Cuando emerge de su exploración del inframundo del Vórtice, al augur Pátera Seda descubre Virón inmersa en una violenta revolución, y a él mismo enarbolado como líder de ésta. La amenaza de guerra planea sobre su universo, los dioses se revelan como seres poco amigables, y Seda deberá enfrentarse a las difíciles situaciones que pondrán a prueba su justicia y su moralidad.

Picking up from where Lake of the Long Sun left off, we find Patera Silk the focus of a major revolution, though how he came to be seamlessly catapulted into this position is unclear, both to him and to us, the reader. To make matters even more complex, one of the sibyls at Silk's manteion, Maytera Mint, suddenly becomes seized by revolutionary zeal and leads the people of the city of Viron in their insurrection. This is perhaps one of the slightly odd things about this sequence of novels for me: thus far, we have seen otherwise quite unworldly people - Patera Silk and Maytera Mint - suddenly acquire great reserves of derring-do out of nowhere. Is this the inspiring spark of religious conviction, or just some heavy plot engineering by the author?

Well, if it's the latter, I don't mind too much. The setting and the writing make up for this somewhat, and the supporting characters are engaging: the streetwise heavy Auk, General Oosik, and the bird Oreb ("Fish heads?") stand out. Throughout, more of the true nature of the Whorl is being revealed; but it is only us, the omniscient readers, who understand this. Again, I don't have a problem with this; if you'd been born on the inside of a starship and never really knew the true nature of the universe, that truth would be so far away from your comprehension as to be meaningless. Some critics have complained that "it ought to be obvious to the characters by now that they're on a starship", but I really think that's assuming too much, though I do wonder quite how Wolfe draws all the threads together for the last book.

The UK first edition paperback has a dreadful production error; on the title page, the book is subtitled "The second volume of The Book of the Long Sun", when it is, of course, the third. ( )

More tedious than the first two, but on reread the long stretches of Auk et al. in the tunnels were easier to get through this time. This is the one I dreaded, and it was still pretty good. ( )

Abandoned about 60 pages before the ending. I liked the previous 2 books in this series, but this one dragged, and ultimately I couldn’t connect with the characters anymore. These books are hard work – both their prose as Wolfe’s tendency to be opaque about the story – and I didn’t feel like investing the effort anymore.

Add to that the fact that the overall story has become clear by this point in the series – it’s rather underwhelming compared to New Sun – and that killed the urge to explore this book and the final installment any further.

I’m hoping Wolfe’s Soldier series and Wizard Night series will connect with me, as The Book Of The New Sun is one of my favorite literary experiences ever.

For longer, in-depth reviews visit Weighing A Pig Doesn't Fatten It ( )

The third in The Book of The Long Sun, this is definitely not a stand-alone book – it picks up right in the middle of the story. That story continues to be excellent, however, I have to say, that although I am generally not a fan of talking animals at all, Patera Silk's pet bird, Oreb, really makes these books. I just love him.
In this book, the humble priest, Patera Silk, reluctantly accepts the people's acclaim and becomes the focus of a general rebellion aimed at making him Caldé, or ruler of his city of Viron. He falls in love with the prostitute Hyacinth, and gradually comes to learn revelations about not only politics but the workings of his world and some of the truths behind his religion and his society... ( )