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Innocents Aboard: New Fantasy Stories
Gene Wolfe may be the single best writer in fantasy and SF of his generation. From The Book of the Long Sun to The Book of the New Sun series, to his impressive short fiction oeuvre.
Innocents Aboard gathers fantasy and horror stories from the last decade that have never before been in a Wolfe collection. Highlights from the twenty-two stories include "The Tree is my Hat," adventure and horror in the South Seas, "The Night Chough," a Long Sun story, "The Walking Sticks," a darkly humorous tale of a supernatural inheritance, and "Houston, 1943," lurid adventures in a dream that has no end. This is fantastic fiction at its best.
Innocents Aboard gathers fantasy and horror stories from the last decade that have never before been in a Wolfe collection. Highlights from the twenty-two stories include "The Tree is my Hat," adventure and horror in the South Seas, "The Night Chough," a Long Sun story, "The Walking Sticks," a darkly humorous tale of a supernatural inheritance, and "Houston, 1943," lurid adventures in a dream that has no end. This is fantastic fiction at its best.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
28 people are currently reading
500 people want to read
About the author
Gene Wolfe
506 books3,577 followersGene Wolfe was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He was noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith, to which he converted after marrying a Catholic. He was a prolific short story writer and a novelist, and has won many awards in the field.
The Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award is given by SFWA for ‘lifetime achievement in science fiction and/or fantasy.’ Wolfe joins the Grand Master ranks alongside such legends as Connie Willis, Michael Moorcock, Anne McCaffrey, Robert Silverberg, Ursula K. Le Guin, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury and Joe Haldeman. The award will be presented at the 48th Annual Nebula Awards Weekend in San Jose, CA, May 16-19, 2013.
While attending Texas A&M University Wolfe published his first speculative fiction in The Commentator, a student literary journal. Wolfe dropped out during his junior year, and was drafted to fight in the Korean War. After returning to the United States he earned a degree from the University of Houston and became an industrial engineer. He edited the journal Plant Engineering for many years before retiring to write full-time, but his most famous professional engineering achievement is a contribution to the machine used to make Pringles potato crisps. He lived in Barrington, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.
A frequent Hugo nominee without a win, Wolfe has nevertheless picked up several Nebula and Locus Awards, among others, including the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement and the 2012 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award. He is also a member of the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/genewolfe
The Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award is given by SFWA for ‘lifetime achievement in science fiction and/or fantasy.’ Wolfe joins the Grand Master ranks alongside such legends as Connie Willis, Michael Moorcock, Anne McCaffrey, Robert Silverberg, Ursula K. Le Guin, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury and Joe Haldeman. The award will be presented at the 48th Annual Nebula Awards Weekend in San Jose, CA, May 16-19, 2013.
While attending Texas A&M University Wolfe published his first speculative fiction in The Commentator, a student literary journal. Wolfe dropped out during his junior year, and was drafted to fight in the Korean War. After returning to the United States he earned a degree from the University of Houston and became an industrial engineer. He edited the journal Plant Engineering for many years before retiring to write full-time, but his most famous professional engineering achievement is a contribution to the machine used to make Pringles potato crisps. He lived in Barrington, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.
A frequent Hugo nominee without a win, Wolfe has nevertheless picked up several Nebula and Locus Awards, among others, including the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement and the 2012 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award. He is also a member of the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/genewolfe
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December 29, 2019
Innocents Aboard is the first short story collection by Wolfe I've read. It is a diverse helping of mind-altering tales. Ranging from Melville satire to Egyptian myth and Chinese folktale, a plethora of ghost stories and atypical Arthurian fantasy, with a few Biblical allegories thrown in. Story after story, I was constantly surprised, and typically scribbling with a pencil in the margins. The intrigue is all-consuming and the mystique is alive and well.
If you are familiar with his novels you might recognize some settings, but these 22 stories, as far as I can tell, manage to stand on their own. At the heart of each is a deep mystery, and though we are given many hints, we are often left with a partial picture of events. Only Wolfe could turn a tale about a person who steals underwear into cosmic horror. There are also moments of magical realism and adventure to be found. In short, I never knew what to expect.
Constellation origin stories, paganism, cannibalism, astral projection, time travel, bullying, witches, talking animals - you name it, Gene Wolfe has probably used it in one of his stories. But these strange occurrences are never the central focus of the storytelling. Wolfe decides instead to pursue character studies and wold-building through shifts in tone and perspective which are both jarring and revealing. They lend themselves well to re-reading and multiple interpretations in the author's typical fashion.
If you read them for surface level stories alone, you'd be missing half the content. Nearly all of them operate with something like an undertext and overtext. The subtext is just as important as the Ur-text. That is to say, the travails of the protagonist are often all symbolic in nature. While entertaining, it is occasionally hard to describe why they do what they do unless greater forces beyond their control are subtly at work.
I'm no Wolfe expert (is anyone?) but I am quickly becoming a raving enthusiast.
If you are familiar with his novels you might recognize some settings, but these 22 stories, as far as I can tell, manage to stand on their own. At the heart of each is a deep mystery, and though we are given many hints, we are often left with a partial picture of events. Only Wolfe could turn a tale about a person who steals underwear into cosmic horror. There are also moments of magical realism and adventure to be found. In short, I never knew what to expect.
Constellation origin stories, paganism, cannibalism, astral projection, time travel, bullying, witches, talking animals - you name it, Gene Wolfe has probably used it in one of his stories. But these strange occurrences are never the central focus of the storytelling. Wolfe decides instead to pursue character studies and wold-building through shifts in tone and perspective which are both jarring and revealing. They lend themselves well to re-reading and multiple interpretations in the author's typical fashion.
If you read them for surface level stories alone, you'd be missing half the content. Nearly all of them operate with something like an undertext and overtext. The subtext is just as important as the Ur-text. That is to say, the travails of the protagonist are often all symbolic in nature. While entertaining, it is occasionally hard to describe why they do what they do unless greater forces beyond their control are subtly at work.
I'm no Wolfe expert (is anyone?) but I am quickly becoming a raving enthusiast.
