From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. The teenage boy who wandered into another set of realities in Wolfe's The Knight has attained his ambition of knighthood. Now, as Sir Able of the High Heart, he returns in this sequel riding a steed that's not a horse, wielding his magic sword and bound by oath not to use his new otherworldly powers. Such a summary is like saying a spoonful of tap water constitutes the whole of all oceans. Wolfe's words wash over the reader with transparent grace and charming playfulness as he spins his profoundly imaginative, metaphysically complex, yet ever-entertaining tale with astonishing naturalness. In trademark Wolfian fashion, the memory-altered protagonist acts as narrator, telling the truth whenever possible and to the full extent of his own understanding. This second volume satisfactorily supplies many answers to the riddles and allusions of its tantalizing predecessor, but posits new mysteries as well. The novel stands alone and might even be best if read before The Knight, but will surely drive readers to the first as well. The conclusion hints at possible further adventures. Outstanding fantasy these days is often convincingly and compellingly anti-Tolkien, but Wolfe proves one can tell an epic, myth-based story of honor, loyalty, courage and faith relevant to our own dark times. This is fantasy at its best: revelatory and inspirational. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com
With the publication of The Wizard, the unpredictable Gene Wolfe completes a dauntingly ambitious two-volume novel collectively entitled The Wizard Knight. The publisher has compared these books to the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, but the comparison seems specious at best. In sharp contrast to Tolkien's accessible, straightforward epic, The Wizard Knight is a dense, frequently mysterious creation that no one but Wolfe could have written.The story began earlier this year in The Knight, which introduced Sir Able of the High Heart, who tells the tale in the form of a letter to his long-lost brother, Ben. While still a teenager, Able is transported from the "real" world of modern America to an overtly fantastical realm known as the Seven Worlds. These rigidly hierarchical worlds are bound together by complex metaphysical laws and form the backdrop for a painstakingly detailed Arthurian drama in which Able plays the dominant role. Shortly after arriving in Mythgarthr, the most Earth-like of the Seven Worlds, Able meets -- and makes love to -- Disiri, queen of Aelfrice, the world located directly beneath Mythgarthr. Disiri, who will become the obsessive focus of Able's romantic and erotic longings, transforms him from a gangling teenager into a massive, powerful physical specimen, the very model of a knight and champion. The tension between the untested boy on the inside and the huge man's body he presents to the world permeates the narrative, investing the story of Able's coming-of-age with an idiosyncratic flavor of its own.One of the central achievements of The Knight -- an achievement Wolfe sustains in the second volume -- is its fresh, vivid rendering of some very familiar elements. Able's experiences in the Seven Worlds include knightly quests, pitched battles, trials by combat and assorted tests of honor. In the course of his adventures, he encounters flesh-eating ogres, bellicose giants, undead witches and warriors, seductive sorceresses and (of course) maidens in distress. Each of these encounters seems newly minted and original, and that is no mean accomplishment. One of the many high points is an airborne battle between Able and a fire-breathing dragon named Grengarm. This beautifully described set piece ends the opening installment, setting the stage for this larger, ultimately superior second volume.As The Wizard opens, Able returns from an extended sojourn in Skai, the sacred realm above Mythrgar where gods dwell, and where time moves at its own, much quicker pace. For Able, 20 years have passed, while only months have elapsed in Mythgarthr. He is now, save at rare vulnerable moments, both a knight and a fully integrated man. He is also a wizard, although a complex vow prevents him from using his magical abilities. Accompanied by a telepathic flying unicorn and a pair of wonderfully characterized talking animals (a shape-shifting dog and a self-satisfied cat), he moves through the various levels of the Seven Worlds, searching for Disiri and gradually uncovering the hidden purpose of his life. That purpose involves delivering a crucial message (a message that lies dormant in his memory, awaiting its proper moment) and dispensing the principles of knightly justice to all who cross his path. Able's quest takes him from the peasant villages ruled by King Arnthor (royal offspring of a dragon) to an enchanted island, and from the giant-built stronghold of Utgard to the contiguous worlds above and beneath him. Along the way, he finds (and loses) a magical sword, converses with gods, suffers loss and imprisonment and ultimately rescues Arnthor's kingdom from an encroaching race of quasi-human cannibals.The Wizard is a larger, more expansive volume than its predecessor. The narrative is broken down into a smaller number of longer chapters and proceeds in a much more fluid fashion. Having established the novel's background so thoroughly in The Knight, Wolfe is now free to linger over dramatic moments, to explore the mysteries of his magical kingdoms and to develop even his most minor characters with care and intelligence. The result is a satisfying, wide-ranging novel that contains enough marvels and mysteries (not all of which are resolved or explained) to populate an entire series.The Wizard Knight is, in the oldest, truest sense of the word, a romance. It is the work of a man who believes in his bones that the knightly virtues he so lovingly describes -- faith, honor, courage, fidelity -- are essential elements of the human soul, elements we ignore at our peril. This underlying belief powers the story, carrying it past those moments when Wolfe's typically garrulous characters ramble on and the narrative momentum flags. Mostly, though, Wolfe keeps this complex creation thoroughly under control, driving steadily toward a moving conclusion that celebrates the benign magic -- and ultimate healing power -- of love and friendship. As the talking cat tells us in one of his less sardonic moments: "Magic and art have a great deal in common." Gene Wolfe has spent a lengthy, productive career proving that very point. In the two substantial volumes of The Wizard Knight, he proves it once again, transmuting the overworked materials of traditional fantasy into something strange, memorable and new. Reviewed by Bill Sheehan Copyright 2005, The Washington Post Co. All Rights Reserved.


