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Castleview
Castleview, an Illinois town, has a phantom castle that Will Shields sees on his first night there, an experience that involves him in murder and mysterious, life-threatening events, because the castle belongs to Morgan Le Fay
278 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
20 people are currently reading
409 people want to read
About the author
Gene Wolfe
506 books3,571 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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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
June 8, 2025
Having recently covered Adam Roberts' Fantasy: a short history, I became aware I'd never reviewed some of my favourite fantasy books. I'm starting with one of Gene Wolfe's masterpieces, Castleview, first published in 1990. This is a booked that is steeped in a particular small town America with a strong mid-twentieth century atmosphere - I can't think of another fantasy novel that does this so well apart from Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes.
We are plunged straight into this when a new family is viewing a house for sale in the town of Castleview. From the very beginning, the cosy, folksy setting clashes with events - a death, the mysterious viewing of what may or not be a ghost castle, a dark horseman nearly causing a car crash - Wolfe piles on the mysterious events while maintaining a small-town-USA vibe. It is masterfully done. Practically every chapter ends with a notching up of the mystery level and tension.
It's a thankfully short book (I really can't be doing with brick-style fantasies, with the inevitable exception of Lord of the Rings): despite having read it at least four times before, I had to keep going to the end as soon as I could. The otherworldly intrusion is a magnificent hotchpotch of English and Irish folklore, including Arthurian legend, where Wolfe has clearly enjoyed piling in everything he can possibly think of.
Only two small moans. There are a couple of foreign accents that these days might be thought a little lacking in political correctness, and Wolfe often has endings that don't entirely satisfy, as he tends not to tidy everything up, though this one does have a fairly clear ending. But neither of these gets in the way of the book's appeal.
You can buy Castleview (used on paper but still on Kindle) from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com - it's appalling this isn't still in print.
We are plunged straight into this when a new family is viewing a house for sale in the town of Castleview. From the very beginning, the cosy, folksy setting clashes with events - a death, the mysterious viewing of what may or not be a ghost castle, a dark horseman nearly causing a car crash - Wolfe piles on the mysterious events while maintaining a small-town-USA vibe. It is masterfully done. Practically every chapter ends with a notching up of the mystery level and tension.
It's a thankfully short book (I really can't be doing with brick-style fantasies, with the inevitable exception of Lord of the Rings): despite having read it at least four times before, I had to keep going to the end as soon as I could. The otherworldly intrusion is a magnificent hotchpotch of English and Irish folklore, including Arthurian legend, where Wolfe has clearly enjoyed piling in everything he can possibly think of.
Only two small moans. There are a couple of foreign accents that these days might be thought a little lacking in political correctness, and Wolfe often has endings that don't entirely satisfy, as he tends not to tidy everything up, though this one does have a fairly clear ending. But neither of these gets in the way of the book's appeal.
You can buy Castleview (used on paper but still on Kindle) from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com - it's appalling this isn't still in print.
January 19, 2015
Η αίσθηση που έχω όταν πιάνω ένα βιβλίο του Τζίν Γουλφ είναι ίδια με το συναπάντημα με ένα παλιό φίλο. Από την πρώτη στιγμή, όπου και ξεκίνησε η γνωριμία μου με τα βιβλία του, με κέρδισε. Δεν ξέρω αν είναι αστραποβόλο χτύπημα, αλλά αν θέλω να προσδώσω μια ερωτική χροιά σε αυτό το πάρε-δώσε, θα πω πως ο Γουλφ κατέχει τα σκήπτρα της βιβλιοφιλικής καρδιάς μου. Με τον ίδιο ενθουσιασμό και λαχτάρα τον διαβάζω ακόμα, καθώς από καιρού εις καιρόν προσφέρω στον εαυτό μου την ευχαρίστηση να πιάσω άλλο ένα βιβλίο από την μεγάλη βιβλιογραφία του.
Έτσι την ξεκοκκαλίζω την βιβλιογραφία του, με ευλάβεια. Και λέγοντας στον εαυτό μου πως κάποια στιγμή θα τα ξαναδιαβάσω τα βιβλία του.
