Gene Wolfe on his new novel and his writing career

Gene Wolfe is sometimes described as the best science fiction writer in the world. For decades, his books have drawn rave reviews from critics and fans. A retired engineer (he worked on the machine that makes Pringles potato chips), Wolfe published his first novel, "Operation Ares," in 1970. "The Book of the New Sun," a series of four books set in Earth's far future, is his best-known work; the books came out in 1980 through 1983. He has published more than 40 full-length books and also additional short chapbooks. Born in New York City, he grew up in Texas and has lived for many years in Illinois. He currently resides in Peoria. He's won a number of awards, including the Nebula Award and World Fantasy Award. Wolfe, 83, is still active and still trying new things. Years ago, he veered away from science fiction to write three historical novels, "Soldier of the Mist" and two sequels, about a Roman soldier who served in the Persian army during Xerxes' invasion of Greece. His new novel, "A Borrowed Man," scheduled to be released in October, has a mystery novel element. Wolfe's longtime editor, David G. Hartwell, said he particularly enjoyed "A Borrowed Man" and says it would be a good place for readers who are new to Wolfe to get started. "Gene Wolfe is about the best writer there is in science fiction today, and 'The Borrowed Man,' which combines mystery and science fiction is a future USA where resurrected writers live in cloned bodies on library shelves, and are not legally human, is a constant surprise," Hartwell says. About Wolfe, the Science Fiction Encyclopedia says, "Though never the most popular nor the most influential author in the sf field, Wolfe remains quite possibly its most important, both for the intense literary achievement of his best work, and for the very considerable volume of work of the highest quality." I have read him for many years and was thrilled when he took my questions: Sandusky Register: My favorite of your works are the four "Book of the New Sun" novels, which I'm currently re-reading. Do you think those are the books you'll most be remembered for? Does it bother you to be particularly linked to those books, or are you flattered by it? Gene Wolfe: It certainly seems likely those will be the books I'm remembered for, assuming that I'm remembered at all. What bothers me is that a great many readers stop right there. I wish they'd go back and read "Peace," and go forward, too. Sandusky Register: Perhaps many readers do stop at "The Book of the New Sun" but how do you feel about the readers who read one Gene Wolfe book after another? I have a big Gene Wolfe cluster in my home (it's next to the R.A. Lafferty collection) and I have collections of Jack Vance, Richard Powers, etc. Do the loyal readers make your work a little more worthwhile? Gene Wolfe: Yes, of course. Also things like this: Back before you were born, I attended Texas A&M. In them far-off days, Colonel Boatner supervised the Corps of Cadets. Perhaps twenty years ago, I met his daughter; and she told me that though she had read scores of stories that were supposed to be frightening, "Houston, 1943" was the only story she had ever read that actually frightened her. One treasures such incidents. "Peace" is one of my favorites of your novels, and it's not science fiction or fantasy. I've seen you describe it as your favorite novel; do you still like it the best? Do many readers miss the fact that it's narrated by a ghost? Gene Wolfe: I can't honestly say that "Peace" is still my favorite, though it's still very high on my list. I very much doubt that most readers understand it – which is mostly my fault. Sandusky Register: If "Peace" is no longer your favorite of your novels, what has gone to the top of your list? Gene Wolfe: Right now "A Borrowed Man" tops my list. If you disagree, that's okay. Sandusky Register: Tell me a little bit about "A Borrowed Man." Gene Wolfe: "A Borrowed Man," centers on a reclone called Ern A. Smithe. He is a replication of a mystery writer of about a hundred and fifty years before. Our Ern A. Smith is the property of the Spice Grove Public library. He lives on a shelf in Fiction. It is, he tells us, rather like living in a small furnished apartment. A young woman, Colette Coldbrook, checks him out in the hope that he can solve the mystery of a mysterious book. Her late father, she says, seems to have considered it valuable since it was the only thing found in his safe after his death. The first assertion is true, the second not. Sandusky Register: I am particularly struck by how vivid the "New Sun" novels are; they seem as vivid and odd as a waking dream. Were you aiming for a more visceral impact than from your other novels? Gene Wolfe: No is the short answer. I was trying to create a fictional future unlike all the others. Not the plastic Buck Rogers future or the obvious reversion to savagery, but something wilder and so more probable. Sandusky Register: You are as well known for your short fiction as your novels. Did you enjoy picking the stories in "The Best of Gene Wolfe: A Definitive Retrospective"? (One of my favorites, "The Detective of Dreams," made the cut, but you left out "Suzanne Delage" and "Against the Lafayette Escadrille.") Was it hard to whittle down the list? Gene Wolfe: Let's see if I can disagree without being disagreeable. Most readers seem never to have read my short stories at all. When I was a boy, a great many people read short stories while only few read novels. That situation reversed years and years ago. Indeed, many readers want an endless series of novels, Book CXXVIII In The Rocketchair Throne Cycle. Throw Holmes over the falls and they will groan and gripe until you bring him back. No, picking stories for "The Best" was no fun at all. I had to leave out a dozen things I would have loved to put in. I did, and exactly hit the word limit set by my editor. Then Vaughne and Chris insisted on their favorite, certain that they could persuade David to stand still for it, as they did. And then the British publisher wanted to add his favorite, "Christmas Inn." Of course I agreed and he did, calling his book "The Very Best of Gene Wolfe." Now here's an odd sidelight. The trophy I got when the book won the World Fantasy Award carries only the British title. I can offer no explanation. ["Vaughne" is Vaughne Hansen, Wolfe's literary agent at the Virginia Kidd literary agency, and Chris Cohen is a senior agent at Kidd. "David" is David Hartwell, Wolfe's editor at Tor Books]. Sandusky Register: I loved the comment you made in "The Castle of the Otter" that readers are the master class and writers are their slaves. But do you still feel that way, 30 years after you wrote those words? Gene Wolfe: Yes, I do. Readers have the power that professors pretend they wield. Millions of words of professorial contempt have failed to kill Kipling. Praising Shaw to the skies has been vain. (Other interviews with authors also are available.)