27:
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of the Sun Street
Manteion, arguably the poorest manteion in Viron. Augurs, in the religion of Silk's city, Viron, sacrifice animals to the gods, and examine the entrails of these sacrifices to seek knowledge about the future of the person who has provided the sacrifice, and the future of the augur.
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Auk is introduced as a friend of
Maytera Mint's from the manteion who needs spiritual guidance. When Silk speaks with him, he discovers that Auk is a criminal and involved with the prostitute Chenille. Auk counsels Silk on how to break into Blood's mansion. Later, Auk travels in the tunnels under
460:
His theophanies continue, and Patera Silk eventually develops a large following because of his continued contact with the gods of Viron. He becomes a popular hero, and with the help of a spy named Doctor Crane, he is elevated to the political position of Caldé, the high administrator of Viron. It
498:
who possesses a self-aware, sentient mind. Maytera Marble was initially designed to be a maid, but as her life progressed she found a more religious calling and became one of the Sibyls at Patera Silk's Sun Street
Manteion. Being over three hundred years old, certain body parts of hers have been
453:
He believes himself to be "enlightened" by a minor deity known as the
Outsider, who charges Silk to save his manteion, which has been sold to the crime lord Blood for tax reasons. His quest to save the manteion starts him on a journey into Viron's underworld. In the first book in the tetralogy,
505:
Maytera Marble eventually claims that her real name is
Molybdenum, with the short nickname Moly, so that she can marry the soldier Hammerstone and begin constructing a daughter. Evidently she was originally a maid at the manteion and the death of a sibyl necessitated that she take vows. Patera
439:
The names of people from Silk's home city of Viron follow rigid conventions. Male humans are named after an animal or animal product: 'Blood,' 'Musk,' 'Quetzal,' etc. Female humans are named after a plant or plant product: 'Chenille,' 'Orchid,' 'Hyacinth,' etc. Androids (known in the book as
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replaced and others have worn away. At the beginning of the tetralogy, her functions have so decayed that she can no longer remember her precise age. Marble is Silk's main confidante at the manteion, Maytera Rose being too harsh for him and
Maytera Mint initially too shy.
602:
Mucor: a strange girl who has little interaction with other humans, but who has an amazing ability - she can remotely project her consciousness into other people, and speak with their voices, and gain information from them, while inhabiting them. She is mentally ill and
530:
appears and proclaims Mint to be her "sword" in the revolution against the
Ayuntamiento. Leading a band of dissatisfied citizens, she becomes General Mint in Silk's army, facing off against the City Guard and eventually Viron's force of chem "soldiers."
544:
enters Auk's mind and fixes the damage to his brain, making Auk a prophet of
Tartaros in the process. Tartaros guides Auk out of the tunnels and eventually instructs him in guiding people to leave the whorl. When Patera Silk and his retinue travel to
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Quetzal releases her from her service so that she can be wed to
Corporal Hammerstone. However, as predicted by Silk, she later reveals that her name is in fact Maggie, or Magnesia, and she lied about being Moly so that Hammerstone would marry her.
613:
Patera
Quetzal: the leader of Silk's religion in the city of Viron. There are hints throughout the books that he is not human, but this isn't known to the other characters until he dies, in the last book, and it is revealed that he is an
461:
is later discovered that Patera Silk is the rightful heir to this position, having been secretly named successor by the previous Caldé, Tussah (Silk's adoptive father), before he was assassinated by the oligarchical councilors of the
188:(neighborhood church and school) from destruction by a ruthless crime lord. As he learns more about his world, he begins to question his beliefs and to revere the supposedly minor god known as The Outsider who has enlightened him.
514:
Maytera Mint is one of the sibyls of the Sun Street manteion. Initially rather shy, her concern starts the relationship between Patera Silk and the sneak-thief Auk. She is eventually inhabited by a piece of the deity
472:, where the whorl's main computer is housed. During this trip he goes through a brief suicidal crisis, and comes to final conclusions about the moral doubts that he possessed during the earlier parts of the series.
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In the U.S., both the first two books when available in 1994 and the last two in 1997 were bound together by a science fiction book club ("GuildAmerica Books / SFBC" in ISFDB). There is a two-volume
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628:. Oreb is intelligent, and can talk, although he can only make two-syllable sentences (e.g. "No cut!", "Bad cat!") which usually need interpretation. Oreb was originally purchased by Silk as an
607:, partly due to a botched brain surgery attempting to remove her power. Like Chenille, she was also a frozen embryo chosen for special genetic traits (i.e. this ability to possess others).
502:
Later in the series she reclaims several prosthetic parts from the dead Sibyl Maytera Rose, which causes her to obtain some of Rose's memories, resulting in an identity crisis of sorts.
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At the funeral sacrifice for Maytera Rose, Maytera Mint presides over the sacrifices because Patera Silk has not yet returned from being captured by the Ayuntamiento. There is a
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Horn: a teenage student at the Sun Street manteion who is close to Silk, he appears only briefly in the books. At the end, he and his wife, Nettle, are said to be the authors.
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series that Wolfe inaugurated in 1980, and the Internet Science Fiction Database catalogs them both as sub-series of the "Solar Cycle", along with other writings.
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edition of the whole since November 2000 (Orb Books imprint, Tom Doherty). The Orb editions run 543 and 718 pages and ISFDB lists no single-volume edition.
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519:, goddess of love. Kypris does not completely possess Maytera Mint, and the incomplete personality transfer gives Maytera Mint a newfound assertiveness.
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mockups of the first volume were printed with that title. In the defense at the end of the final volume, the author refers to it alternately as
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Chenille: a prostitute, and friend of Auk. She is susceptible to possession by the gods. There are strong suggestions that she was born from a
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books won two firsts and two seconds as Fantasy novels). The first and third volumes were among six finalists for annual
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as a whole for annual literary awards. It was one of five finalists for the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award in 1997.
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but fell sick and was later kept as a pet. He is usually with Silk, but can and does leave at times.
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Hyacinth: a beautiful courtesan/prostitute, first seen by Silk when he invades Blood's mansion.
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Silk is an allegorical character, as is typical for Wolfe's work. He is often associated with
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Maytera Marble is a chemical citizen of Viron, or a "chem." This means that she is a
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Silk eventually marries the ex-prostitute Hyacinth and journeys with Auk to the city
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was published in four volumes, almost simultaneously in the U.S. (Tor Books imprint,
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Viron with Chenille, seeking Silk, and suffers a wound to the head. The god
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How I Lost the Second World War and Helped Turn Back the German Invasion
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Front cover of the first half or first two books in one volume (
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The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories
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Maytera Rose: one of the sibyls of the Sun Street manteion.
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considered the volumes separately for "Best Novel" awards.
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editions (see table) were almost 1500 pages long in sum.
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The Locus Index to SF Awards: Index to Literary Nominees
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Oreb: a large black bird, of the kind known as a night
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Blood: the crime lord who purchases Silk's manteion.
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Patera Silk begins the tetralogy as the 23-year-old
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721:. The Mythopoeic Society. Retrieved 2012-04-23.
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842:Internet Speculative Fiction Database
697:Internet Speculative Fiction Database
196:The working title for the series was
127:. It is set in the same universe as
16:Science fantasy novels by Gene Wolfe
790:"1995 Award Winners & Nominees"
766:"1993 Award Winners & Nominees"
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323:Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel
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115:(1993–1996) is a series of four
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1445:Fiction about generation ships
1389:A Walking Tour of the Shambles
699:(ISFDB). Retrieved 2012-04-23.
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400:The Book of the Long Sun
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917:The Sword of the Lictor
891:The Book of the New Sun
755:. Retrieved 2012-04-23.
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130:The Book of the New Sun
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1335:The Best of Gene Wolfe
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455:Nightside the Long Sun
428:, books 3 and 4
381:Litany of the Long Sun
260:Nightside the Long Sun
233:Hodder & Stoughton
225:Tom Doherty Associates
210:Starcrosser's Landfall
198:Starcrosser's Landfall
140:story is continued in
1255:The Wolfe Archipelago
1132:The Devil in a Forest
972:Caldé of the Long Sun
307:Caldé of the Long Sun
98:Book of the Short Sun
72:1993–1996 (four vols)
1460:Literary tetralogies
1450:Novels by Gene Wolfe
1382:A Cabin on the Coast
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964:Lake of the Long Sun
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248:Title, Imprint, Date
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82:Book of the New Sun
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1434:Categories
1196:Home Fires
1156:Castleview
1089:The Wizard
1081:The Knight
882:Gene Wolfe
838:Gene Wolfe
799:2009-07-06
775:2009-07-06
673:References
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125:Gene Wolfe
101:sub-series
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1271:Bibliomen
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547:Mainframe
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1034:series
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