The Knight by Gene Wolfe
a review by Thunderdude
Somehow I pulled myself away from
comic books and movies to enjoy a good fantasy novel. "The Knight", by Gene
Wolfe is part one of the two part series "The Wizard Knight". Part two, "The
Wizard" comes out next year.
"The Knight" follows the adventures of young man who somehow wanders from our
world to a place where seven different realities exist vertically. We don't
learn the young man's real earth name but he calls himself Able. The story is
told like a very long letter to his brother, Ben. The beginning of the book even
includes a "cast of characters" so to speak that give a one sentence description
of the character. Able becomes immersed
in this medieval type world and wishes to become a Knight.
Along the way Able meets a variety of fun characters, with a handful joining him
on his adventures. He falls in a love with a beautiful Aelf-maiden named Disiri,
whom he considers his Queen of the Moss Aelf. Through her love and enchantments
Able is transformed into a big strong man
about ten years older. All the while he is still mentally a young man of what
I'm guessing is 14 or 15 years old. Able claims himself to be a knight
serving the Aelf-maiden that he has fallen for. She sends him off to find his
way while he hopes to someday take her in his arms again. Able would do anything
for his Aelf-maiden Disiri.
Able does well for himself through his innovation and can do attitude when
meeting others. He vows to find a particular sword that he will get from a
dragon and not use another until he finds it. He relies on his wits, bow and
arrows made of a special wood and enchanted string that talk to him in his
dreams. He also buys a mace that sort of looks like a sword but gets the job
done nicely until he can find that special blade.
Able gains respect quickly through most that he meets, and usually beats on the
ones that don't respect him. He meets a lot of young possible love interests
that he turns away from since he's so heavily in love with Disiri. The
characters he meets are well described and interesting. The story is a fun read
in itself.
The way the book is written in it's letter form can be odd at times how Able
describes his tale to his brother. We learn about things that haven't happened
yet that I'm guessing will happen when "The Wizard" comes out next year. It can
sometimes make for a little head scratching by the
leader, but it's a neat difference. One notable example is in the beginning how
he writes how happy he was to see his brother Ben on the battlefield,
which doesn't happen at any time in this book. The list of people Able meets
that's supposed to make the story easier for his brother Ben to understand can
be confusing and revealing at the same time. I often found myself peeking back
at the beginning descriptions whenever a new name came up.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and eagerly await the second part "The Wizard"
next year. I give this novel a solid A.