The science fiction and fantasy community has lost a beloved icon. We are extremely sad to report that author and SFWA Grand Master Gene Wolfe passed away on Sunday, April 14, 2019 after his long battle with heart disease. He was 87.
Gene Wolfe was born in New York on May 7, 1931. He studied at Texas A&M for a few years before dropping out and fighting in the Korean War. After his return to the US he finished his degree at the University of Houston. He was an engineer, and worked as the editor of the professional journal Plant Engineering. He was also instrumental in inventing the machine that cooks Pringles potato chips. He pursued his own writing during his editorial tenure at Plant Engineering, but it took a few years before one of his books gained wider notice in the sci-fi community: the novella that eventually became The Fifth Head of Cerberus. The whole tale was finally released as three linked novellas in 1972, and this is the beautiful opening passage:
When I was a boy my brother and I had to go bed early whether we were sleepy or not. In summer particularly, bedtime often came before sunset; and because our dormitory was in the east wing of the house, with a broad window facing the central courtyard and thus looking west, the hard, pinkish light sometimes streamed in for hours while we lay staring out at my father’s crippled monkey perched on a flaking parapet, or telling stories, one bed to another, with soundless gestures.
Wolfe went on to write over 30 novels, with his best best-known work, The Book of The New Sun, spanning 1980-1983. The series is a tetralogy set in the Vancian Dying Earth subgenre, and follows the journey of Severian, a member of the Guild of Torturers, after he is exiled for the sin of mercy. Over the course of the series the books won British Science Fiction, World Fantasy, British Fantasy, Locus, Nebula, and Campbell Memorial Awards. In 1998 poll, the readers of Locus magazine considered the series as a single entry and ranked it third in a poll of fantasy novels published before 1990, following only The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
Wolfe’s fans include Michael Swanwick, Neil Gaiman, Patrick O’Leary, Ursula K. Le Guin, and many, many more, and he was praised for his exciting prose and depth of character. Asked by editor Damon Knight to name his biggest influences, he replied: “G. K. Chesterton and Marks’ [Standard] Handbook for [Mechanical] Engineers.” In 2015 The New Yorker published this profile of Wolfe by Peter Bebergal, in which the two discussed his decades-long career—it’s well worth a read.
Wolfe won the Edward E. Smith Memorial Award in 1989, the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 1996, and was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2012, The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named him its 29th SFWA Grand Master.
Wolfe is survived by his daughters Madeleine (Dan) Fellers, Mountain Home, Arkansas, Teri (Alan) Goulding, Woodridge, Illinois, son, Matthew Wolfe, Atlanta, Georgia and 3 granddaughters, Rebecca (Spizzirri), Elizabeth (Goulding) and Alison (Goulding).
He leaves behind an impressive body of work, but nonetheless, he will be dearly missed.
Damn. Requiscat in Pace.
Gene Wolfe was the sixth and final instructor at Clarion West 1990, and one of the most crucial reasons I signed on for those six weeks. Gene was a delightful teacher, supportive and incisive in his criticism and in his suggestions for improvement. Losing him lies heavy on our hearts, even as we celebrate the gifts this wonderful man gave us.
Oh, man, this makes me sad. I remember reading the New Sun books back in college and having the back of my head blown right off at just how good he was.
RIP. One of the greats.
I am deeply sorry to hear this. Peace to the Wolfe family and his many friends.
Knowing this day would come doesn’t make it easier. His was a monumental talent. He shall be missed.
A wonderful, kind man who will someday be recognized by the mainstream as the literary genius that he was, and my favorite author since discovering BotNS as a teenager. His humility and generosity shone through in everything I’ve seen about him. I had the privilege to meet him a few years ago; despite age and difficulty reading for more than 15 minutes at a time due to eye strain, he wrote me a personalized, several page letter afterward – I was blown away. RIP.
One of my inspirations. I am sad to see him go.
When I read The Book of the New Sun back in the early 80s, Wolfe was a revelation. It was so new, innovative, and breathtakingly beautiful it made quite an impression on this writer. At last, I could see what could be done and, perhaps more to the point how it should be done.
How Wolfe achieved such universal critical acclaim while the market tended to ignore him in favor of relentless Ender stories of trashy Tolkien rip-offs is beyond me
Gene, at least you are with Rosemary now. RIP.
The greatest of all time.
I met Gene at several conventions. He was a splendid person as well as a brilliant writer. I happen to think he was one of the best writers in the English language, period, and the fact that he chose to write in our genre was our extreme good fortune. I’m sorry to see him go, but 87 is a good run. He’s one of the folks where all I can say is “We should all live so long and accomplish half of what he did.” RIP, Gene.