February 13, 2019
Another superb collection of short stories from Gene Wolfe. This one focuses on fantasy and horror. I loved it from start to finish, but it's not the best introduction to Wolfe's short fiction. For that, I recommend Wolfe's collection, The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories and Other Stories. For the experienced Wolfe reader, however, there's a lot to love in this collection.
Here are my notes on the individual stories:
"The Tree Is My Hat" is in the same "universe" as Wolfe's novel, An Evil Guest, and his chapbook, Christmas Inn. Not my favorite story, but it fits in nicely with those other two stories while standing on its own.
"The Old Woman Whose Rolling Pin Is the Sun" is Wolfe at his best. This story is perhaps best described as alternate mythology. It's a fable told by an old man to his granddaughter. It has just the right amount of sentiment and symbolism, which warmed my heart and tickled my fancy.
"The Friendship Light" is a tale of horror and well done. Creepy and effective.
"Slow Children at Play" is a clever inversion of the tale of the Wise Men and the Nativity. This time the birth that is foretold is the Antichrist's, I think. Accompanied by a couple fallen angels who have been kicked out of Hell for not being evil enough, the not-so-wise guy gets to the birth too soon and is turned back by Lucifer. Most of this isn't obvious on first reading, and that illustrates in my mind what makes Wolfe so great. His best writing works on multiple levels. Most authors just try to tell an entertaining story, but Wolfe aspires to something greater. I think he often achieves that greatness.
"Under Hill" is a fun story about a knight on a quest to rescue a princess. Of course, it's Wolfe, so that cliché is twisted. Expect the unexpected.
"The Monday Man" would be right at home in a modern Lovecraftian collection, and it would be better than most of the stories in the collection. Seeing as how I recently read New Cthulhu: The Recent Weird, I can say that with certainty. Nicely done.
"The Waif" is about a backwards community who is contacted by aliens (of a sort). Surprising and effective.
"The Legend of Xi Cygnus" is another fable or alternate mythology. As with many of Wolfe's stories, there's some Christian symbolism underneath the entertaining surface.
"The Sailor Who Sailed After the Sun" is absolutely brilliant, one of the very best short stories I've read by Wolfe. The prose is gorgeous, a real pleasure to read. It came about when Wolfe was doing research in Egyptology, possibly for his novel Soldier of Sidon. He came across a pictograph showing a monkey on Ra's barge. How did a monkey get on Ra's barge? This tale of alternate mythology gives the answer.
"How the Bishop Sailed to Inniskeen" is part ghost story, part Christmas story. An unusual combination, but it somehow works.
"Houston, 1943" has some tantalizing autobiographical details from Wolfe's childhood, but it's mixed with voodoo, characters from a child's storybook, and murder.
"A Fish Story" is another ghost story, but not a particularly good one.
"Wolfer" is an intriguing story about a woman who finds a purpose in rescuing wolves.
"The Eleventh City" is part of a series of short stories with the same central character. This one relates to an exorcism from the Gospels. Creepy and full of meaning.
"The Night Chough" is set on Blue, one of the worlds from Wolfe's The Book of the Short Sun, and it features Oreb, a talking bird and a fan favorite. Oreb tries to help a man whose fiancée has been raped and murdered. Poignant.
"The Wrapper" is about a man who can see into another world. Or he's going crazy. You decide.
"A Traveler in Desert Lands" is an enthralling tale set in the Middle East. Wonderful attention to detail, delicious prose.
"The Walking Sticks" nicely employs Wolfe's trope of an unreliable narrator to horrific effect.
"Queen" tells the story of messengers who have been sent to bring an old woman to the coronation of her son. Surprisingly overt for Wolfe.
"Pocketsful of Diamonds" is about the loss of innocence. It beautifully evokes childhood. A strong piece.
"Copperhead" is perhaps the weakest effort in the collection. The President ill-advisedly uses an alien artifact which can transform things into evil or good analogs.
"The Lost Pilgrim" is a charming tale of a lost time traveler who joins the heroic crew of a fabled ship. Fantastic, and a great way to finish the collection. Fans of Wolfe's "Latro" books will especially enjoy this one!
Here are my notes on the individual stories:
"The Tree Is My Hat" is in the same "universe" as Wolfe's novel, An Evil Guest, and his chapbook, Christmas Inn. Not my favorite story, but it fits in nicely with those other two stories while standing on its own.
"The Old Woman Whose Rolling Pin Is the Sun" is Wolfe at his best. This story is perhaps best described as alternate mythology. It's a fable told by an old man to his granddaughter. It has just the right amount of sentiment and symbolism, which warmed my heart and tickled my fancy.
"The Friendship Light" is a tale of horror and well done. Creepy and effective.
"Slow Children at Play" is a clever inversion of the tale of the Wise Men and the Nativity. This time the birth that is foretold is the Antichrist's, I think. Accompanied by a couple fallen angels who have been kicked out of Hell for not being evil enough, the not-so-wise guy gets to the birth too soon and is turned back by Lucifer. Most of this isn't obvious on first reading, and that illustrates in my mind what makes Wolfe so great. His best writing works on multiple levels. Most authors just try to tell an entertaining story, but Wolfe aspires to something greater. I think he often achieves that greatness.
"Under Hill" is a fun story about a knight on a quest to rescue a princess. Of course, it's Wolfe, so that cliché is twisted. Expect the unexpected.
"The Monday Man" would be right at home in a modern Lovecraftian collection, and it would be better than most of the stories in the collection. Seeing as how I recently read New Cthulhu: The Recent Weird, I can say that with certainty. Nicely done.
"The Waif" is about a backwards community who is contacted by aliens (of a sort). Surprising and effective.
"The Legend of Xi Cygnus" is another fable or alternate mythology. As with many of Wolfe's stories, there's some Christian symbolism underneath the entertaining surface.
"The Sailor Who Sailed After the Sun" is absolutely brilliant, one of the very best short stories I've read by Wolfe. The prose is gorgeous, a real pleasure to read. It came about when Wolfe was doing research in Egyptology, possibly for his novel Soldier of Sidon. He came across a pictograph showing a monkey on Ra's barge. How did a monkey get on Ra's barge? This tale of alternate mythology gives the answer.