Όπως και αυτό εδώ. Όπου σε μια πόλη της Αμερικής, το Castleview, -όνομα που οφείλεται στις εμφανίσεις ενός κάστρου στον ορίζοντα-, αλλόκοτα πράγματα γίνονται. Παράξενοι ξένοι μπλέκονται με τους καθημερινούς ντόπιους, μυθικά πλάσματα κάνουν τις εμφανίσεις τους, χαρακτήρες με διττή προσωπικότητα κινούν τα νήματα μιας μυστηριώδους συνωμοσίας. Σταδιακά, παίζοντας με το μυαλό του αναγνώστη, ο Γουλφ, συνθέτει το σμίξιμο των δυο κόσμων - του καθημερινού με το μυθικού. Μιας παραμυθιακής πλάσης, βασισμένης στο Σκανδιναβικό πάνθεον, τους Βορειο-Ευρωπαϊκούς θρύλους και τον μύθο του Αρθούρου. Φαντάσμτα, βαμπίρ, τρολ και ιππότες εισβάλουν στην πραγματικότηα αυτής της μικρής πόλης.
Φυσικά, μιλάμε για τον Γουλφ. Έναν συγγραφέα ευφυή, που δεν κάνει τίποτα εύκολο στον αναγνώστη. Εδώ επιλέγει μια θεατρική προσέγγιση. Οι σκηνές ξετυλίγονται μέσα από διαλόγους, χαρακτήρες έρχονται και φεύγουν πολλές φορές από την δράση, δίχως περιγραφές. Εντείνεται έτσι η δραματικότητα και το αλλόκοτο αυτής της ήδη παράξενη ιστορίας, όπου θαρρείς αυτά τα περιστατικά λαμβάνουν χώρα στο μυαλό των πρωταγωνιστών, σαν ένα θεατρικό έργο που εξελίσσεται ερήμην της υπόλοιπης μικρής κοινωνίας.
Το αγάπησα το βιβλίο. Και για ακόμα μια φορά απόλαυσα αυτό το μηρυκασμό στο τέλος, που αναμασάς τις σκηνές, προσπαθώντας να βγάλεις άκρη με το όραμα του Γουλφ σε κάθε του βιβλίου.
Για μένα ο αγαπημένος μου συγγραφέας και ένας από τους πιο αδικημένους και παραγνωρισμένους, ταλαντουχους συγγραφείς της Αμερικής.
Έτσι την ξεκοκκαλίζω την βιβλιογραφία του, με ευλάβεια. Και λέγοντας στον εαυτό μου πως κάποια στιγμή θα τα ξαναδιαβάσω τα βιβλία του.
Όπως και αυτό εδώ. Όπου σε μια πόλη της Αμερικής, το Castleview, -όνομα που οφείλεται στις εμφανίσεις ενός κάστρου στον ορίζοντα-, αλλόκοτα πράγματα γίνονται. Παράξενοι ξένοι μπλέκονται με τους καθημερινούς ντόπιους, μυθικά πλάσματα κάνουν τις εμφανίσεις τους, χαρακτήρες με διττή προσωπικότητα κινούν τα νήματα μιας μυστηριώδους συνωμοσίας. Σταδιακά, παίζοντας με το μυαλό του αναγνώστη, ο Γουλφ, συνθέτει το σμίξιμο των δυο κόσμων - του καθημερινού με το μυθικού. Μιας παραμυθιακής πλάσης, βασισμένης στο Σκανδιναβικό πάνθεον, τους Βορειο-Ευρωπαϊκούς θρύλους και τον μύθο του Αρθούρου. Φαντάσμτα, βαμπίρ, τρολ και ιππότες εισβάλουν στην πραγματικότηα αυτής της μικρής πόλης.
Φυσικά, μιλάμε για τον Γουλφ. Έναν συγγραφέα ευφυή, που δεν κάνει τίποτα εύκολο στον αναγνώστη. Εδώ επιλέγει μια θεατρική προσέγγιση. Οι σκηνές ξετυλίγονται μέσα από διαλόγους, χαρακτήρες έρχονται και φεύγουν πολλές φορές από την δράση, δίχως περιγραφές. Εντείνεται έτσι η δραματικότητα και το αλλόκοτο αυτής της ήδη παράξενη ιστορίας, όπου θαρρείς αυτά τα περιστατικά λαμβάνουν χώρα στο μυαλό των πρωταγωνιστών, σαν ένα θεατρικό έργο που εξελίσσεται ερήμην της υπόλοιπης μικρής κοινωνίας.
Το αγάπησα το βιβλίο. Και για ακόμα μια φορά απόλαυσα αυτό το μηρυκασμό στο τέλος, που αναμασάς τις σκηνές, προσπαθώντας να βγάλεις άκρη με το όραμα του Γουλφ σε κάθε του βιβλίου.
Για μένα ο αγαπημένος μου συγγραφέας και ένας από τους πιο αδικημένους και παραγνωρισμένους, ταλαντουχους συγγραφείς της Αμερικής.