From Booklist
*Starred Review* The second volume of the Wizard Knight concludes the story begun in The Knight [BKL D 15 03] by first bringing Sir Able back after 20 years in limbo, with his maturity and prowess increased. He is promptly dragged into a welter of murderous intrigues when somebody murders the king of the giants. The scramble to find the culprits and the intrigues involved in the succession eventuate in a complex, even convoluted tale, with so many characters and subplots that a proper summary would far exceed the limits of a Booklist review. Eventually, Sir Able slays dragons, preserves his honor, allows other knights to preserve theirs, rescues the virtuous and sets down the vicious while trying to tell the one from the other, and ends up being restored to his true love in a world strongly redolent of that of the Arthurian legends. But there is hardly a piece of northern European heroic literature from which Wolfe doesn't borrow with his usual scholarly flare and in his exquisitely turned prose (in Wolfe's hands, even dialect works). Arising from the same sources as Lord of the Rings, the Wizard Knight is one of the few fantasies that can justly be compared with it. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


John C. Wright
"There is a treasure in your hand, O Reader. Open these leaves. Great things awaait."


Review
"There is a treasure in your hand, O Reader. Open these leaves. Great things awaait."


Book Description
A novel in two volumes, The Wizard Knight is in the rare company of those works which move past the surface of fantasy and drink from the wellspring of myth. Magic swords, dragons, giants, quests, love, honor, nobility-all the familiar features of fantasy come to fresh life in this masterful work.

The first half of the journey, The Knight -- which you are advised to read first, to let the whole story engulf you from the beginning -- took a teenage boy from America into Mythgarthr, the middle realm of seven fantastic worlds. Above are the gods of Skai; below are the capricious Aelf, and more dangerous things still. Journeying throughout Mythgarthr, Able gains a new brother, an Aelf queen lover, a supernatural hound, and the desire to prove his honor and become the noble knight he always knew he would be.

Coming into Jotunland, home of the Frost Giants, Able -- now Sir Able of the High Heart --claims the great sword Eterne from the dragon who has it. In reward, he is ushered into the castle of the Valfather, king of all the Gods of Skai.

Thus begins the second part of his quest. The Wizard begins with Able's return to Mythgathr on his steed Cloud, a great mare the color of her name. Able is filled with new knowledge of the ways of the seven-fold world and possessed of great magical secrets. His knighthood now beyond question, Able works to fulfill his vows to his king, his lover, his friends, his gods, and even his enemies. Able must set his world right, restoring the proper order among the denizens of all the seven worlds.

The Wizard is a charming, riveting, emotionally charged tale of wonders, written with all the beauty one would expect from a writer whom Damon Knight called "a national treasure." If you've never sampled the works of the man Michael Swanwick described as "the greatest writer in the English language alive today," the two volumes of The Wizard Knight are the perfect place to start.



About the Author
Gene Wolfe is the author of two dozen novels and hundreds of short stories. Possibly the most critically acclaimed SF/Fantasy author of our time, he is the winner of the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, as well as the Nebula Award (2), the World Fantasy Award (2), the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, the British Fantasy Award, and the Prix Apollo. He lives with his wife, Rosemary, in Barrington, IL.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
The Wizard, the second and concluding volume of Gene Wolfe's Wizard Knight duology, is so much more than an epic fantasy about a boy's transformation into a fearless knight in a realm filled with giants, dragons, and mischievous elves. It's a deeply moving existential tale about the important things in life -- namely one's honor.

