The Sorcerer’s House by Gene Wolfe
Tom Doherty Associates, New York, 2010
Borrowed from the library.
An epistolary novel, dark, weird and wonderful. A perfect read for the Once Upon A Time IV challenge.
Baxter Dunn, recently released from prison, finds himself staying in a motel in a small town in the Midwest.
Bax writes letters, to his brother, to a friend in jail, to his brother’s wife, as he try to figure out his future. The letters tell an odd story.
When Bax meets a real estate agent who tells him he is heir to an old, empty house his life becomes, well, unusual. Things change quickly, life is totally transformed. Bax is confronted by strange creatures and events, becomes involved with odd, fey people. His letters tell of magic, of different worlds, of sorcerers. I had to keep reading, needing to know what happened.
Bax is an oddly compelling character. Wolfe has created a mundane world that becomes creepier until, by the end, it feels like a weird, twisted dream. This book reads so smoothly I was surprised by how quickly it was over and I wanted to turn around and read it again. Read it, you’ll love it.
One final note. I had to grin when I first opened the book, found the dedication page, and read: To Neil Gaiman, the best of writers and the best of friends.
Page247 
Well, you’ve convinced me! This sounds like a great read. :)
Darren – It is wild and strange, but I wouldn’t expect anything else from Gene Wolfe.
That dedication made me smile too :) I must read this!
Nymeth – I think you’ll like it:)
Oh good! I have wanted to read Gene Wolfe for a while, and I didn’t have a good recommendation of where to start with him. I found Castleview very confusing, so hopefully this’ll be better. It is epistolary after all! I love epistolary novels.
Oh Jenny, I think you’ll like The Sorcerer’s House, though it is bizarre and strange.
I have been wanting to read Gene Wolfe forever! I’m so glad you liked this one- great dedication, I agree ;-)
Aarti – Try this one! Gene Wolfe is one of my favorite authors but he can be really dense and hard to follow. I really liked The Sorcerer’s House.
I have been hearing about this book everywhere lately. I really want to read it, but will have to splurge and buy it because the library doesn’t have it!
Kailana – I rely on my library for most of my books and it is hard when the system doesn’t have something I want to read. Maybe you could request that they purchase a copy of The Sorcerer’s House?