May 14, 2016
Ugggghhhhhhhhh.
I wanted to like this book SO BAD. I've been told numerous times by many different people whose opinions I respect and admire that I should read some Gene Wolfe books. Apparently I picked the wrong one to start with?
This book reminded me of when I was little and we would go gem mining in the mountains every summer. They'd give you a gallon size bucket of muck from the bottom of the river and you would run it through your sieve and see what you ended up with. Once you washed away the mud and sand and algae, picked out the twigs and bland river rocks, sometimes you'd get lucky. You'd find garnet and amethyst and topaz. My brother found a beautiful sapphire once that he had made into a ring for my mom. But for a gallon's worth of material, you came away with just a few shining prizes to take home at the end of the day.
That was this book. A certain description here, a glorious paragraph there, a surprising but kind of perfect turn of events. And then the rest of it was garbage.
Okay, that's harsh.
But seriously? I was so excited about the description, so psyched about the idea behind this book, and so disappointed by the execution.
I've read some reviews where the writer insists if we didn't like the book we just didn't "get" it. That it's a book to be savored on subsequent rereadings, gleaning for symbolism, details, and connections you may have missed the first time around. I've always been annoyed by this way of thinking, like literature is some kind of exclusive "members only" club. Since I didn't get it, and didn't enjoy it, I'll pause here for a moment outside the glittering facade of Castleview and lob some eggs at its windows like the hoodlum these reviewers seem to think I am.
Problems I had with this book, in no particular order:
(1) The timeline. Jumping around in books is nothing new, but the way in which Wolfe chose to leap left it hard to piece together sometimes just exactly what was going on with certain characters, which isn't helpful in a plot like this that's already so chaotic to begin with.
(2) Character motivations and revelations. (Minor spoilers ahead) If you're a teenage boy and you've just discovered your dad is dead, do you leave your mom behind at the house and go seek out a girl you've met just a couple of hours ago to drive her in the rain up to a lookout spot where you might spy a mystical castle? Uh... sure, why not. If you're new to town and your employee decides to show you the town's museum and goes suddenly missing, do you automatically assume supernatural foul play? You do if you're this story's protagonist. And if you're nearly run off the road by a weird giant riding a horse, do you drive through a storm to a nearby girl's camp to confront the owners of the stables and scold them about riding safety? If it serves the plot, you betcha. None of it was believable. And even if the tone of this whole work is meant to be cartoonish and over-the-top, it wasn't CONSISTENTLY done. You can't say it's okay to suspend disbelief over here, then spend whole passages having characters explain in precise detail how and why certain other things happened. This is like the literary equivalent of fingernails on chalkboard!
(3) Racism? There's a Chinese man, a waiter at a restaurant in Castleview, that features prominently in the events of the plot. He is repeatedly referred to as "Oriental," "Chinaman," and "the Chinese." (Not "the Chinese MAN" but "the Chinese," like he's some sort of rare bird or something). It would be one thing if it was characters saying these things. You could just accuse them of being mildly racist. But sometimes the narrator himself uses the terms. I know this was written in 1990, so I shouldn't expect it to be uber politically correct, but I cringed every time this happen, and it pulled me out of the story.
Oh, who am I kidding? I could list a lot more but I don't want to waste my time or yours. Basically, I think I picked the absolute WORST Gene Wolfe book I possibly could have started with, which is a shame as I hear he's actually pretty great at times. I'll just have to wait a year or two to get the memory of this one out of my system before I try again.
I wanted to like this book SO BAD. I've been told numerous times by many different people whose opinions I respect and admire that I should read some Gene Wolfe books. Apparently I picked the wrong one to start with?
This book reminded me of when I was little and we would go gem mining in the mountains every summer. They'd give you a gallon size bucket of muck from the bottom of the river and you would run it through your sieve and see what you ended up with. Once you washed away the mud and sand and algae, picked out the twigs and bland river rocks, sometimes you'd get lucky. You'd find garnet and amethyst and topaz. My brother found a beautiful sapphire once that he had made into a ring for my mom. But for a gallon's worth of material, you came away with just a few shining prizes to take home at the end of the day.
That was this book. A certain description here, a glorious paragraph there, a surprising but kind of perfect turn of events. And then the rest of it was garbage.
Okay, that's harsh.
But seriously? I was so excited about the description, so psyched about the idea behind this book, and so disappointed by the execution.