@9 – From what I understand, the market did not ignore Gene Wolfe. This was a point his editor David Hartwell would emphasize: books by Gene Wolfe sold well; and some of them, like the Wizard Knight duology, sold very well indeed. And I vaguely recall reading somewhere that the Book of the New Sun sold hundreds of thousands of copies in the series’s initial run.
It appeals to our sense of poetic injustice that writers of beautiful prose must necessarily be unread and unappreciated and sell few copies. But that was not the case with Gene Wolfe.
It was an honor to meet him and to correspond with him. One of the greatest writers of the past several decades.
This is a genuine blow. He really raised the bar and forced us to become better readers.
I met him, interviewed him and wrote a feature story about him for the local newspaper. He was a cool guy and a great writer. He will be missed.
Wise, kind man, fascinating, re-readable author.
I’ve always said that if I was shipwrecked on a deserted island and had to choose only one piece of fiction to have it would be the omnibus of The Book of the New Sun.
He was a Master in a world of apprentices. Gene Wolfe is now with the Conciliator.
Gene was always friendly to his fans at the Conventions. One of the authors that the fans could relate to easily because he was so approachable.
To Gene: You will be missed.
To Gene’s Family: My Condolences. May you always remember that he was loved by many and will be missed by all of us.
Rick
I never heard of this guy.Thanks for the small but wonder ful excerpt. I have been limiting myself to THE LOVECRAFT types and shunned more modern offerings.
HEARTBROKEN and grieving.
Gene Wolfe was one of the greatest writers of our time–not just SF genre, but period.
May his soul and spirit soar.
A great writer is gone but his work remains. Honor his memory and read.
Gene Wolfe is my all-time favorite author, and I consider him to be one of the greatest writers ever in the genre. My condolences to his family and friends.
Everything Gene touched turned to gold. In the Book of the New Sun, he took Vancing fantasy and made it sing a new song. But he did the same all around: books based on Greek myth were remade in the Soldier series, Lovecraftian horror in An Evil Guest, time travel in Free Live Free and Pirate Freedom, and on and on. May he be at peace with his Lord.
I’m fortunate to have an autographed copy of Free Live Free (one of my favorites). Wolfe could write in any style he wanted and write rings around lesser authors. There is always more going on beneath the surface than you suspect. He left behind an amazing body of work, some of which I have the fortune not to have read yet. I’m looking forward to remedying that situation soon!
“These are for your ma. Know what they are? Pearls.” He held up the string for me to admire by candlelight. “Matched, every one. And a little silver catch with diamonds in it at the back.” I nodded, impressed, having already been made aware by my mother of the importance of her jewelry box and the wisdom of leaving this sacred treasury strictly alone. “You think these here are bright?” my grandfather said. “You wait till she sees them and look at her eyes… Now you go up to bed.”
An as if by magic—and it may have been magic, for I believe America is the land of magic, and that we, we now past Americans, were once the magical people of it, waiting now to stand to some unguessable generation of the future as the nameless pre-Mycenaean tribes did to the Greeks, ready, at a word, each of us now, to flit piping through groves ungrown, our women ready to haunt as lamioe the rose-red ruins of Chicago and Indianapolis when they are little more than earthen mounds, when the heads of the trees are higher than the hundred-and-twenty-fifth floor—it seemed to me that I found myself in bed again, the old house swaying in silence as though it were moored to the universe by only the thread of smoke from the stove.
–PEACE by Gene Wolfe
RIP Gene Wolfe. His work changed my life from the moment I came across the Timescape edition of The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories 30+ years ago. Was surprised to see him trending nationally on Twitter, happy to see him appreciated, even if for this reason.
Gene Wolfe wrote the only books I have bothered to read more then once. And every time I go back to his reading I learn more. Truly an artist.
The New Sun and Long Sun series have been some of the most difficult but rewarding series I have ever heard. Every time I think of them, I marvel at their creation. He will be missed.
“That you and I … if we are recalled at all, will eventually be thought of as contemporaries of Xenophon and Mark Twain. That this is a small world at the edge of its galaxy, tumbling through the night, a provincial and rural backwater.”
Gene Wolfe, decades ago. This was just a contributor’s note he wrote for an anthology (probably Damon Knight’s ORBIT) where he placed one of his early great stories (probably “Alien Stones”). I happened to copy it out because it struck me so.
The New Sun books gave me one of the most magical reading experiences of my life. We will miss you, Mr. Wolfe…
Wolfe’s work is so important to me creatively, as a reader, and as a human being that I cannot imagine a world without him in it. His novels have touched me so deeply and personally, made me think so deeply, and have so fundamentally challenged me to be a better, more moral human being, that I can honestly say that I wouldn’t be the man I am without Wolfe. I never met him, but I’m weeping for his passing. I hope that whoever monitors these comments will pass them on to his family.
