The Urth of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe

Review by Bowden P. (Trey)

This is a nice coda for the Book of the New Sun, and because of that Urth of the New Sun will be compared to it. And I’m afraid it will be found a bit wanting…

Urth of the New Sun takes Severian far beyond the Solar System to confront the aliens that have reduced Earth to the status of the The Book of the New Sun – barbaric and primitive. It even takes him beyond the scope of the universe itself.

The ship that takes Severian on his journey is a world unto itself, traveling at relativistic velocities and even faster than light itself. Gene Wolfe plays with this to good effect by having the crew made up of people from different worlds and time periods. Because after all, faster than light is time travel.

The journey itself and the trial of Severian at his destination are about two-thirds of the book and fairly satisfying in terms of ideas, characters and development. Even in Urth of the New Sun Severian still tends to treat and see women as bed mates. Because of this, Wolfe fails the Bechdel test here. Still, its not a bad book.

The last third of the book is about Severian’s return to Earth and here Wolfe makes explicit that faster than light travel, is time travel. Severian gets repeatedly tangled up in the destiny of the Commonwealth and that of the Conciliator. And for all the brain bending elements, I found this portion less satisfying than what had come before. Why? Well, Wolfe begins to make extensive use of the metaphor of the stream Severian walks for time and time travel. This makes some sense given that he (and us the reader) are not equipped with senses to properly deal with it. By using this, Wolfe is able to compress it and make it a bit less confusing. Literalist that I am, I find the approach less satisfying than others. Still, it is beautiful and well wrought, just not to my taste.

Did I like the book? Yes.

Did I like it as much as the rest of the series? No, but it was still worth the time to read.

Likes: Playing with relativity and FTL as time travel without making it the focus of the plot; Severian’s desire to save Earth – for all that I find him less than heroic, he still has a good heart and head; Severian’s fate(s).

Dislikes: Severian – all too often I find his personality and tendency to screw any human(oid) female a bit old; Heavy reliance on metaphor.

Verdict: **** (four stars)

Suggested for: Wolfe fans and fans of the Book of the New Sun series.

The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman by Nancy Marie Brown

Review by Jennifer (mywolfalways)

Having read numerous non-fiction books on Vikings and people living during the Viking age, it was refreshing to see new hypotheses being presented.  While some are believable, others lack supporting evidence to be considered.  By using Gudrid’s life in Eirik the Red’s Saga and The Saga of the Greenlanders as an outline, the author does a wonderful job explaining different aspects of the society with a particular emphasis on women.

The first chapter opens with the author’s experience of awe at first seeing a Viking ship on the water.  In speaking with replica-makers, she learns more about how the ships are made, along with their advantages and limitations.  She also explores how the Vikings were able to navigate the open seas and how they dealt with being hafvilla or “bewildered by the sea”.

Chapter two presents the reader with what happens in the two sagas, whether or not the events and people are true, and how best perhaps to interpret them.  Chapter three further explores the two sagas, specifically in regards to women’s rights and how their lives may have been.  The author compares these to that of women in Arthurian legend, which are written around the same time, to show how different the life of the Norse was in comparison to the rest of the women in Europe.

Chapters four and five concern themselves with exploration, raiding, and land-taking, perhaps what the Vikings are best remembered for by most people.  It speculates how chieftains, the average citizens, and slaves interacted, as well as how law worked as explained by examples found in the Sagas, as well as what is found in the “Grey Goose” law.

Chapters six through nine explore the many lands that Gudrid may have lived or visited during her voyages over the sea.  Many places over the years have been claimed to be the lands visited due to the descriptions given in the sagas and the author explains why some of these places are possibilities while others are not.  How housing, food, and clothing were acquired in places with such limited resources, excluding trade, is a fascinating topic and is presented in great detail.

The book closes with the spreading of Christianity, how it effected the lands, and the end of Gudrid’s life.

Brown’s writing is enjoyable and the personal excitement sprinkled throughout the book about her own experience at an archeological dig makes it easy to get caught up in the book.  At the end, I think most readers will find their curiosity satiated, while others may find themselves eager to learn more.