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Fantasy. Fiction. HTML: From legendary fantasy author Gene Wolfe comes The Knight, the first half of the Wizard Knight duology, now for the first time in audio. A young man in his teens is transported from our world to a magical realm that contains seven levels of reality. Very quickly transformed by magic into a grown man of heroic proportions, he takes the name Able and sets out on a quest to find the sword that has been promised to him, a sword he will get from a dragon, the one very special blade that will help him fulfill his life ambition to become a knight and a true hero. Inside, however, Able remains a boy, and he must grow in every sense to survive the dangers and delights that lie ahead in encounters with giants, elves, wizards, and dragons. His adventure will conclude in the second installment of The Wizard Knight, The Wizard..… (more)
User reviews
The story itself is a relatively simple one - a boy from our realm transported to one of myth, in the form of a hero called Able of the High Heart - and Able's encounter with fame, the faerie, gods and kings. There's a strong mix of Arthurian folklore along with the various supernatural elements associated with Knightly tales thrown in. Able progresses from unknown, to squire, to knight and myth all within the two books.
Very good, though maybe by today's standards a little low on action and high on simple, interpersonal drama.
The Wizard - Gene Wolfe
One story, two books.
I expected to LOVE these - I'd really been anticipating reading them.
But - I didn't love them. I tried, but I just didn't.
For one thing, this story uses the exact same gimmick as Wolfe's The Book of the Short Sun trilogy (you are
Another distraction is that the main character is an American boy who, wandering in the woods, slips into a complicated hierarchy of seven other worlds altogether. Due to the magic of an Elf-Queen, he is instantly transformed into the shape of an older, big, muscular man.
The shape/age change is used in the book to some degree, mainly for the repeated philosophical observation that most men feel like boys masquerading as men.
But the fact that he is American, or even from our world, is not utilized in the story at all. He forgets most of his life in our world, it hardly ever comes up, and is not essential to the plot in any way. It's just an unnecessary complication. Odd things occur - and it's almost as if the character just doesn't react - not like an American would react, and really not like the typical inhabitant of the world where he is would react either. It's just sort of odd. And dull.
I hate to say it, but the books are kind of boring. They're slow-moving, and I just didn't feel that Wolfe's usage of classic fantasy elements worked very well. (Not nearly as well as in any of Wolfe's other books that I've read.) His hierarchy-of-worlds had some interesting elements to it, and some of the characters, especially the fire-elf 'sisters' were cool - but I feel it either needed more action or a more-coherent philosophy pulling it all together.
Cracking book once you get started, although I must admit it took a little while for me to get into it. But then I often find that, the way Wolfe uses words is
A working knowledge of northern european folklore is a must to truly apreciate this book, as Wolfe casually references various folklores without bothering to expound. One of the things that i love about Wolfe (although others might find irritating) is the fact that he seldom, if ever, spells everything out for the reader. He treats his reader as an intelligent person who can pick up the storyline for themselves without being spoonfed the plot, and of course, draw their own conclusions as to what it means.
Others here have commented on the transformation of the main character, so
Taken individually, the pieces are below even being mediocre. Taken together, the parts reinforce each other and the story builds momentum. That may be a problem for some readers, as this story does not really end with this book. There is a huge fight scene and we are left with a literary cliffhanger. Unlike, say, the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind where each book may be read by itself, you will need to read The Wizard to see how this story ends.
The physical layout of worlds, and yes, there are many mentioned in this book, that comprises the background for this adventure is complex. The relationship of the characters may also be confusing to some readers as is the way time passes in relation from one world to the other. If you don’t mind these details have at it, The Knight is an enjoyable story. If you object to having to have the full series in order to have the story completely told, you may wish to bypass the first book until you also have the second.
The story is written as a letter to an older brother. A brother who seems to be in America somewhere. This is the only link to our reality in the book. The author of this letter is a young boy, Able. Able writes things from a very simple point of view, but occasionally he writes things that are so cryptic that it made me wonder what is really going on inside of Able's head. Whatever it is, the main themes of the book has to do with knighthood, but not really. Knighthood or Able's quest to become a knight, is a mechanism for Wolfe to write about certain qualities of the human experience. Love, sacrifice, death, honor, keeping one's word, but also a the path to enlightenment. Gaining knowledge is key element in this story. Wolfe employs the symbols of fantasy in such a simple way that Jung and Campbell come to mind. This brings me back to Able's mind and the first person narrative from which Wolfe writes. We are hearing Able's story but only through other's stories interpreted through Able. For me, its a fresh take on the fantasy novel, and I look forward to reading the sequel. I'm still sorting through some of the passages I marked in the book. Perhaps I will have to come back and change some of this once I finish "The Wizard".