, mischievous Elves, talking Dragons, multiple plains of existence, even pirates. The story is focused on Able, a young boy from American that wanders to another world while lost in the forest. His adventures are not of one good versus evil trek, but to become a man or in his case a noble Knight only to spend the item until he is reunited with his only one love, Queen Disiri. All of Sir Able actions are interwoven while waiting for Disiri to return to him. But first she sends him on a quest of a great sword that will help fulfill his heroic path set for him. The next 800 pages or so become an epic adventure that rivals the works of other popular fantasy novels. The nods to the genre are frequent and even time silly. The permission to ask three questions or the promise to speak truthfully upon ones' honor. Or whenever Sir Able is cornered and there is no possible way to escape without breaking the story, he relies on his trusted and feared Org, who is essentially the greatest character any Knight would dream of. Org is strong, almost unbreakable who hides in shadows is rarely seen by allies never by Sir Able's enemies.Sir Able reminds me of another noble knight who sought to right the wrong, protect the meek all in the name of the woman he loved, Don Quixote. While both novels, even other fantasy epics say Lord of The Rings all pull from the same well. While Don Quixote was mad, Sir Able was also from another place, And wondered into the other world. There often times Sir Able remembers America and his family, his mother is a lady stricken with trauma and a slave to giants, his brother is old and blind, and when Sir Able finds an old helm which shows the truth of others when he wears it.
—Juan
