This is an amazing book. A boy enters a fantasy world (how is never explained, at least not in part 1) that borrows much from the Norse mythology. By magic he is turned into a bold and strong young man. He wants to become a knight so he starts to act like one and calls himself Sir Able of the High Heart - and the troubles start...On the surface there is the rich fantasy world with all kind of creatures (fairies, talking animals, giants) and the usual quest that the hero has to undergo, but what I liked most is that [author: Gene Wolfe] succeeds in describing convincingly what it means to be a knight, including such trivial things as looking for the daily food. Sir Able himself is a unique character. One can easily see that he must get used to his body and to the whole fantasy world. His honesty makes it easy for the reader to grasp what's going on, his naivety on the other hand makes it sometimes very difficult. References to future events are common but a look at the character list at the beginning of the book helps to put everything into the right place. Gaps are easily filled later, I had no problem with that approach.Another thing that I found very interesting is how the society reacts to Able's non-noble birth. Able's position is continuously questioned and also the relation to his friends / slaves causes trouble. Following the rules would be easy if he would know the rules... What I noticed though is that he is also short-tempered and stubborn and that he treats other beings quite arrogantly, well knowing that he is stronger and in a superior position. He is definitely not the usual hero.P.S. I want Baki for myself. :-) ( )

This is an amazing book. A boy enters a fantasy world (how is never explained, at least not in part 1) that borrows much from the Norse mythology. By magic he is turned into a bold and strong young man. He wants to become a knight so he starts to act like one and calls himself Sir Able of the High Heart - and the troubles start...On the surface there is the rich fantasy world with all kind of creatures (fairies, talking animals, giants) and the usual quest that the hero has to undergo, but what I liked most is that [author: Gene Wolfe] succeeds in describing convincingly what it means to be a knight, including such trivial things as looking for the daily food. Sir Able himself is a unique character. One can easily see that he must get used to his body and to the whole fantasy world. His honesty makes it easy for the reader to grasp what's going on, his naivety on the other hand makes it sometimes very difficult. References to future events are common but a look at the character list at the beginning of the book helps to put everything into the right place. Gaps are easily filled later, I had no problem with that approach.Another thing that I found very interesting is how the society reacts to Able's non-noble birth. Able's position is continuously questioned and also the relation to his friends / slaves causes trouble. Following the rules would be easy if he would know the rules... What I noticed though is that he is also short-tempered and stubborn and that he treats other beings quite arrogantly, well knowing that he is stronger and in a superior position. He is definitely not the usual hero.P.S. I want Baki for myself. :-) ( )

Not well organized; not for everyone: Although the imagery was beautiful, I did not like this book. Among other challenges, I found it difficult to keep track of when the character was moving from one world to another. This book is not for everyone.

What a great book! A faerie tale in the truest sense. But if you like your fantasy plot straight forward and spoonfed (Robert Jordan?), than you might have some trouble with Gene Wolfe's writing style. Wolfe writes in a unique and mysterious fashion that took hold of me after the first 10 pages. This story is so much more intriguing than the usual fantasy novel. Many layers make up this story, similar to the world that Able, the main character, finds himself in. Mysterious passages are inserted into the narrative in such a way that I found myself constantly skipping back to previous pages to try to grasp some wider theme. A theme that is there if you want it to be.

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". ( )

I completed the second part of this book (The Wizard - part one is called The Knight) yesterday evening. As usual, Gene Wolfe knows how to tell a tale that's both entralling and entertaining. These books have an unusual blend of epic and folklore, with a bit of pseudo-science fantasy thrown in for good measure. If you've ever read Wolfe's Book of the New Sun series, you'll understand what I mean. Wolf has this talent of absorbing the reader completely into a tale - mixing storytelling with a stream-of-consciousness that you don't normally see in fantasy or science fiction. The tale weaves in-and-out imparting well thought out plot glimpses and emotions that can leave you reeling.

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. ( )