Too much of the same: still impressive, but less novel and gripping: After ecstatically singing the praises of the preceding `The Knight', I'm inconsistently less enthusiastic about Part 2. Some of this is down to differing expectations: I had no/low hopes for the former but enjoyed it so much I had very high hopes for the latter.

`The Wizard' is not so much a separate book as the second half of the same one - something Wolfe intended. However, given the sheer number of pages it seemed fair enough to split the read. Moreover I was delighted with the way that Wolfe had evoked a legendary romantic knight in Book 1, and had hoped for an equally surprising achievement in creating a fabulous mythical wizard in Book 2. Now don't get me wrong: Wolfe is, as ever, clever and original in presenting a different perspective on Sir Able as a wizard - doubtless with his familiar interaction with various gods, Aelf and higher and lower worlds he would be perceived as such. The notion of a wizard actually being a minor deity (cf. Gandalf) is interesting, as are the strong Christlike parallels of limitations on power and miraculous healing. But Able as Wizard was nothing on Able as Knight.

There were still some impressive passages, but I was feeling a bit of hero fatigue, particularly in the first third to half of `The Wizard'. I get that Wolfe was showing how Able had inspired others to become like him: part of his nobility is that he is not jealous of other knights, and consciously leaves them to some battles he could fight better himself to give them a chance to prove themselves and gain greater glory. Again the Christian echoes along the lines of, "You shall do these and greater things." This is particularly powerful in the reformation of his former squire Svon`s nature, and demonstrates a far greater spiritual victory than a mere martial one. Wolfe has admirably run with the Crusade ideal of an almost priestly order of fighters, with Able's high moral code integral to his identity rather than a mere religious façade. But as a reader too many of the knights became almost indistinguishable in their motivations, words and deeds. Toug becomes `Young Able' - deliberately, sure, but less enjoyably.

In one sense it's odd to complain about getting more of the same of a book I relished. But I suppose much of what I loved about `The Knight' was the novelty of Wolfe's creation. He realises his ideas capably in `The Wizard', but they're at best developments and more often continuations of ideas we're now familiar with. It's a terrible thing to become bored with giants - something that didn't happen in Book 1.

Some different ideas develop later in the book, particularly around Arnthor, with Able facing the dilemma of serving an unjust king. And this is Wolfe, and there are a dozen other potent and enigmatic themes running around (such as Able's helmet letting him discern the essence of anyone he looks at yet, for example, he continues to revere Disiri). Maybe I should have left the break longer, I don't know, but the second book just didn't engage me nearly as much as the first. Book 1 had some confusing passages, sure, but I was arrested by more of the episodes.

This being the second Gene Wolfe book I have read, I now understand what his fans mean when they describe his particular narrative style. It is something akin to dark and otherworldly dreaminess. Nothing important is intricately detailed when you expect it to be. This is a quality I found alluring and refreshing compared to more forceful authors who find it necessary to cram the plot points down your throat.
As the follow up to The Knight, the first half of the book was little tedious and I found myself needing to take a break for a week before I felt up to coming back to it. I'm glad I did, because the last half was very rewarding, but not necessarily revealing.
The substance of this story draws a lot from Scandinavian and Saxon myth. This is made all the more interesting however by the way it is delivered. These small details are mainly presented briefly as a fleeting sentence here or there. Given that, I would probably find these two books more rewarding if I read a few primers on Norse mythology.
The most intriguing element of the book is the young narrator and the story being told in the form of a letter. There are a multitude of very subtle connections between the grand mythical world the story is set in and the American life the narrator is from. I won't spoil anything, but the last paragraph of this book gave me cause to reflect at length on the entire two books and to ponder the point of storytelling.
In the end, I would recommend this book, and its predecessor The Knight, for readers who enjoy a curious story which requires the reader to speculate often. This story is by no means clearly laid out for quick consumption, and for this I found it quite entertaining. ( )

This was a little bit of a letdown from The Knight. The first half dragged for me, but thankfully it picked up again in the second half. Definitely a must-read if you've read and enjoyed the first book, and overall a worthwhile series. ( )

And my last book finished this year is the second in Gene Wolfe's Wizard Knight duology, the Knight.

The Wizard picks up after the events of the Knight. For those who haven't read it, in the Knight, a boy from America is whisked away to a Nordic-like Faerie land consisting of seven planes of existence. He is raised both on the Earth plane,Mythgarthr, falls in love with the Queen of the Moss Aelf from Aelfrice (a world lower than Mythgarthr), is aged preternaturally, and strives to become a knight worthy of Queen Disiri. At the end of the first book, he is transported by a Valkyrie to the world above Mythgarthr, called Skai, a Valhalla analogue.

The second book deals with his return, doings in the land of the Giants, and the continuation of his quest. The typical Wolfe tricks of an unreliable narrator are in force here, since Able is young in mental age and doesn't always understand events around him. Unfortunately, while this is a feature I've come to accept in Wolfe, the extremely slow opening, mired with other characters and mostly set in the land of the Giants, is not appealing at all. I couldn't wait until Able and company started heading south.

Some things revolving around Able's meeting with the King of Celidon, too, are somewhat unclear, and exciting events in the end are only sketchily detailed, much to my disappointment.

I have to say that overall the book is only somewhat above average, and definitely not for those who haven't read The Knight. And readers of the Knight, like me, will consider this something of a letdown from its predecessor, alas. ( )

Wite more Gene!