Best products from r/genewolfe

There's not really one consolidated spot for all of that. Some things will become clear as you continue reading. Wolfe's puzzles often have many pieces though, and it's not even clear how many mysteries are in this book.

As far as figuring out major mysteries that aren't revealed by reading the book through once, there's a "sequel" called Urth of the New Sun. Apparently Gene thought he was sufficiently clear, but his editor disagreed and pushed him to write out events that he only implied in the main four books. I continue to reread BotNS, but I only read UotNS once to get those extra threads tied up.

Another helpful resource is Lexicon Urthus, a dictionary/encyclopedia for the books which gives you the context for major mysteries, theories, and events.

And then finally, just come back and read all the cool conversations people have on here. Once you've read all the material, there's a lot of awesome theories you can wrestle with. I've had some of my biggest epiphanies years after finishing the books. People point out a subtle allusion or reference, propose an elegant theory, and it completely changes some part of my understanding of the books.

See, this is why I love this shit. It's so rewarding.

I love the old Bruce Pennington covers for The Book of the New Sun, and the gorgeous Richard Bober paintings for The Book of the Long Sun.

I love this one for Castle of Days too: https://www.amazon.com/Castle-Days-Short-Fiction-Essays/dp/0312890427

And I also love this cover for Free Live Free (which I haven't even read yet). I don't know why but this cover is just so beautiful to me: https://www.lwcurrey.com/pages/books/154865/gene-wolfe/free-live-free

Covers for his works have been very hit or miss, though, and even his greatest works have been stuck with some hideous covers over the years. I'm sad to say that the editions of BotNS have at home have this horrible cover on them: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Book-New-Sun-Citadel-MASTERWORKS/dp/1857987004 Which is so ugly and embarrassing that I can't even lend it out to friends because I wouldn't want that picture to be their first impression of such beautiful novel.

That's very kind of you! I want to edit a collected version at the end and submit it to the website, Ultan's Library, but I don't want to make money directly off of the work of Mr. Wolfe, or any other writer--unless it's my own we're talking about! If you want to support the blog and you like Gene Wolfe's work, you might like my novel, The Lightning Stenography Device. It has one more day at 99 cents, if you haven't already grabbed a copy!

Wolfe novel covers are hit or miss, but I truly love The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories’ Tor cover:https://www.amazon.com/Island-Doctor-Death-Other-Stories/dp/0312863543


Pretty much all the short story collections are spot-on. Innocents Aboard is a Rene Magritte even!

If you haven't already, you should check out my friend Marc Aramini's book on Wolfe called Between Light and Shadow. In the book he breaks down all of Wolfe's work up until the early 80's (I think). His interpretation of T5oC is the best I have ever read and probably closest to Wolfe's actual intentions. His theories about the book also involve the things you mentioned. Marc's book is only the first half of a massive work; part two will be out pretty soon. I can't wait to read it.

Well, The Best of Gene Wolfe is pretty legit.

I really like the covers of the BotNS omnibus editions. I know they aren’t accurate to the book descriptions, but they have their own appeal. I also love the simplicity of this cover of Peace.

Ahhhh! Looks like there are two books with the same title. Thanks!

The one you really want is this one: Collected Fictions https://www.amazon.com/dp/0140286802/.

All his best stories, a lot of them, and all very well-translated. IMO, this is the essential Borges collection in English. I think every story mentioned in this thread is in this book.

The Amazon link for the "Silk for Calde" is finally live: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H2VQQC1​

I tried to make the design look art nouveau, like a political poster from the 1930's. My intention was to symbolize the long sun and whorl in the design.

​I also made a General Mint design that looks vaguely like Che Guevara, but it's still under review. I'll post the link when (if) it passes the review!

This is basically what Lexicon Urthus is to BotNS. Definitely helped me wrap my head around the Long/Short Sun books.

this is the one i have. it looks pretty similar but not exactly the same. i don't think there are really any other versions.

The Urth of the New Sun: The sequel to 'The Book of the New Sun' https://www.amazon.com/dp/0312863942/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_TUsACb09HE937

I have this collection of his fiction - I’m not sure but I think it includes all his short story collections. There is also a non-fiction volume and a poetry volume in the same set.

You cannot be disappointed with anything Borges so fire at will.

I own this complete copy of New Sun. I got it for $11.67 on Amazon, so the price fluctuates wildly.

It's a complete copy.

I have no idea what the French translation is like, but I usually feel that a lot is lost in translation with normal books, and with Wolfe where the specific wording is very important to be able to read between the lines or get the subtext I'd doubt that a translation works well.

But you can get them used very cheap off amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0312890184/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=A23PVFCGFE1326&psc=1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0312890176/ref=ox_sc_act_image_2?smid=A7CL6GT0UVQKS&psc=1

There's several different edition, some are in four books. Most are in two, there's even a couple of omnibus versions. Used paperbacks on amazon sometimes go as low as £0.01 plus shipping, and shipping is not that expensive within Europe, especially if you can find all the books from the same seller and get a discount on shipping.

https://www.amazon.com/Shadows-New-Sun-Writing-Liverpool/dp/1846310571/ref=sr_1_37?keywords=gene+wolfe+shadow&qid=1559325094&s=gateway&sr=8-37

Here is the mobile version of your link

https://www.amazon.com/Between-Light-Shadow-Exploration-Fiction-ebook/dp/B011YTDGY2

I always thought the Return to the Whorl cover was particularly bad

I haven’t read Lafferty myself but I need to.

This looks like a hell of an introduction to him:

https://www.amazon.com/Best-R-Lafferty/dp/1473213444/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Lafferty&qid=1565973519&s=gateway&sr=8-2