Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

Gene Wolfe, author of dozens of SF/F novel, probably best know for The Book of the New Sun, and SFWA Grand Master, has passed away.

Author and Grand Master Gene Wolfe, 1931-2019

Thank you Mr. Wolfe for all your hard work, writing and editing. You always gave high praise to your editor, but you have to take credit for the nonsense coming out of your brain that you molded and crafted into high art. You were one of our finest purveyors of modern magical realism. Your talent was making the unreal believable, by grounding it in character and in the mundane. The internal dialogue of your characters is pure entertainment. I love all the storyteller characters in your stories. There are multiple levels of storytelling going on, and sometimes something somebody read becomes important later. And what those characters encountered could be terrible or transcendent, and typically transformative, and fantastic. Gene, your monsters are scary. like the notules, alien predators that look like shadows, who suck all the heat out of a person. But there are angels in your work as well, and powers from above the stage. You do always write a satisfying ending...Gene you will be missed.

Oh no! Gene Wolfe was one of the all-time greats. I have spent so much of my life immersed in his books. He will be missed!

My Gene Wolfe anecdote. This was told to me by him, so it must be well known. In his day job he worked in refrigeration research. Because of the weight of the machinery his lab was in the basement, and because of the considerable humidity generated by it his assistants tended to wear as little as possible. At the period of his story Wolfe's lab assistant was six foot tall and husky. Wolfe himself was bald and wore a lab coat. They were busy in the lab doing whatever it was, when a group of VIPs came down into the basement to tour the facility. He opened the door, and a cloud of cold white condensation rolled out. In the middle of this roiling cloud stood Wolfe, in the white coat and bald head, and behind him his shirtless lab assistant loomed like a cliff. Immediately Wolfe cried, "Wait, Igor. There are people about!" And he closed the door.

I've only read his New Sun books, which was a surreal experience. The imagination required to create such a world impressed me to no end.

And as an engineer myself, I must admit I was also impressed by the fact that he was involved in designing the machine that makes Pringles.

Loved that anecdote Brenda!

RIP Gene Wolfe.