"How the Bishop Sailed to Inniskeen" is part ghost story, part Christmas story. An unusual combination, but it somehow works.
"Houston, 1943" has some tantalizing autobiographical details from Wolfe's childhood, but it's mixed with voodoo, characters from a child's storybook, and murder.
"A Fish Story" is another ghost story, but not a particularly good one.
"Wolfer" is an intriguing story about a woman who finds a purpose in rescuing wolves.
"The Eleventh City" is part of a series of short stories with the same central character. This one relates to an exorcism from the Gospels. Creepy and full of meaning.
"The Night Chough" is set on Blue, one of the worlds from Wolfe's The Book of the Short Sun, and it features Oreb, a talking bird and a fan favorite. Oreb tries to help a man whose fiancée has been raped and murdered. Poignant.
"The Wrapper" is about a man who can see into another world. Or he's going crazy. You decide.
"A Traveler in Desert Lands" is an enthralling tale set in the Middle East. Wonderful attention to detail, delicious prose.
"The Walking Sticks" nicely employs Wolfe's trope of an unreliable narrator to horrific effect.
"Queen" tells the story of messengers who have been sent to bring an old woman to the coronation of her son. Surprisingly overt for Wolfe.
"Pocketsful of Diamonds" is about the loss of innocence. It beautifully evokes childhood. A strong piece.
"Copperhead" is perhaps the weakest effort in the collection. The President ill-advisedly uses an alien artifact which can transform things into evil or good analogs.
"The Lost Pilgrim" is a charming tale of a lost time traveler who joins the heroic crew of a fabled ship. Fantastic, and a great way to finish the collection. Fans of Wolfe's "Latro" books will especially enjoy this one!
May 26, 2021
Not my favorite story collection by Gene Wolfe, but, really—everything he writes is pure gold.
Shockingly, no new words from the word-master Wolfe! Maybe he used them all up in the Book of the New Sun? But... no, not likely.
Shockingly, no new words from the word-master Wolfe! Maybe he used them all up in the Book of the New Sun? But... no, not likely.
July 1, 2008
One of his more accessible collections of really, really good (at worst, really interesting) stories.
December 5, 2022
3.5 Stars
rounded up to 4 Stars.
May 18, 2025
'Silence reigned once again, until the princess ventured, "This least of all persons has the honor to claim membership in a family highly favored by the August Personage of Jade. She herself, a poor weak woman, has often laid her wretched petitions at the feet of the Queen of Heaven. Perhaps if you were to petition her exalted husband … ?”
“Of course!” Sir Bradwen snapped his fingers. “I’ll ask Saint Joseph. I should have thought of that at once.”'
An enjoyable collection of mostly fairy-tales and myths and ghost stories, of varying complexity and spookocity.
While I typically come to Wolfe looking for the puzzle and the layers (and while there was plenty of that to be found), my two favorite stories in this collection were both relatively straightforward and simplistic.
Queen was one of the shortest tales of the bunch, only a few pages. It was also the most explicitly (although not the only) Christian story. A sweet and poignant tale about being called Home, written in a style that deliberately evoked Biblical stories.
Under Hill, on the other hand, was pure snappy, witty, cheeky fun. A knight of the round table ventures from Camelot on a quest to rescue a princess of the Chinese Celestial Court from a predicament reminiscent of the Norwegian fairy tale of the Princess on the Glass Hill, only the whole setup is a trap laid from the dying far future for nefarious purposes. The writing and dialogue in this one, as these disparate elements and characters interact, was highly entertaining, as was the casual and offhand way our hero overcomes the final moral/philosophical conflict at the end.
And of course all the other stories are wonderful and interesting and Wolfey--cosmic horror about a beat cop and an underwear thief, a New England whaling story with anthropomorphic animals and a scene from the Egyptian Book of the Afterworld, a Catholic ghost story in the setting of T.H White's The Godstone and the Blackymoor, a Solar Cycle/O'Barr's Crow crossover written like a western, the field report of a mentally deteriorating time traveler who meant to join the crew of the Mayflower but wound up with the crew of the Argo ...
In my opinion, this collection contains no real duds.
“Of course!” Sir Bradwen snapped his fingers. “I’ll ask Saint Joseph. I should have thought of that at once.”'
An enjoyable collection of mostly fairy-tales and myths and ghost stories, of varying complexity and spookocity.
While I typically come to Wolfe looking for the puzzle and the layers (and while there was plenty of that to be found), my two favorite stories in this collection were both relatively straightforward and simplistic.
Queen was one of the shortest tales of the bunch, only a few pages. It was also the most explicitly (although not the only) Christian story. A sweet and poignant tale about being called Home, written in a style that deliberately evoked Biblical stories.
Under Hill, on the other hand, was pure snappy, witty, cheeky fun. A knight of the round table ventures from Camelot on a quest to rescue a princess of the Chinese Celestial Court from a predicament reminiscent of the Norwegian fairy tale of the Princess on the Glass Hill, only the whole setup is a trap laid from the dying far future for nefarious purposes. The writing and dialogue in this one, as these disparate elements and characters interact, was highly entertaining, as was the casual and offhand way our hero overcomes the final moral/philosophical conflict at the end.
And of course all the other stories are wonderful and interesting and Wolfey--cosmic horror about a beat cop and an underwear thief, a New England whaling story with anthropomorphic animals and a scene from the Egyptian Book of the Afterworld, a Catholic ghost story in the setting of T.H White's The Godstone and the Blackymoor, a Solar Cycle/O'Barr's Crow crossover written like a western, the field report of a mentally deteriorating time traveler who meant to join the crew of the Mayflower but wound up with the crew of the Argo ...
In my opinion, this collection contains no real duds.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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September 8, 2025A solid collection. Wolfe is undoubtedly a master of “less is more” in the way he depicts character and worlds: “The Waif,” “Queen,” and “The Lost Pilgrim” are certainly among the best examples of this. The former is a story that is melancholic, evocative of the dystopian fiction I would have injected directly into my veins as a teenager—but with a hint of solemnity and lament for those who call good evil and evil good; the latter two are retellings of the Christian and Greek traditions that use minimal words for maximum lingering effect, like echoes that gain strength in a cave.