I've read some reviews where the writer insists if we didn't like the book we just didn't "get" it. That it's a book to be savored on subsequent rereadings, gleaning for symbolism, details, and connections you may have missed the first time around. I've always been annoyed by this way of thinking, like literature is some kind of exclusive "members only" club. Since I didn't get it, and didn't enjoy it, I'll pause here for a moment outside the glittering facade of Castleview and lob some eggs at its windows like the hoodlum these reviewers seem to think I am.
Problems I had with this book, in no particular order:
(1) The timeline. Jumping around in books is nothing new, but the way in which Wolfe chose to leap left it hard to piece together sometimes just exactly what was going on with certain characters, which isn't helpful in a plot like this that's already so chaotic to begin with.
(2) Character motivations and revelations. (Minor spoilers ahead) If you're a teenage boy and you've just discovered your dad is dead, do you leave your mom behind at the house and go seek out a girl you've met just a couple of hours ago to drive her in the rain up to a lookout spot where you might spy a mystical castle? Uh... sure, why not. If you're new to town and your employee decides to show you the town's museum and goes suddenly missing, do you automatically assume supernatural foul play? You do if you're this story's protagonist. And if you're nearly run off the road by a weird giant riding a horse, do you drive through a storm to a nearby girl's camp to confront the owners of the stables and scold them about riding safety? If it serves the plot, you betcha. None of it was believable. And even if the tone of this whole work is meant to be cartoonish and over-the-top, it wasn't CONSISTENTLY done. You can't say it's okay to suspend disbelief over here, then spend whole passages having characters explain in precise detail how and why certain other things happened. This is like the literary equivalent of fingernails on chalkboard!
(3) Racism? There's a Chinese man, a waiter at a restaurant in Castleview, that features prominently in the events of the plot. He is repeatedly referred to as "Oriental," "Chinaman," and "the Chinese." (Not "the Chinese MAN" but "the Chinese," like he's some sort of rare bird or something). It would be one thing if it was characters saying these things. You could just accuse them of being mildly racist. But sometimes the narrator himself uses the terms. I know this was written in 1990, so I shouldn't expect it to be uber politically correct, but I cringed every time this happen, and it pulled me out of the story.
Oh, who am I kidding? I could list a lot more but I don't want to waste my time or yours. Basically, I think I picked the absolute WORST Gene Wolfe book I possibly could have started with, which is a shame as I hear he's actually pretty great at times. I'll just have to wait a year or two to get the memory of this one out of my system before I try again.
September 5, 2009
Gene Wolfe is one of my favorite writers. His Books of The New Sun series is one of the greatest science fiction fantasy works of all time. He excels in creating strange exotic worlds and has a prose that is hauntingly beautiful. However his stories can also be rather vague and bewildering. Rarely is there a clear ending. He is definitely an acquired taste.
Castleview is not one of my favorite books by Wolfe. This story about two families who are caught in a town that exists between the real and the mythical should work but it just never comes together for me. The characters seem stilted and forced. I felt sad that I didn't like it because it certainly had the Gene Wolfe magic trying to sneak its way out. Just when I would wonder if I wanted to continue reading I would run into a paragraph like this...
"They kissed, and it was not (as Mercedes has always heard it was supposed to be) before she knew what was happening. She knew perfectly well what was happening--that a whole world, new and strange, terrible yet wonderful, was unfolding for her. She understood, when their lips touched, exactly why Snow White and Sleeping Beauty has been awakened by a kiss, knew what those old grandmothers of eight hundred years ago had been trying to tell her, and knew that they had told her, their coded message coming clearly across the years, and that those dear old grandmothers--the bent crones at the firesides--had triumphed, their word not lost with the crackling of the sticks in their fires. That she and Seth or some other like Seth would someday ride on one white horse, laughing in the sunshine."
.. and the magic would shine through.
Yes, it is a good novel by Wolfe but, in my opinion, not consistent enough to be typical of the master. If you really want to see genius at work, read The Shadow of The Torturer and the other Books of The New Sun.
Castleview is not one of my favorite books by Wolfe. This story about two families who are caught in a town that exists between the real and the mythical should work but it just never comes together for me. The characters seem stilted and forced. I felt sad that I didn't like it because it certainly had the Gene Wolfe magic trying to sneak its way out. Just when I would wonder if I wanted to continue reading I would run into a paragraph like this...
"They kissed, and it was not (as Mercedes has always heard it was supposed to be) before she knew what was happening. She knew perfectly well what was happening--that a whole world, new and strange, terrible yet wonderful, was unfolding for her. She understood, when their lips touched, exactly why Snow White and Sleeping Beauty has been awakened by a kiss, knew what those old grandmothers of eight hundred years ago had been trying to tell her, and knew that they had told her, their coded message coming clearly across the years, and that those dear old grandmothers--the bent crones at the firesides--had triumphed, their word not lost with the crackling of the sticks in their fires. That she and Seth or some other like Seth would someday ride on one white horse, laughing in the sunshine."
