Gene Wolfe

First published in 1972, this SF masterpiece has been out of print for most of a decade. Now, this "subtle, ingenious, and poetic book" (Ursula Le Guin) entertains a new generation of readers with the story of two far-flung sister planets and a man's quest to find remnants of a lost.

Three Novellas

The Fifth Head of Cerberus

Wolfe's prose is such a pleasure to read (maybe some of the best I've ever seen in SF/F?) and so is the depth of his storytelling. With how opaque and subtle—and strange and clever and beautiful!—the writing is, The Fifth Head of Cerberus feels like a living, breathing puzzle and story in (one or three). Sci-fi in the vein of Nabokov's Pale Fire. I love the lack of handholding and the complexity of each unreliable narrator; Wolfe gives details rich and sparse enough to show trust that his readers can think enough to interpret the stories for themselves. It's interesting, too, to see what post-colonial writing was getting published in 1972.

also the author literally invented the machine that cooks pringles how cool is that

alice

Wolfe's prose is such a pleasure to read (maybe some of the best I've ever seen in SF/F?) and so is the depth of his storytelling. With how opaque and subtle—and strange and clever and beautiful!—the writing is, The Fifth Head of Cerberus feels like a living, breathing puzzle and story in (one or three). Sci-fi in the vein of Nabokov's Pale Fire. I love the lack of handholding and the complexity of each unreliable narrator; Wolfe gives details rich and sparse enough to show trust that his readers can think enough to interpret the stories for themselves. It's interesting, too, to see what post-colonial writing was getting published in 1972.

also the author literally invented the machine that cooks pringles how cool is that

Far from Earth two sister planets, Sainte Anne and Sainte Croix, circle each other. It is said that a race of shapeshifting aliens once lived here, only to become extinct when human colonists arrived. But one man believes they still exist, somewhere out in the wilderness. In THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS, Gene Wolfe brilliantly interweaves three tales: a scientist's son gradual discovery of the bizarre secret of his heritage; a young man's mythic dreamquest for his darker half; the mystifying chronicle of an anthropologist's seemingly-arbitrary imprisonment. Gradually, a mesmerising pattern emerges.

Cody Degen

Boy I don’t even know how to grade it, 3+ if you read it by yourself 4+ or 5- if you read it a dozen times or have companion material to go through at the same time?

Michael M.

I might have to read this five times to fully wrap my head around it, but don't doubt I'll find the dogged determination to do so.

The Fifth Head of Cerberus Three Novellas

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