Other stories were creepy, in the vein of ghost tales. They are clearly well-written and likely appeal to those who enjoy macabre short fiction. I thoroughly disliked “Houston, 1943” (which, while having a point I can appreciate, was also couched in disturbing occultism and voodoo villains engaging in child cannibalism—a step too far for me). I otherwise thought the others were effective, albeit outside my taste.
“The Wrapper” sounds ridiculous if I were to explain the plot, but it is exactly what I wanted out of The Three-Body Problem—turning physics on its head.
My absolute favorites were “The Waif,” for reasons I already expressed; “Wolfer,” which was unexpectedly sweet and a clarion for us to find our raison d’etre; and “Under Hill.” Full disclosure, I started reading this collection because Z said this was about a knight of Arthur’s court rescuing a princess of the Zodiac. It is exactly as cute as it sounds. There’s also some commentary about peace vs war, “throwing your pearls before swine,” and chronological chauvinism, but overall, I loved the tone of the piece: playful ribbing rather than mean-spirited deconstruction towards the spirit of chivalry.
Other stories were creepy, in the vein of ghost tales. They are clearly well-written and likely appeal to those who enjoy macabre short fiction. I thoroughly disliked “Houston, 1943” (which, while having a point I can appreciate, was also couched in disturbing occultism and voodoo villains engaging in child cannibalism—a step too far for me). I otherwise thought the others were effective, albeit outside my taste.
“The Wrapper” sounds ridiculous if I were to explain the plot, but it is exactly what I wanted out of The Three-Body Problem—turning physics on its head.
My absolute favorites were “The Waif,” for reasons I already expressed; “Wolfer,” which was unexpectedly sweet and a clarion for us to find our raison d’etre; and “Under Hill.” Full disclosure, I started reading this collection because Z said this was about a knight of Arthur’s court rescuing a princess of the Zodiac. It is exactly as cute as it sounds. There’s also some commentary about peace vs war, “throwing your pearls before swine,” and chronological chauvinism, but overall, I loved the tone of the piece: playful ribbing rather than mean-spirited deconstruction towards the spirit of chivalry.
January 16, 2025
Some of these stories seem dated and a little hokey, others can be silly, some disconcertingly strange, others nerdy homages. There are:
shark gods
myth making
demon summoning
apocalypse survivors
knights summoned to save the future who throw it away for princesses
alien fishermen
alien sympathizers
dwarves attacking giants
a monkey playing at being a human sailor
dead bishops
one long nightmare
a really serious furry
angry pig demons
revenge tale with an eye eating crow
a mystical lens into the universe disguised as a candy wrapper
the city of death
possessed (haunted?) canes
a rich man who is dishonest but generous
a nightmarish freak show followed by a metaphor about time
more aliens
a time traveler in the wrong time
There are a few stories that could be considered companion pieces, but this is a very varied collection offering a little bit of everything from the buffet that is Wolfe's imagination. A few stories hit that New Urth sweet spot, but I was surprised at how eerie Wolfe could make reality feel. I really enjoyed it.
shark gods
myth making
demon summoning
apocalypse survivors
knights summoned to save the future who throw it away for princesses
alien fishermen
alien sympathizers
dwarves attacking giants
a monkey playing at being a human sailor
dead bishops
one long nightmare
a really serious furry
angry pig demons
revenge tale with an eye eating crow
a mystical lens into the universe disguised as a candy wrapper
the city of death
possessed (haunted?) canes
a rich man who is dishonest but generous
a nightmarish freak show followed by a metaphor about time
more aliens
a time traveler in the wrong time
There are a few stories that could be considered companion pieces, but this is a very varied collection offering a little bit of everything from the buffet that is Wolfe's imagination. A few stories hit that New Urth sweet spot, but I was surprised at how eerie Wolfe could make reality feel. I really enjoyed it.
November 10, 2020
"The Monster at the End of This Book" for adults.
"You will find fantasy and horror stories in the book that follows, and nothing else."
That's how Wolfe introduces this collection of short stories and I'm immediately sold. Wolfe allows that there may be some magical realism and ghost stories in there, but I was firmly in the "2 sentence horror story" mode for this one and it was wonderful.
This is my second collection of Wolfe short stories and even though it's one of his less popular works (in comparison), it shows how far and deep his talent extends. While there are magical realism and fantasy stories herein, Wolfe was right that this is a collection of horror stories. Nearly every tale in here carries with it a sense of something being just beyond the door or just outside your field of vision. You don't know what's there, but damn it, SOMETHING is there.
While I loved reading each and every story, I was not mad that they ended because I was concerned about what was around the corner (yes I sound a bit like Grover in "The Monster at the End of this Book"). Ghost stories are plentiful here and these generally short little tales consistently leave you unsettled. These stories don't rely on cheap jump scares or drown you in gallons of blood, but they leave the reader feeling....off (in a very good way).
That slowly growing sense of creeping dread makes this a wonderful collection.
"You will find fantasy and horror stories in the book that follows, and nothing else."
That's how Wolfe introduces this collection of short stories and I'm immediately sold. Wolfe allows that there may be some magical realism and ghost stories in there, but I was firmly in the "2 sentence horror story" mode for this one and it was wonderful.
This is my second collection of Wolfe short stories and even though it's one of his less popular works (in comparison), it shows how far and deep his talent extends. While there are magical realism and fantasy stories herein, Wolfe was right that this is a collection of horror stories. Nearly every tale in here carries with it a sense of something being just beyond the door or just outside your field of vision. You don't know what's there, but damn it, SOMETHING is there.
While I loved reading each and every story, I was not mad that they ended because I was concerned about what was around the corner (yes I sound a bit like Grover in "The Monster at the End of this Book"). Ghost stories are plentiful here and these generally short little tales consistently leave you unsettled. These stories don't rely on cheap jump scares or drown you in gallons of blood, but they leave the reader feeling....off (in a very good way).
