Soldier of Sidon

I too have been waiting 20 years for this book, and let's hope the fourth one comes in a timely manner. The first two Latro volumes are, I believe, Wolfe's finest work but his publisher pulled the plug after the second, presumably because they didn't sell as well as his Book of the New Sun. Gene had originally planned this for four volumes; none of us are getting any younger, and it's about time!

I've waited twenty years for this story. I needed closure. Thank you, Mr. Wolfe. It was worth the wait. We rejoin Latro, the brave wounded Soldier of the Great King. We learn that he found his way home to Italy with his friends from Sidon. We also learn that he is not happy with home and hearth, and finds himself still driven to 'remember as other men do'. He leaves his wife behind and journeys to Egypt in search of help. Wolfe uses Latro and his friends to lay out threads of information that the reader slowly weaves into a tapestry of ancient Egypt. Nobody does this better. And in Latro Wolfe has his most interesting hero, as the gods of Egypt can attest (his weighing is my favorite part of the book). Tho' Latro can't remember yesterday he rediscovers his own bravery, his own moral compass over and over. He may not recall yesterday, but he knows right from wrong, and tho' he knows fear he learns again and again that he can face it. Latro is a brave, good man. A hero, willing to fight gods, demons or men. But as I read I feel more genuine sorrow for this hero than I'd believe possible. It's like seeing an old friend, lost and alone. You're happy to see him, but so sorry for his troubles. Mr. Wolfe, neither one of us can wait another 20 years for yet another Latro book. This ending did not provide the necessary closure. So...get busy, por favor. Thank you sir, may we have another?

This is the first review I have ever written online and I do so because I feel compelled to let everyone know just how good this novel is. I have read every Wolfe novel and this may be the very best one he is ever written. This is coming from someone who's Book of Gold is the New Sun. You do not have to have read the previous Latro novels to enjoy this book which is a plus for any new readers. Buy this now and be prepared for one of the most pleasurable reading experiences you will ever have.

As a huge Wolfe fan, it was always an object of some disappointment to me that the open-ended, episodic glimpses of the soldier Latro seemed, ironically, to be forgotten in the wake of his other novels. Days turned into months, and years, and even approached that most daunting of milestones ... decades. Had Wolfe forgotten his early plans for the amnesiac hero? I had always been of the opinion (after a re-reading or two) that Latro was in fact an avatar of Pleistorus/Aries, who had been missing from his temple for some time in Soldier of Arete, (and was also revealed to be an incarnation of Ahura Mazda ... and it's only a hop skip and a jump from Ahura Mazda to the God of the Judaic and Christian systems). I was quite eager to see if my suspicions that Latro was a fallen divinity would be instantiated (or to see if Latro's increasing hatred of war would lead to a Christian passivity that would explicate, in bizarre parable form, the change in attitude from the old testament vengeance to the new testament forgiveness of the monotheistic divinity) I didn't get that in Soldier of Sidon, but I did get a brilliant novel. In the years that have passed, Wolfe has become more econimical, and perhaps less overtly confusing and more satisfying on an initial reading here than in many of his books. He hasn't lost the essence of Latro, and this is what I feared most, for Latro has always been a good "man" who never has enough information to make meaningful judgements. Sometimes he may be right ... and other times he can be misled. This moral dichotomy is sublime, but at the heart of this novel is the wonderful picture of Egypt and its gods - coupled with the basic tragedy of Latro's condition, this is compelling indeed. The problem for me with identifying with The Wizard Knight was the bullying/childish mentality of Able. Wolfe proves with Soldier of Sidon that he can still write the philosophically compelling mature warrior with a perfect hand. Latro is one of his best characters, and by extension, one of the greatest characters in all of literature. Read Herodotus, read the Soldier books (Arete is easier going the third time through, believe me), and wonder at the sheer richness of story that Wolfe has tapped in history, to its fullest potential. My only criticism isn't a real one: Wolfe better get to writing that fourth soldier book with an ending like this.

This is a brilliant Gene Wolfe novel. If you have ever enjoyed a Gene Wolfe novel, you will probably enjoy this book a great deal; if you've read the earlier Latro novels, you must read this book (if you haven't, don't read this one until you're done with the first two). Wolfe is 20 years older than the last time he took us into the world of the ancient mercenary Latro, cursed to forget each day the previous day's events, blessed (or cursed) to speak to the gods, the monsters, and the dead that shape the everyday world of his past. Have those years changed Wolfe's writing? Yes. He's less tricky for no reason than in SOLDIER OF ARETE, and the bare bones of the writing are possibly better, more spare, more lovely. It's still deep and wise and strange, but it's also one of the more compelling fantastic swords-and-battles-and-magic adventure tales in years (if you wanted to know what KING SOLMON'S MINES by Nabokov & Herodotus would be like, this is for you). My only complaint is that Wolfe teases us mercilessly with the end (there will be more Latro, we must hope), and I miss Io & Pindar. This is a marvel of a book, and Wolfe is a marvel of a writer.