At his best, simply the best that F/SF has ever produced bar none.
He had an amazing influence on me. The several Sun series can be read many times, and something new will resonate each time. This is not to mention how as the narrative progresses, the meanings of each work and preceding ones are changed, revealing new facets.
PS. If you loved Wolfe, you’ll probably also love John Crowley!
A remarkable man. I corresponded with him a few times many years ago, after I somehow managed to put my Claw of the Conciliator into the washing machine when doing laundry. He was generous and kind.
Requiescat in pace. He may have been inspired by Chesterton, but when it comes to being an author of fiction, I suspect he will be remembered before Chesterton.
I have been a constant and joyful reader of Wolfe’s work, but never an accomplished one. I do not figure out much without help. But he has always seemed to me a writer of the most realistic fiction I know: one that acknowledges spiritual thrones and dominions, the power of words and symbols (and their hard, defining edges), and just how hard life is to understand. He wrote difficult works that one you could read and enjoy even when you did not fully understand, confident there was something below the ground floor holding it up. I know no literature more lifelike in that respect.
Wolfe’s books were always on our family’s shelves growing up, and it was wonderful to grow into them and to share them with others. He once showed me great kindness in sending me some books in response to my father sharing a middle school essay of mine with him (!). That always stuck with me. I was grateful to be there when he entered the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame and wander the halls of the marvelous Place de la Musique among all the names I had seen attached to his works.
As my mother said, he once wrote about the Valfather lending a man his dog. Now the Lord has called his Wolfe home. We were grateful to have him. Requiescat in pace.
One of the greatest writers ever produced by mankind. Thank You for many hours of joy and wisdom, for the light you brought into our lives! Requiscat in Pace, Grand Master.
I have been a constant and joyful reader of Wolfe’s work, but never an accomplished one. I do not figure out much without help. But he has always seemed to me a writer of the most realistic fiction I know: one that acknowledges spiritual thrones and dominions, the power of words and symbols (and their hard, defining edges), and just how hard life is to understand. He wrote difficult works that one you could read and enjoy even when you did not fully understand, confident there was something below the ground floor holding it up. I know no literature more lifelike in that respect.
Wolfe’s work invites rereading, and reading other works that he alludes to… reading Wolfe will make you an accomplished reader, which is the principle joy of reading his works. Have fun, be confident, nobody is keeping score…
I used to work for Gene Wolfe at Technical Publishing Company in the 70s; he was a great engineer and a great author. in
I read the first four books of The New Sun Thanksgiving vacation of 1987. I read the last around Christmas of 1998. I was pleased to see him speak at Balticon twice and tickled at the one in 2009, when he looked at me and said “I’m not speaking until that guy back in the corner smiles.” I cracked up.
He didn’t write; he ENGINEERED. Meticulously. He was a craftsman, not a mere artist.
If you’ve never read him, go find his short story “The Packerhaus Method”, which is as concentrated a distillation of his genius as may be found. Then “How the Whip Came Back”, a satire which has evolved into prophecy.
Our Melville? No, our Shakespeare.
I cannot remember the last time I read such moving testimonials about anyone. I was not familiar with Gene Wolf before reading this article and these comments, but they brought me to tears. I will have one of his books before sun down.
I read The Book of the New Sun over the course of about a week, sitting in the floor of my house in graduate school. I felt suspended in space and time, the world unable to move forward until I got to the end. When I did, it felt like I had lost something, that there was a moment in time that would never come back. It hung there in the sunlight, slowly turning, spinning off rainbows, and then gradually faded into memory.
Such a dream.
The Fifth Head of Cerberus was one of the books that reprogrammed my mind in my personal Golden Age. It’s hard to believe there won’t be any more: I will read A Borrowed Man and remember.
Thank you, Gene, for all the wonderful books and stories. I have many favorite F/SF writers, but you are the first and the foremost. Please, do write more in that better place. It will be another good reason to strive and deserve it.
Just learned today, by noticing a -2019 in a search result … I’ll just leave two short phrases in Gene Wolfe’s honor.
His novella Seven American Nights jumped out of the pages to punch me hard, some thirty years ago. I became a customer, of course.
The Soldier of the Mist books are perhaps my favorites, what with the protagonist without long term memory, but on speaking terms with the gods, wandering around the Mediterranean of Classical Greece times.
RIP Mr Wolfe, great author and also how prescient – in the 1988 interview with Larry McCaffery in which he said “the greatest single disaster to yet hit this planet has come from technology – the invention of plastics.” He could see the future 31 years ago!
I still remember the day that I picked up the paperback copy of the shadow of the torturer in November 1981. I became a fan of both fantasy and g.w. on that day. Thank you g.w.