That slowly growing sense of creeping dread makes this a wonderful collection.
March 17, 2016
Twenty two fantasy short stories from Wolfe written between 1988 and 2002. Surprisingly few of them have Faerie as the inspiration, his primary source material for the most part coming from myth, folklore and the Bible.
I like him most when he takes on a mythic narrative with suitable prose, which he does here to fine effect in the brooding 'A Traveller in Desert Lands' and 'The Lost Pilgrim, where a time jumper makes a mistake and ends up with the Argonauts.
For the religious stuff, 'Queen' seems to be about Mary at the end of her life, 'Copperhead' summons the avatar of Lilith into a contemporary, troubled America and 'Slow Children at Play' has the writer himself befriend two angels
'The Waif' is classic Wolfe, it reminded me of aspects of The Fifth Head of Cerberus, a colonists and aborigines tale with some sad truths. 'Wolfer' is perhaps the writers strongest show ow solidarity for the animals from which his name derives, with onomastics central to the story of a woman tasked with a mission of freedom.
I really enjoyed a couple of the stories that may have been written for children. 'The Old Woman Whose Rolling Pin is the Sun' is a great way to get a kid interested in the wonders of the sky, then 'The Sailor Who Sailed After the Sun' has an ambitious and delightful monkey who goes astray but re-finds his way.
In his own short introduction to this collection Wolfe acknowledges that it contains fantasy stories, but in addition he alludes to horror stories. I'm not sure myself that Wolfe really writes horror stories, being too obtuse to offer up any legitimate chills.
'The Tree is My Hat' features a malevolent Polynesian shark spirit, 'Houston, 1943' is a haunting child's voodoo nightmare, and 'The Walking Sticks' has some brutal murders committed by a cane carrying Jekyll and Hyde, but the barrage of obscurities contained in each leave you too baffled to be frightened on first reading.
Not his best collection, but still excellent.
p.s. I cant believe I didn't mention 'The Night Chough'! My favorite character in Wolfe's epic The Book of the Long Sun series was the talking bird, Oreb, and Wolfe proves that he must have liked the little chap too by giving him his own story, as he helps a young man avenge the violent murder of his girlfriend.
"Good bird!"
I like him most when he takes on a mythic narrative with suitable prose, which he does here to fine effect in the brooding 'A Traveller in Desert Lands' and 'The Lost Pilgrim, where a time jumper makes a mistake and ends up with the Argonauts.
For the religious stuff, 'Queen' seems to be about Mary at the end of her life, 'Copperhead' summons the avatar of Lilith into a contemporary, troubled America and 'Slow Children at Play' has the writer himself befriend two angels
'The Waif' is classic Wolfe, it reminded me of aspects of The Fifth Head of Cerberus, a colonists and aborigines tale with some sad truths. 'Wolfer' is perhaps the writers strongest show ow solidarity for the animals from which his name derives, with onomastics central to the story of a woman tasked with a mission of freedom.
I really enjoyed a couple of the stories that may have been written for children. 'The Old Woman Whose Rolling Pin is the Sun' is a great way to get a kid interested in the wonders of the sky, then 'The Sailor Who Sailed After the Sun' has an ambitious and delightful monkey who goes astray but re-finds his way.
In his own short introduction to this collection Wolfe acknowledges that it contains fantasy stories, but in addition he alludes to horror stories. I'm not sure myself that Wolfe really writes horror stories, being too obtuse to offer up any legitimate chills.
'The Tree is My Hat' features a malevolent Polynesian shark spirit, 'Houston, 1943' is a haunting child's voodoo nightmare, and 'The Walking Sticks' has some brutal murders committed by a cane carrying Jekyll and Hyde, but the barrage of obscurities contained in each leave you too baffled to be frightened on first reading.
Not his best collection, but still excellent.
p.s. I cant believe I didn't mention 'The Night Chough'! My favorite character in Wolfe's epic The Book of the Long Sun series was the talking bird, Oreb, and Wolfe proves that he must have liked the little chap too by giving him his own story, as he helps a young man avenge the violent murder of his girlfriend.
"Good bird!"
October 16, 2016
A very nice read. The stories are very varied in what they do. Many are the standard what the fuck Gene type, a lot are his well loved young boy themed ones, a few religious ones about Ireland, some horror, but overall most were very good.
September 20, 2010
Just adding a brief note-- I see most reviewers on Goodreads have not enjoyed this collection as much, even if Wolfe is one of their favorite authors. I'll admit that I only have 3 stories fresh in my mind at the moment, and they are certainly not particularly accessible (but I think that could go for a lot of his work), but I still enjoyed them very much. He "does" things with his stories, in a way I find pleasurable. Suppose I'll leave it at that (having already written the monster review below...)
I've read more than 1/2 of the stories in here I believe, so I'll just list it as "read". I love Wolfe-- he gets a lot of hype, but it's hype from the greatest living authors in sci-fi and fantasy, and it's worth it IMHO. Just recently reread "The Legend of Xi Cygnus" and "The Sailor Who Sailed After the Sun". Beautiful, original and interesting. Working through the final story, "The Lost Pilgrim", right now. I love how interesting and unique these stories are. Usually takes a while to figure out what he's doing, and sometimes it takes several reads, but it's always worth it, and it's always different than what others have done. Fine but not flashy prose, high caliber even at the "level of the sentence", which one of the authors in "The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction" finds lacking in most sci-fi (excepting Wolfe and many New Wave writers). I think I agree with John Clute in the same volume that Wolfe may not be a game changer in sci-fi (ie, he is not "important", despite being the "greatest", in the opinion of so many), but he is the one who does it best (though I shouldn't label him just as a sci-fi author-- he does so much!). To quote Clute (p. 69): "Between 1980 and 2000 there is only one writer whose creative grasp and imprint and prolificacy-- and what might be called parental density, that density of creative being which generates the anxiety of influence in literary children, who may only be able to wrestle and come to terms with the parent after many years-- are so unmistakably manifest that one may plausibly use the word 'great' in describing his work. That writer is Gene Wolfe. He may be, as a creator of autonomous works of art, the greatest writer of sf in a century which saw many hundreds of writers do their work with high ambition and remarkable craft; he is, however, far from the most important sf writer of the century, and is by no means a writer of great significance in determining the nature of flow of his chosen genre during the years of his prime, which extend throughout the period under discussion."
