A Borrowed Man: a new science fiction novel, from Gene Wolf, the celebrated author of the Book of the New Sun series.It is perhaps a hundred years in the future, our civilization is gone, and another is in place in North America, but it retains many familiar things and structures. Although the population is now small, there is advanced technology, there are robots, and there are clones.E. A. Smithe is a borrowed person. He is a clone who lives on a third-tier shelf in a public library, and his personality is an uploaded recording of a deceased mystery writer. Smithe is a piece of property, not a legal human.A wealthy patron, Colette Coldbrook, takes him from the library because he is the surviving personality of the author of Murder on Mars. A physical copy of that book was in the possession of her murdered father, and it contains an important secret, the key to immense family wealth. It is lost, and Colette is afraid of the police. She borrows...

Enormous in breadth and scope, Wolfe's ambitious new work opens out into a world of wonders, of gods and humans, aliens and machines, and mysterious adventures far out in space and deep inside the human spirit. It is set on a ship-world whose origins are shrouded in legend, ruled by strange gods who appear infrequently to their worshippers on large screens, and peopled by a human race changed by eons of time, yet familiar. Nightside the Long Sun is the beginning of a masterpiece of science fiction. Life on the Whorl, and the struggles and triumphs of Patera Silk to satisfy the demands of the gods, will captivate readers yearning for something new and different in science fiction, for the magic of the future. At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

The Book of the Long Sun (1993–1996) is a series of four science fantasy novels. A young priest Patera Silk tries to save his manteion (neighborhood church and school) from destruction by a ruthless crime lord. As he learns more about his world, a vast generation ship called the Whorl, he learns to distrust the gods he has worshiped and to revere the supposedly minor god known as The Outsider who has enlightened him. He becomes a revolutionary leader and prophet. It is a second book of series.

Hailed as "one of the literary giants of science fiction" by The Denver Post, Gene Wolfe is universally acknowledged as one of the most brilliant writers the field has ever produced. Winner of the World Fantasy Award for best fiction collection, Storeys from the Old Hotel contains thirty-one remarkable gems of Wolfe's short fiction from the past two decades, most unavailable in any other form.Storeys from the Old Hotel includes many of Gene Wolfe's most appealing and engaging works, from short-shorts that can be read in single setting to whimsical fantasy and even Sherlock Holmes pastiches. It is a literary feast for anyone interested in the best science fiction has to offer.At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

A novel of the fantastic set in an imagined country in Europe An American writer of travel guides in need of a new location chooses to travel to a small and obscure Eastern European country. The moment Grafton crosses the border he is in trouble, much more than he could have imagined. His passport is taken by guards, and then he is detained for not having it. He is released into the custody of a family, but is again detained. It becomes evident that there are supernatural agencies at work, but they are not in some ways as threatening as the brute forces of bureaucracy and corruption in that country. Is our hero in fact a spy for the CIA? Or is he an innocent citizen caught in a Kafkaesque trap? Gene Wolfe keeps us guessing until the very end, and after.

SUMMARY: The Book of the New Sun is unanimously acclaimed as Gene Wolfe's most remarkable work, hailed as "a masterpiece of science fantasy comparable in importance to the major works of Tolkien and Lewis" by "Publishers Weekly," and "one of the most ambitious works of speculative fiction in the twentieth century" by "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction." "Shadow & Claw "brings together the first two books of the tetralogy in one volume: "The Shadow of the Torturer" is the tale of young Severian, an apprentice in the Guild of Torturers on the world called Urth, exiled for committing the ultimate sin of his profession -- showing mercy toward his victim. Ursula K. Le Guin said, "Magic stuff . . . a masterpiece . . . the best science fiction I've read in years!" "The Claw of the Conciliator "continues the saga of Severian, banished from his home, as he undertakes a mythic quest to discover the awesome power of an ancient relic, and learn the truth about his hidden destiny. "Arguably the finest piece of literature American science fiction has yet produced [is] the four-volume Book of the New Sun."--"Chicago Sun-Times" "The Book of the New Sun establishes his preeminence, pure and simple. . . . The Book of the New Sun contains elements of Spenserian allegory, Swiftian satire, Dickensian social consciousness and Wagnerian mythology. Wolfe creates a truly alien social order that the reader comes to experience from within . . . once into it, there is no stopping.""--The New York Times Book Review" Gene Wolfe has been called "the finest writer the science fiction world has yet produced" by "The Washington Post." A former engineer, he has written numerous books and won a variety of awards for his SF writing. "The Book of the New Sun," a series of four novels, is unanimously acclaimed as Wolfe's most memorable work, hailed by "Publishers Weekly" as a "masterpiece of science fantasy comparable in importance to the major works of Tolkien and Lewis"--and by "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction" as "one of the most ambitious works of speculative fiction in the twentieth century." "Shadow & Claw" collects the first two novels in this Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning tetralogy: "The Shadow of the Torturer" and "The Claw of the Conciliator." ""The Book of the New Sun" establishes [Wolfe's] pre-eminence, pure and simple . . . "The Book of the New Sun" contains elements of Spenserian allegory, Swiftian satire, Dickensian social consciousness, and Wagnerian mythology. Wolfe creates a truly alien social order that the reader comes to experience from within . . . Once into it, there is no stopping."--"The New York Times Book Review" "Arguably the best piece of literature American science fiction has yet produced."--"Chicago Sun-Times"

