As profound of an experience as I’ve just had with these two books I’ve decided to write a joint review on Gene Wolfe’s two-book The Wizard Knight series, The Knight and The Wizard.
At 74 years of age Gene Wolfe is considered by many authors and readers to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, science fiction and fantasy author alive today. Over the years I have heard friends and favorite authors alike sing the praises of Gene Wolfe, particularly for the four books that make up his The Book of the New Sun series. Considering the reading experience I had just had with The Time Traveler’s Wife (review here), I had resigned myself to the fact that it would be a long time before I was so enthralled with another book. I could not have been more wrong nor more pleasantly surprised when I decided to give Gene Wolfe a try and picked up The Knight.
These stories center on a teenager who takes a walk in the woods in the “real” world and through a series of seemingly innocent actions finds himself no longer in America but in a magical realm consisting of seven levels of reality. Unable to remember entirely who he is or how he got to this new realm he is soon given the name Able and in his heart the desire to become a knight begins to grow. A meeting with an Aelf Queen named Disiri results in this young boy being turned into a man of heroic proportions. A man whose destiny is to find a fabled magical sword named Eterne, the finding of which he believes will allow him to return to Disiri whom he loves above all else. And so a quest begins that will take the reader along with Able of the High Heart as he travels through various planes of this realm meeting aelfs and dragons, kings and queens, knights, gods, goddesses, ogres and many others too numerous to name.
Taken as I’ve written it one could easily say that all this has been done before in many other fantasy stories. What makes this different is that Gene Wolfe takes all these archetypes of fantasy and creates a tale told in a wholly original, fascinating way. These stories are written in the form of a letter from Able to his brother Ben in the “real” world. Despite his body-changing experience with Disiri, Able remains but a boy in a man’s body and his narration is told in the voice of a teenager. A teenager who knows there are memories that have been taken from him and realizes that a part of his quest will be to discover more about who he is and why he has been taken to this realm. Told as a letter the reader realizes that time has passed but doesn’t know how old Able is when he is writing this letter. In this “letter” Able casually references events that have happened to him but that won’t occur until much later in the narration thus giving the story depth and intrigue. The reader is made to wonder where this brother Ben is and does he get this letter that Able is writing and how did this all occur in the first place. These and other mysteries make for a compelling read.
It is very hard to describe Gene Wolfe’s writing style as it is like nothing I have read before. It is obvious that there is a classic mythology and folklore running throughout the story and it is written so well that one is tempted to do research to see if this mythology exists or if it was simply made up in Wolfe’s imagination. Although there is a linear progression to the story Wolfe does not write everything in a dry “this happened and then that happened” format. Instead the reader is sometimes given sketchy or incomplete information from the narrator that is fleshed out later on. This makes for a more intelligent, thought provoking read and compels the reader to continue on devouring the books to see what happens next. Though written only a few years ago these books had the feel of classic literature in the vein of Dickens or Stoker and yet Wolfe’s voice is quite unique.
The Wizard completes the tale that was abruptly ended with The Knight. In The Wizard Sir Able is older still and the voice in which he continues his letter shows the effects of his time and adventures in this realm. In The Wizard Wolfe strays from his first person narrative at times to show what is happening to other characters. Early on Sir Able indicates that the part he is writing about others has been relayed to him by someone present and the reader assumes that this continues to be the case as it happens later in the tale. The Wizard is a more action oriented tale than The Knight, containing accounts of battles with many and varied residents of the seven realms.
Both The Knight and The Wizard are wonderful examples of the craft of bookmaking as well. The hardcover editions have raised lettering and embossed images with wonderful paintings done by artist Gregory Manchess. Inside the books each beginning chapter page has a pencil illustration done by Manchess, and they are lush, detailed, and amazing. I love a book that is put together well and these are two marvelous examples.
At its heart The Wizard Knight series is a love story. A story in which a young man choses to be a knight and sets about on a quest to become one and win the love of a the woman who fills his every thought and inspires his every action. During the quest he meets many characters who make a profound difference in his life as well as a number who are profoundly changed by meeting him. Through it all Wolfe writes a tale in which you quickly become attached to many of the characters and although the end of the tale is quite satisfying it leaves you saddened that you have to leave this world and these characters behind. I have not done these two books justice at all in my reviews. They are truly fascinating and inspiring and thought provoking. I literally could not put this story down and read both 470ish page stories in a very brief period of time. These are amazing books and I highly recommend them.