Well, but maybe that's enough of my fan-boy-ness. Great collection of short stories, if you like short stories, and even if you don't, you'll probably enjoy a few of these. For the Christian readers out there, his "Legend..." and "Sailor..." short stories seem to me on my last reading to be the most beautiful, lyrical and unpreachy explorations of certain aspects of the Christian faith since Lewis and Tolkien. They probably only seem that way if you read them with an awareness of Wolfe's catholicism, and they are certainly not "Christian" works in the way we mean that today (both are actually fairly pagan-- but so is Lewis' "Til We Have Faces", in a similar way). Well, it's in the reading, of course (yay Reception Theory), but I think it's a valid reading. I enjoy finding authors who can explore their faith apart from the zealous, naive and unsubtle clunkiness of most of the "Christian Market" (CBA). Well, maybe that was a bit harsh, esp. as I know many people in that market personally (and think very well of them).
I've read more than 1/2 of the stories in here I believe, so I'll just list it as "read". I love Wolfe-- he gets a lot of hype, but it's hype from the greatest living authors in sci-fi and fantasy, and it's worth it IMHO. Just recently reread "The Legend of Xi Cygnus" and "The Sailor Who Sailed After the Sun". Beautiful, original and interesting. Working through the final story, "The Lost Pilgrim", right now. I love how interesting and unique these stories are. Usually takes a while to figure out what he's doing, and sometimes it takes several reads, but it's always worth it, and it's always different than what others have done. Fine but not flashy prose, high caliber even at the "level of the sentence", which one of the authors in "The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction" finds lacking in most sci-fi (excepting Wolfe and many New Wave writers). I think I agree with John Clute in the same volume that Wolfe may not be a game changer in sci-fi (ie, he is not "important", despite being the "greatest", in the opinion of so many), but he is the one who does it best (though I shouldn't label him just as a sci-fi author-- he does so much!). To quote Clute (p. 69): "Between 1980 and 2000 there is only one writer whose creative grasp and imprint and prolificacy-- and what might be called parental density, that density of creative being which generates the anxiety of influence in literary children, who may only be able to wrestle and come to terms with the parent after many years-- are so unmistakably manifest that one may plausibly use the word 'great' in describing his work. That writer is Gene Wolfe. He may be, as a creator of autonomous works of art, the greatest writer of sf in a century which saw many hundreds of writers do their work with high ambition and remarkable craft; he is, however, far from the most important sf writer of the century, and is by no means a writer of great significance in determining the nature of flow of his chosen genre during the years of his prime, which extend throughout the period under discussion."
Well, but maybe that's enough of my fan-boy-ness. Great collection of short stories, if you like short stories, and even if you don't, you'll probably enjoy a few of these. For the Christian readers out there, his "Legend..." and "Sailor..." short stories seem to me on my last reading to be the most beautiful, lyrical and unpreachy explorations of certain aspects of the Christian faith since Lewis and Tolkien. They probably only seem that way if you read them with an awareness of Wolfe's catholicism, and they are certainly not "Christian" works in the way we mean that today (both are actually fairly pagan-- but so is Lewis' "Til We Have Faces", in a similar way). Well, it's in the reading, of course (yay Reception Theory), but I think it's a valid reading. I enjoy finding authors who can explore their faith apart from the zealous, naive and unsubtle clunkiness of most of the "Christian Market" (CBA). Well, maybe that was a bit harsh, esp. as I know many people in that market personally (and think very well of them).
July 7, 2019
I tend to prefer fantasy over horror. Wolfe does horror quite well... “Houston, 1943” is definitely masterful and terrifying, but not really my cup of tea.
Obviously, they’re all well written. Some are the kind that I know if I had the time or the patience, unknown depths could be found (looking at you, “Walking Sticks” and “Pocketsful of Diamonds”.)
There were a few I flat out adored, namely:
-Under Hill
-The Sailor Who Sailed After the Sun
-The Waif
-The Night Chough
-The Lost Pilgrim
...all of which are either sci-fi or fantasy. At least I know my preferences. (I find it amazing how much an emotional punch Wolfe can throw in so short a story... when he wants to.)
Shout out as well to “The Monday Man”. That one might have felt more in place in an earlier Wolfe collection.
Recommendations: If you’re into Wolfe, read this one. If you’re not familiar with him (or
are but not with the short stories) start with “The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories.” Controversial opinion here: I think Wolfe is best at writing not long form novels or short stories (many of those could be considered flash fiction), but that nice sweet in between spot: the novella. And there aren’t any novellas here.
Lastly, if you don’t like Wolfe, this is not going to change your mind and there’s no helping you. You don’t know what you’re missing.
Obviously, they’re all well written. Some are the kind that I know if I had the time or the patience, unknown depths could be found (looking at you, “Walking Sticks” and “Pocketsful of Diamonds”.)
There were a few I flat out adored, namely:
-Under Hill
-The Sailor Who Sailed After the Sun
-The Waif
-The Night Chough
-The Lost Pilgrim
...all of which are either sci-fi or fantasy. At least I know my preferences. (I find it amazing how much an emotional punch Wolfe can throw in so short a story... when he wants to.)
Shout out as well to “The Monday Man”. That one might have felt more in place in an earlier Wolfe collection.
Recommendations: If you’re into Wolfe, read this one. If you’re not familiar with him (or
are but not with the short stories) start with “The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories.” Controversial opinion here: I think Wolfe is best at writing not long form novels or short stories (many of those could be considered flash fiction), but that nice sweet in between spot: the novella. And there aren’t any novellas here.
Lastly, if you don’t like Wolfe, this is not going to change your mind and there’s no helping you. You don’t know what you’re missing.
