Book review: The Knight
Sep. 26th, 2005 03:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tigertoyToday's book review is The Knight by Gene Wolfe.
This is a complex book, which is to be expected from Wolfe, despite the deceptive simplicity of the language it's written in and the simple nature of most of the scenes. Few of the people or places are really what they seem. A questing knight struggles with the meanings of adulthood and honor as he alternately chases and is thrown into various adventures, and along the way we see a wonderful fantasy world where many of the traditional archetypes are made very satisfyingly real and believable. There's certainly a lot to like in this book, but it is occasionally confusing as well, and it ends with a couple of goals achieved but a great deal still left to be resolved, in something of a cliffhanger. It is labeled as "Book One of the Wizard Knight", so I guess I have to read the whole series to see how well it ties up the loose ends.
I'm eager to return to this world, to spend more time with characters I enjoyed and to meet and see more. I'm not completely satisfied with this volume, especially with where it ends; it's a solidly good read, but it leaves me thinking the next book could be even better. 8 out of 10.
This is a complex book, which is to be expected from Wolfe, despite the deceptive simplicity of the language it's written in and the simple nature of most of the scenes. Few of the people or places are really what they seem. A questing knight struggles with the meanings of adulthood and honor as he alternately chases and is thrown into various adventures, and along the way we see a wonderful fantasy world where many of the traditional archetypes are made very satisfyingly real and believable. There's certainly a lot to like in this book, but it is occasionally confusing as well, and it ends with a couple of goals achieved but a great deal still left to be resolved, in something of a cliffhanger. It is labeled as "Book One of the Wizard Knight", so I guess I have to read the whole series to see how well it ties up the loose ends.
I'm eager to return to this world, to spend more time with characters I enjoyed and to meet and see more. I'm not completely satisfied with this volume, especially with where it ends; it's a solidly good read, but it leaves me thinking the next book could be even better. 8 out of 10.