By: Gene Wolfe Publisher: Tor Books Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Tor Books Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 320 Publication Date: December 10, 2007 Release Date: December 10, 2007
Latro forgets everything when he sleeps. Writing down his experiences every day and reading his journal anew each morning gives him a poignantly tenuous hold on himself, but his story's hold on readers is powerful indeed. The two previous novels, combined in Latro in the Mist (Soldier of the Mist and Soldier of Arete) are generally considered classics of contemporary fantasy. Latro now finds himself in Egypt, a land of singing girls, of spiteful and conniving deities. Without his memory, he is unsure of everything, except for his desire to be free of the curse that causes him to forget.
A Wolfe in Roman clothing Any reader who fondly remembers the previous two titles in this series will enjoy the third. My only complaint is that action seems rushed toward the end. Latro takes less time resolving the plot at the end of his long, river jouney than Willard does to kill Kurtz at the end of his.
More than we needed, unfortunately I am a great fan of Gene Wolfe and the Soldier in the Mist stories. The first Latro novel was a marvelous conceit (narrator with no memory) explored brilliantly. The second book extended the story effectively if not memorably. Soldier of Sidon is tiresome. Sorry, true believers, but there it is. Latro's lack of memory continues to create a few intriguing moments, but for the most part it becomes an excuse for a pastiche of disassociated events vaguely connected but more typically just irritatingly incomprehensible. By halfway through, I was skimming at one sentence per paragraph, then slogging back when it became clear that I had become unintentionally (rather than intentionally) lost.
We got it the first time. The reminder was fun. Enough already.
Latro, a Roman mercenary who was ... (***** = breathtaking, **** = excellent, *** = good, ** = flawed, * = bad)
... cursed by the gods to forget everything upon waking each morning, must carry around a scroll that he frequently updates with his adventures to serve in place of his missing memory. Now he struggles through an exploratory mission down the Nile from ancient Egypt to unknown Nubia.
Latro is an appealing guy and his situation is fascinating, but after awhile this book seems to go on forever, outlasting any narrative tension. Longer review at ImpatientReader-dot-com.
Is this what Wolfe does to unwind? Skip this book. I devoured Soldier of the Mist, but then thought Wolfe wrote Soldier of Arete in his sleep. It was more of a travel guide than a story. Soldier of Sidon, more than a decade in the coming, continues the downward slip. It's an easy read, but damn little happens. Damn little. If you didn't already know that Latro forgets almost everything overnight, and that he sees supernatural things which no one else does, don't worry. He'll remind you every chapter ... oops, I think I just gave away the only thing that passes for a plot in this book.
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!! Just when I thought that Latro in the Mist is standalone Im gonna read and finish in that one book two novels combo, I see this...dear god, I thought Tolkien' Lord of the Rings was too long, that Wolfe's Long Sun is unfinished, but it seems to be a habbit of sci fi and epic fantasy writers to make twelve issue sequels.
Oh no! I am definitely giving up Wolfe, because I already have to finish Short sun, read 'Latro in the mist' combo softcover (which contains first two novels) and perhaps re read New Sun , a five book cycle...
The price of the book is great , 15 bucks or so, but I spent so much already on things I didn't get to read, they think they can milk our fans more and more.
Whatever happened to good old trilogy rule, like Foundation original thrilogy from fifties (which was sequeled but later), Valis Thrilogy, Dune first three books?
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