October 13, 2012
Hi,
Everything Gene Wolfe writes shines like a perfect golden pearl because Gene Wolfe is secretly Robot Jesus Wolverine. Gene Wolfe is an international treasure and if he we a missile, he'd be a missile of hot, well-craft lovin, reigning down destruction of the same.
Seriously though.
Guys.
Seriously.
Seriously, guys.
Read his books. They're genuinely really good. Astonishingly good. Gene Wolfe is one of the most talented authors I've ever had the pleasure of reading. I can't say enough good things about him. This is deep stuff. Complicated and often difficult to read stuff, but very rewarding.
I avoided reading two stories in this book. One is 1943. The other, I don't remember. Now you know my little secret.
Hugs
-Bdog
Everything Gene Wolfe writes shines like a perfect golden pearl because Gene Wolfe is secretly Robot Jesus Wolverine. Gene Wolfe is an international treasure and if he we a missile, he'd be a missile of hot, well-craft lovin, reigning down destruction of the same.
Seriously though.
Guys.
Seriously.
Seriously, guys.
Read his books. They're genuinely really good. Astonishingly good. Gene Wolfe is one of the most talented authors I've ever had the pleasure of reading. I can't say enough good things about him. This is deep stuff. Complicated and often difficult to read stuff, but very rewarding.
I avoided reading two stories in this book. One is 1943. The other, I don't remember. Now you know my little secret.
Hugs
-Bdog
May 27, 2013
This collection of short stories probably deserves 5 stars, but my tiny brain can only muster 4 stars. I suspect there's more going on in each story that I missed which would be appreciated with repeated reading and scrutiny.
I'm a bit reminded of reading short stories by Flannery O'Connor.
I'm a bit reminded of reading short stories by Flannery O'Connor.
October 1, 2008
As much as I love short stories, I just couldn't get into this collection. It felt like a jumble of stories that were either too simple and much to muddled for comprehension.
July 25, 2025
It made me think. Those stars are like the islands here, only a million billion times bigger. Nobody really knows how many islands there are and there are probably a few to this day that nobody has ever been on. At night they look up at the stars and the stars look down on them, and they tell each other, “They’re coming!”
A child returns to his bed to find himself sleeping there. Inherited walking sticks brutally kill, but is it really them or our narrator? Islander old gods. Death by bonfire. Wolves released into the wild. Visiting angels. A carnival for soon-to-be runaway children.
Innocents Aboard collects some of Gene Wolfe’s horror and supernatural short fiction. A few are absolute standouts — The Waif and The Tree is my Hat for me. The Night Chough also has a place on that list, but might not land for those who haven’t yet read the Book of the Long Sun series. Some of the stories are heavily Catholic, even verging on explicitly Christian speculative fiction. The Queen, How the Bishop Sailed to Inniskeep, and the ending of Copperhead in particular come to mind.
On the weaker end, Under Hill read a little like Gygax’s Expedition to the Barrier Peaks! Not bad, just surprisingly blunt in its handling given how deftly he handles science fantasy in New Sun. Speaking of sun, The Sailor Who Sailed After the Sun and The Old Whose Rolling Pin is the Sun move a little slow too.
4/5.
A child returns to his bed to find himself sleeping there. Inherited walking sticks brutally kill, but is it really them or our narrator? Islander old gods. Death by bonfire. Wolves released into the wild. Visiting angels. A carnival for soon-to-be runaway children.
Innocents Aboard collects some of Gene Wolfe’s horror and supernatural short fiction. A few are absolute standouts — The Waif and The Tree is my Hat for me. The Night Chough also has a place on that list, but might not land for those who haven’t yet read the Book of the Long Sun series. Some of the stories are heavily Catholic, even verging on explicitly Christian speculative fiction. The Queen, How the Bishop Sailed to Inniskeep, and the ending of Copperhead in particular come to mind.
On the weaker end, Under Hill read a little like Gygax’s Expedition to the Barrier Peaks! Not bad, just surprisingly blunt in its handling given how deftly he handles science fantasy in New Sun. Speaking of sun, The Sailor Who Sailed After the Sun and The Old Whose Rolling Pin is the Sun move a little slow too.
4/5.
January 4, 2022
A fine short story collection, but a very bad place to start with Wolfe (despite short stories generally being a good introduction) and the more focused nature of the collection ("new fantasy stories" - meaning a lot of horror, a lot of fairytales, and a lot of fantasy, and little to no science fiction) leaves a little to be desired as well. A worthwhile read for Wolfe fans (even if just to read the short story "The Monday Man", holy shit is that story good).
I like to think of the stories in the collection in terms of tiers. The tiers for this collection are as follows:
GOAT TIER:
The Monday Man
The Night Chough
The Waif
GREAT TIER:
The Tree Is My Hat
The Friendship Light
Queen
The Lost Pilgrim
GOOD TIER:
The Old Woman Whose Rolling Pin Is the Sun
Slow Children at Play
Under Hill
The Sailor Who Sailed After the Sun
Houston, 1943
A Fish Story
The Wrapper
The Walking Sticks
LESS THAN GOOD / DIDN'T CARE FOR IT / PROBABLY SOMETHING I'M MISSING TIER:
All of the rest
I like to think of the stories in the collection in terms of tiers. The tiers for this collection are as follows:
GOAT TIER:
The Monday Man
The Night Chough
The Waif
GREAT TIER:
The Tree Is My Hat
The Friendship Light
Queen
The Lost Pilgrim
GOOD TIER:
The Old Woman Whose Rolling Pin Is the Sun
Slow Children at Play
Under Hill
The Sailor Who Sailed After the Sun
Houston, 1943
A Fish Story
The Wrapper
The Walking Sticks
LESS THAN GOOD / DIDN'T CARE FOR IT / PROBABLY SOMETHING I'M MISSING TIER:
All of the rest
June 29, 2020
3.5 stars. When you read the New Earth series, you hear Melville. In this collection, it's a much stronger Kafka flavor. Overly strong. Densely allegorical, bizarre, and written to be unclear. The writing is superb and yet reading it sometimes feels like lit degree homework. Wolfe's personal beliefs are more in evidence than in his longer fiction - lots of God appearances, lots and lots of ghosts.
