I went in with no expectations. It has the same distance/holding the reader at arm's length as ''Peace" but it's very different. It feels like a gripping spy novel, though it's not really that. I am grateful Wolfe tied together loose ends and didn't leave me adrift at sea. There are still some mysteries, and it would probably benefit from a rereading, but I still feel satisfied. I enjoyed it. I think Elijah should read it. ( )

One of Wolfe's weirder ones. A contemporary fantasy, that begins by recounting the narrator's attempt to get to "the land across the mountains" (which is never named, but obviously in eastern Europe) so he can write the first ever travel guide to it. Once he arrives, he is thrust into a bizarre, Kafka-esqe world of unassailable bureaucracy, combined with all kinds of supernatural beings (vampires, ghosts, etc.). The narrative moves along from one odd episode to another, and makes for a more-or-less satisfactory story, although it isn't helped by the fact that the narrator isn't a very pleasant character.

However, I got the feeling that there was more going on here than was obvious at first. Some passages seemed strangely worded, but one thing that's consistent about Wolfe is that every word is carefully chosen. So, I can't say I loved this one, but I'm putting it on my "read-again" shelf, because I think (or at least hope) that there's a mystery to be teased out with a more careful going-over. ( )

Starting to think later/less fantastical Wolfe novels just aren't for me - for some reason they feel much harder to follow than the more fantastical ones. There are some great bits in here though - the parts that do step into the fantastical are truly hair-raising. ( )

Fantastic! ( )

Not Gene Wolfe's best work, but it is genuinely creepy, very mysterious, and very very good. Thoroughly enjoyable. ( )