In Green's Jungles (Book of the Short Sun, Book 2) (Book of the Short Sun, 2)

IN GREEN'S JUNGLES is the second volume of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Short Sun, which is (to put it briefly) the story of Horn's return to the Whorl to bring Silk to Blue.The narrator's identity is again a mystery. He believes himself to be Horn, but remembers things falsely and is constantly identified as Silk. Having escaped from Gaon, where the throne was forced upon him in virtual imprisonment, the narrator comes to the town of Blanko, whose citizens believe him a magician and seek his council in their war. Thus, he is drawn into yet another bloody conflict, underscoring the need of Silk on Blue, in order to save its colonists from their fighting (and their original sin).Unlike ON BLUE'S WATERS, where the narrator reflected happily on the first leg of his voyage to the Long Sun Whorl, Horn's remembrances here, of terrifying Green, are told shakily. Horn's death on Green, spoken of in the first book, is but the last of a series of crushing experiences on that dangerous whorl, and Horn cannot face them outright.Other surprises await the reader. Our narrator discovers that he can astrally project himself to other worlds in his dreams. This sort of mysticism evokes fond memories of THE URTH OF THE NEW SUN. And in a tear-inducingly beautiful passage, Wolfe's Christian allusions manifest themselves with an inadvertent Eucharist, which may be the most moving thing Wolfe has ever written.More readable then ON BLUE'S WATERS due to its gripping plot machinations and surprising developments, IN GREEN'S JUNGLES continues the satisfying trend of the Book of the Short Sun.

There is simply too much contained in this book to even begin to sum it up here. Wolfe fans will delight in this tale, bringing them one magnificent step closer to the end of the Solar Cycle. Wolfe takes us on quite a journey here. We travel to the world of Green, help stage a war on Blue, and even travel back to Nessus! Bully! Read this as soon as you can!

The story of Patera Horn continues, purportedly covering his experiences on the world of Green. Reality is that precious little of the book actually occurs on Green. Much of which that does is conveyed as parable and second-hand story telling. The bulk of the book deals with Horn on Blue and his quest for Patera Silk. The deeper relationship between Horn and Silk is expanded upon, as well as the role the inhumi play in these worlds. Implied vampire sex ensues.In true Gene Wolfe fashion, this book is written across multiple timelines, often with confusing and/or unclear breaks, and with a very unreliable narrator. This is by design, and it is up the reader to figure out what is going on.

Though written as told by Horn, His jumping around from place to place and even into different bodies leaves the reader guessing about now as well as what happens in the future. Many don't care for this books style, get over it, you'll be hard pressed to find better stories.

His stories are often about struggle against poverty, adversity, and small scale wars between tribes of colonists. The line between science and supernatural is very blurry. His prose is beautiful, descriptive and ornate.The multiple story lines overlap out of sequence so the reader can easily become lost. Only after soldiering on through the story, it all comes together. I actually read the series twice, I enjoyed it so much.

This book arrived in excellent condition, as described, and I love the series.

" Which of these words best describes the mood? Hopeful, Dark, Nostalgic, Light-hearted, Suspenseful, Thoughtful?"All of the above.

I am a huge Gene Wolfe fan, so despite the one star review let me state categorically this is not a negative review of his writing at all, as I have thoroughly enjoyed everyone of his written works. Rather, this review is about Amazon's deplorable practice of printing books 'On-Demand' and then trying to pass them off as the original from the publisher. If you look over this page you will not see any evidence that this book is unavailable or out of print - in fact it is currently listed as 'in-stock' - however, what you will be getting if you order it is a bootleg copy produced by amazon. The copy I received in no way matches the copy of the first book of the series I had from the publisher. Shame on you Amazon!

Excellent continuation of the Solar Cycle…

Love Gene Wolf. As advertised and delivered on time!

A very good read.