If you want a sample, I think this paragraph nutshells the whole book experience:
"The sword swallower waited with bowed head, seated upon his upended bucket; to his right, a dead ballet dancer had frozen in the act of trying one shoe, and a stock-still figure with half a beard flaunted a single female breast. Only the serpent woman on the opposite side of the tent moved, writhing and coiling between a magician and a woman embraced by a gorilla." -p.261
Sure.
If you want a sample, I think this paragraph nutshells the whole book experience:
"The sword swallower waited with bowed head, seated upon his upended bucket; to his right, a dead ballet dancer had frozen in the act of trying one shoe, and a stock-still figure with half a beard flaunted a single female breast. Only the serpent woman on the opposite side of the tent moved, writhing and coiling between a magician and a woman embraced by a gorilla." -p.261
Sure.
April 22, 2021
As I find with almost all short story collections, some were what I thought good, others mediocre and others...well, this time anyway...disquieting.
As promised in the introduction.
Gene Wolfe writes dark fantasy and has a talent for making the reader uneasy. He also spills over into grisly bloodshed frequently and that's not a favorite of mine.
A story that is, is "The Monday Man" with it's historical reference and eerie fishing premise. I doubt that gave anything away.
Some of Gene's work is pretty opaque to me, I confess. It's been years since I last read anything of his and honestly, I remember what his dark fantasy writing is like from 'way back when. It sticks with you, apparently.
As promised in the introduction.
Gene Wolfe writes dark fantasy and has a talent for making the reader uneasy. He also spills over into grisly bloodshed frequently and that's not a favorite of mine.
A story that is, is "The Monday Man" with it's historical reference and eerie fishing premise. I doubt that gave anything away.
Some of Gene's work is pretty opaque to me, I confess. It's been years since I last read anything of his and honestly, I remember what his dark fantasy writing is like from 'way back when. It sticks with you, apparently.
Currently reading
May 4, 2024The Tree Is My Hat (1999)
The Old Woman Whose Rolling Pin Is the Sun (1991)
The Friendship Light (1989)
Slow Children At Play (1989)
Under Hill (2002)
The Monday Man (1990) 4/5-24 (5 stars)
The Waif (2001)
The Legend of Xi Cygnus (1992)
The Sailor Who Sailed After the Sun (1992)
How the Bishop Sailed to Inniskeen (1989)
Houston, 1943 (1988) horror...
A Fish Story (1999)
Wolfer (1997)
The Eleventh City (2000)
The Night Chough (rel to Long Sun) (1998)
The Wrapper (1998)
A Traveler in Desert Lands (1999)
The Walking Sticks (1999)
Queen (2001)
Pocketsful of Diamonds (2000)
Copperhead (2001)
The Lost Pilgrim (2003)
The Old Woman Whose Rolling Pin Is the Sun (1991)
The Friendship Light (1989)
Slow Children At Play (1989)
Under Hill (2002)
The Waif (2001)
The Legend of Xi Cygnus (1992)
The Sailor Who Sailed After the Sun (1992)
How the Bishop Sailed to Inniskeen (1989)
Houston, 1943 (1988) horror...
A Fish Story (1999)
Wolfer (1997)
The Eleventh City (2000)
The Night Chough (rel to Long Sun) (1998)
The Wrapper (1998)
A Traveler in Desert Lands (1999)
The Walking Sticks (1999)
Queen (2001)
Pocketsful of Diamonds (2000)
Copperhead (2001)
The Lost Pilgrim (2003)
October 29, 2025
Love his novels, but I don't think Gene Wolfe's short stories are for me. The prose and the styling here is exceptional, but so many of these fail to deliver complete stories to me and are instead just feelings or little quips. There are far too many 8 page instances here of "Here is something crazy that happened to me that you won't believe" that turn out to be entirely uneventful. Even the stories that I found myself loving, like The Friendship Light, Under Hill, Wolfer, A Traveler in Desert Lands, and Pocketsful of Diamonds (my personal favorite), all fail to deliver satisfying conclusions for me.
November 29, 2021
All collections of short stories are hit or miss, but revisiting this one I was amazed at how many that I was unsure of at the time have stuck with me. Wolfe was the master of the hauntingly inconclusive story that reveals itself when you think on it, and that skill is on full display in this volume.
February 9, 2022
Fantasy and horror stories by the late, tricky master. If not his finest collection (that is almost definitely The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories), it’s still an astonishing one, filled with wonder and dread. The best single piece might be “Houston, 1943,” a nightmare of a story, but almost everything here is written with rigor and speaks of hidden depths.
May 26, 2022
2.5 stars. OK.
Most of these stories were kinda "meh". Not bad but not particularly memorable. The first and the last -- "The Tree Is My Hat", and "The Lost Pilgrim" -- were really the only standouts.
This collection also contains "The Night Chough", which hardcore Wolfe fans will want to read as it is a side-story to the Book of the Long Sun. Anyone who's read that series will be pleased to see Oreb again.
Most of these stories were kinda "meh". Not bad but not particularly memorable. The first and the last -- "The Tree Is My Hat", and "The Lost Pilgrim" -- were really the only standouts.
This collection also contains "The Night Chough", which hardcore Wolfe fans will want to read as it is a side-story to the Book of the Long Sun. Anyone who's read that series will be pleased to see Oreb again.
October 17, 2022
A very nice read. The stories are very varied in what they do. Many are the standard what the fuck Gene type, a lot are his well loved young boy themed ones, a few religious ones about Ireland, some horror, but overall most were very good.
May 5, 2023
I absolutely love Wolfe's long fiction and I think that his Long/Short/New Sun series is one of the best ever. Yet time and again I find his short fiction not to my taste, for being too low: too low scifi, too low fantasy, almost magic realism, a genre I deeply dislike.
Read
November 19, 2023Once again I didn’t actually read this I read “useful phrases” by Gene Wolfe but it was not on here
July 19, 2024
Started strong but steeply dropped off, DNF
January 1, 2026
Lovely, often obscure and even frustrating, but never without something to recommend. "The Sailor who sailed after the sun" is one of my new favorite short stories.
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