From Publishers WeeklyLaunching a three-book series, Wolfe's latest takes place several decades after the close of his acclaimed four-volume the Book of the Long Sun. There, it was revealed that the great artifact called the Whorl, unbeknownst to its millions of inhabitants, was in fact a failing spaceship and that the AI "Gods" that ruled the Whorl wanted its inhabitants to leave and colonize two nearby terrestrial planets, Blue and Green. Now, decades later, Blue has many human cities, but civilization is slowly decaying. Horn, who also narrated the earlier series, has been dispatched to find Patera Silk, the legendary leader responsible for the colonization of Blue. Wolfe's complex, two-part story line follows Horn's initial quest across Blue in search of a vehicle, or lander, capable of returning to the Whorl, while it simultaneously recounts the aging Horn's life as the involuntary ruler of a city far from his home and family. In his initial quest, Horn must battle vampiric shapeshifters and attempt to thwart their plot to divert the lander and its human cargo to Green, their home world, where the humans will be used as cattle. As always, Wolfe's prose is masterful and his main characters are well developed. The novel starts slowly, however, and moves in fits and starts. Horn, who narrated Patera Silk's story in such a self-effacing manner in the earlier series, can't seem to stick to his narrative for more than a page or two without dithering off into inconsequential meditations on his own shortcomings. But Wolfe does establish several tantalizing mysteries that hold readers' attention, and which, presumably, will be explored fully in later volumes. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalBound by an oath to find the legendary Patera Silk and bring him to the new world known as Blue, Horn leaves his job as a papermaker and embarks on a perilous sea voyage to the end of his world and beyond. Continuing the tale begun in his "Book of the Long Sun" series, Wolfe embellishes on the fortunes of many of the characters from his earlier works. The author's deceptively simple style conceals a dense weave of symbols and allegories suggested by his ingenuous protagonist's odyssey across the waters in search of a hero. Most libraries should consider adding this title to their sf collections. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Thirty-one stories by the most distinguished creator of literary sf makes for a pretty indispensable volume. Of course, “The Fifth Head of Cerberus” and “The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories”—recognized as classics for many years now—are here. So are such objects of amused contemplation (on account of their titles) well before they are read (and as amusedly enjoyed) as “The Hero as Werewolf,” “The Marvelous Brass Chessplaying Automaton” (steampunk with more than one difference), “Seven American Nights” (an account of archaeology of the future), and “Has Anybody Seen Junie Moon?” written in homage to the witty Catholic sf (and historical) novelist R. A. Lafferty (1914–2002). Each of those and the rest of these stories characteristically begin at a point from which Wolfe diverges in a number of different directions—with just how many depending, surprisingly enough, on the particular reader.

The Book of the New Sun is unanimously acclaimed as Gene Wolfe's most remarkable work, hailed as "a masterpiece of science fantasy comparable in importance to the major works of Tolkien and Lewis" by Publishers Weekly, and "one of the most ambitious works of speculative fiction in the twentieth century" by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Sword & Citadel brings together the final two books of the tetralogy in one volume:The Sword of the Lictor is the third volume in Wolfe's remarkable epic, chronicling the odyssey of the wandering pilgrim called Severian, driven by a powerful and unfathomable destiny, as he carries out a dark mission far from his home.The Citadel of the Autarch brings The Book of the New Sun to its harrowing conclusion, as Severian clashes in a final reckoning with the dread Autarch, fulfilling an ancient prophecy that will forever alter the realm known as Urth."Brilliant . . . terrific . . . a fantasy so epic it beggars the mind. An extraordinary work of art!"-Philadelphia Inquirer"The Book of the New Sun establishes [Wolfe's] preeminence, pure and simple. . . . The Book of the New Sun contains elements of Spenserian allegory, Swiftian satire, Dickensian social consciousness and Wagnerian mythology. Wolfe creates a truly alien social order that the reader comes to experience from within . . . once into it, there is no stopping."--The New York Times Book ReviewReview"Outstanding...A major work of twentieth-century American literature." --The New York Times Book Review"Wonderfully vivid and inventive...the most extraordinary hero in the history of the heroic epic." --Washington Post Book World"Brilliant...terrific...a fantasy so epic it beggars the mind. An extraordinary work of art!" --Philadelphia InquirerAbout the AuthorGene Wolfe has been called "the finest writer the science fiction world has yet produced" by The Washington Post. A former engineer, he has written numerous books and won a variety of awards for his SF writing.