When a teenage boy from modern-day America suddenly finds himself in Mythgarthr -- the middle realm of a strange universe that contains seven interconnecting worlds -- and is transformed into a hulking knight by an irresistibly beautiful elf queen, he begins a perilous quest to not only retrieve a legendary sword but also to find out what it means to be a hero. In The Wizard, Sir Able of the High Heart is a much-changed man. The teenager stuck inside the body of an adult warrior has slain dragons, defeated nightmarish foes, led armies, and visited numerous fantastical realms. Accompanied by a unicorn steed, a talking cat, a supernatural demon-dog named Gylf, and a small group of unlikely friends, Able is delayed in his quest to somehow reunite with his beloved elf queen by a strict code of honor that forces him to battle frost giants, seductive sorceresses, and egomaniacal kings.

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction describes Wolfe as "neither the most popular nor the most influential author in the sf field" but concludes that "[he] is today quite possibly the most important." Science fiction, horror, speculative fiction...and now -- after writing the Wizard Knight duology -- Wolfe can add fantasy to his list of genres mastered. Paul Goat Allen

FROM THE PUBLISHER

A novel in two volumes, The Wizard Knight is in the rare company of those works which move past the surface of fantasy and drink from the wellspring of myth. Magic swords, dragons, giants, quests, love, honor, nobility-all the familiar features of fantasy come to fresh life in this masterful work.

The first half of the journey, The Knight -- which you are advised to read first, to let the whole story engulf you from the beginning -- took a teenage boy from America into Mythgarthr, the middle realm of seven fantastic worlds. Above are the gods of Skai; below are the capricious Aelf, and more dangerous things still. Journeying throughout Mythgarthr, Able gains a new brother, an Aelf queen lover, a supernatural hound, and the desire to prove his honor and become the noble knight he always knew he would be.

Coming into Jotunland, home of the Frost Giants, Able -- now Sir Able of the High Heart --claims the great sword Eterne from the dragon who has it. In reward, he is ushered into the castle of the Valfather, king of all the Gods of Skai.

Thus begins the second part of his quest. The Wizard begins with Able's return to Mythgathr on his steed Cloud, a great mare the color of her name. Able is filled with new knowledge of the ways of the seven-fold world and possessed of great magical secrets. His knighthood now beyond question, Able works to fulfill his vows to his king, his lover, his friends, his gods, and even his enemies. Able must set his world right, restoring the proper order among the denizens of all the seven worlds.

The Wizard is a charming, riveting, emotionally charged tale of wonders, written with all the beauty onewould expect from a writer whom Damon Knight called "a national treasure." If you've never sampled the works of the man Michael Swanwick described as "the greatest writer in the English language alive today," the two volumes of The Wizard Knight are the perfect place to start.

FROM THE CRITICS

Bill Sheehan - The Washington Post

One of the central achievements of The Knight -- an achievement Wolfe sustains in the second volume -- is its fresh, vivid rendering of some very familiar elements. Able's experiences in the Seven Worlds include knightly quests, pitched battles, trials by combat and assorted tests of honor. In the course of his adventures, he encounters flesh-eating ogres, bellicose giants, undead witches and warriors, seductive sorceresses and (of course) maidens in distress. Each of these encounters seems newly minted and original, and that is no mean accomplishment. One of the many high points is an airborne battle between Able and a fire-breathing dragon named Grengarm. This beautifully described set piece ends the opening installment, setting the stage for this larger, ultimately superior second volume.

Publishers Weekly

The teenage boy who wandered into another set of realities in Wolfe's The Knight has attained his ambition of knighthood. Now, as Sir Able of the High Heart, he returns in this sequel riding a steed that's not a horse, wielding his magic sword and bound by oath not to use his new otherworldly powers. Such a summary is like saying a spoonful of tap water constitutes the whole of all oceans. Wolfe's words wash over the reader with transparent grace and charming playfulness as he spins his profoundly imaginative, metaphysically complex, yet ever-entertaining tale with astonishing naturalness. In trademark Wolfian fashion, the memory-altered protagonist acts as narrator, telling the truth whenever possible and to the full extent of his own understanding. This second volume satisfactorily supplies many answers to the riddles and allusions of its tantalizing predecessor, but posits new mysteries as well. The novel stands alone and might even be best if read before The Knight, but will surely drive readers to the first as well. The conclusion hints at possible further adventures. Outstanding fantasy these days is often convincingly and compellingly anti-Tolkien, but Wolfe proves one can tell an epic, myth-based story of honor, loyalty, courage and faith relevant to our own dark times. This is fantasy at its best: revelatory and inspirational. Agent, the Virginia Kidd Agency. (Nov. 10) Forecast: Wolfe has won the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, among many other major awards. Expect this two-book saga (The Knight was published earlier this year) to win him a few more. This is far more accessible than his earlier multivolume masterpiece, The Book of the New Sun (1980-1983). Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews