The second book in Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun continues the story of Patera Silk. Embroiled in intrigues with powerful people to save his temple, his manteion, he undertakes a trip to the town of Limna, with its lake, in search of funds to pay off a debt. But he uncovers more than he bargained for. He also finds himself the centre of intrigue as he is suddenly, and through no action of his own, proclaimed Caldé by a faction of citizens of his home city, Viron. This may not be a Good Thing.

This book veers from discussion to action and back again. Silk discovers things about his world that he never expected; we know - because the publisher has told us from the outset - that he is aboard a multi-generation starship, but although the citizens of the Whorl are aware that their world has unusual features, and that high technology is available to some, the knowledge that they are on board a starship is not in general circulation. So when Silk is shown some of the workings of the ship, he interprets them as high technology, but is unable to make the conceptual leap to understanding his true position. And why should he? This is outside his experience.

We see wonders: the gods of the Whorl appear to be able to temporarily transfer their consciousness to other bodies; and we are given a clue that this is down to a technological process, as we also see humans who can do this. We get more information about the "chems" - organic robots - who co-exist with humans in the Whorl. We are told more about the gods of the Whorl, and there is a clue about their significance.

Throughout, Patera Silk retains as much of his dignity and virtue as he can, though there is a sense that he is being caught up in a swirl of events that he cannot control. We see other characters and follow some of their stories. Overall, this is an encouraging volume that leads the reader further into the world of the Long Sun and gives us more puzzles to work out. ( )

Silk goes deeper into the Whorl. This is the part in the series where you realize it's got an underlying detective story going on, in addition to about a hundred other hidden mechanisms. ( )

If Nightside the Long Sun (here's my review) was about a moral dilemma, Lake of the Long Sun is a coming-of-age for Patera Silk. Or perhaps he's just getting better at matching the world in his head to that outside his skull.

Memory is on a par with religion and politics as a theme, as the politics of Viron are brought more to the forefront. "Silk for Calde" is the poem on the walls of the Whorl, and the good Patera is considered a bit of a rabble-rouser. While his mission to sane his manteion recedes to the background for a while (as survival takes precedence for a while), Silk's resolve is as strong as before.

What makes this more than just an adventure in church politics is the sophistication Silk is gaining with nearly every chapter. And what makes this admirable is that only a few days have passed in the first two books combined.

Better even than Nightside was, Lake of the Long Sun is possibly my favorite volume of the series so far. And I have two more to go! ( )

If Nightside The Long Sun was about the protagonist’s self discovery, this second book in the series is about Patera Silk slowly discovering the true nature of his world.

The 4 volumes of The Book Of The Long Sun are set on a multigenerational starship – a fact that Tor reveals on the back cover, but one that is only revealed to the reader in this second book. It’s understandable that Tor did so, as The Long Sun is extremely hard to market: it’s an odd book: a lot more accessible than Wolfe’s magnum opus The Book Of The New Sun, but less lush, and a lot less compelling – at first sight maybe even boring. Tor might have increased its sales, spaceships sell, but the spoiler doesn’t do the reader any service: it takes away part of the joy of discovery, and it sets wrong expectations. Multigenerational starship yes, but no space opera or high tech scifi of whatever ilk.

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http://speculiction.blogspot.com/2013/09/review-of-book-of-long-sun-by-gene-wolf... ( )