.. and the magic would shine through.
Yes, it is a good novel by Wolfe but, in my opinion, not consistent enough to be typical of the master. If you really want to see genius at work, read The Shadow of The Torturer and the other Books of The New Sun.
December 12, 2013
-Fantasía adulta, hasta casi muy adulta.-
Género. Narrativa Fantástica.
Lo que nos cuenta. La familia Shields, recién llegada a la población de Castleview, visita la casa de la familia Howard con una agente inmobiliaria para valorar su compra, pero la visita se interrumpe tras la noticia de que Tom Howard ha tenido un grave accidente en el trabajo. Tom Shields, su esposa Ann y su hija Mercedes van conociendo poco a poco, a través de diferentes interacciones sociales, que el pueblo está lleno de leyendas y que en ocasiones la gente llega a ver cosas (hasta ellos mismos), incluyendo una fortaleza en la lejanía.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Narrativa Fantástica.
Lo que nos cuenta. La familia Shields, recién llegada a la población de Castleview, visita la casa de la familia Howard con una agente inmobiliaria para valorar su compra, pero la visita se interrumpe tras la noticia de que Tom Howard ha tenido un grave accidente en el trabajo. Tom Shields, su esposa Ann y su hija Mercedes van conociendo poco a poco, a través de diferentes interacciones sociales, que el pueblo está lleno de leyendas y que en ocasiones la gente llega a ver cosas (hasta ellos mismos), incluyendo una fortaleza en la lejanía.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
October 10, 2007
Gene Wolfe's CASTLEVIEW is the second of his turn of the 90's trilogy of fantastical fiction novels. The first, THERE ARE DOORS, was a rather confusing but ultimately comprehendible book, but with CASTLEVIEW the reader has no idea what's going on.
CASTLEVIEW is perhaps the most infamous of Gene Wolfe's novels. Wolfe has always like to present puzzles to the reader, and every book he's written is filled with mysteries, allusions, and inside jokes. The answers to these are usually to be found after some diligent reading and research, and in any event the main plot can always be followed. In CASTLEVIEW, even the plot is totally baffling. Apparently it has something to do with magical creatures and characters from folklore, especially King Arthur and company, plaguing a modern town outside of Chicago. That's really all one can say for certain after reading the book. The entire point of the book is an enigma, and it doesn't appear that Wolfe has included the key anywhere in its 200+ pages. My personal hypothesis right after reading the book was that 50 pages or so fell out of my copy during the printing process, so that I missed the part where everything comes together. However, I read the same copy everyone else did, and no one's ever shown it was incomplete.
Ignoring the fact that the book goes right over the heads of its audience, CASTLEVIEW is not one of Wolfe's stronger works. I was annoyed by the speed in which Wolfe introduced new characters, so that it was difficult to follow who's who. Chapters end abruptly on some mysterious development which may create suspense but which irks the reader. Ironically, the teenagers are the only characters which are portrayed realistically, and the adults are somewhat two-dimensional, which is the opposite of how these sorts of things normally turn out.
Gene Wolfe is truly one of the finest writers in the English language. His four-volume work The Book of the New Sun is legendary, and his latest work The Book of the Short Sun is filled with moments of sublime beauty and poignant emotion. I would most certainly recommend that one read Wolfe's "solar" works first (starting with the BotNS), his magisterial novel PEACE, and just about everything else he's every written before coming to CASTLEVIEW. I do recommend CASTLEVIEW, and reading the book sure does explain why so many Wolfe scholars are beating their heads against the wall on this one. Save CASTLEVIEW for last.
CASTLEVIEW is perhaps the most infamous of Gene Wolfe's novels. Wolfe has always like to present puzzles to the reader, and every book he's written is filled with mysteries, allusions, and inside jokes. The answers to these are usually to be found after some diligent reading and research, and in any event the main plot can always be followed. In CASTLEVIEW, even the plot is totally baffling. Apparently it has something to do with magical creatures and characters from folklore, especially King Arthur and company, plaguing a modern town outside of Chicago. That's really all one can say for certain after reading the book. The entire point of the book is an enigma, and it doesn't appear that Wolfe has included the key anywhere in its 200+ pages. My personal hypothesis right after reading the book was that 50 pages or so fell out of my copy during the printing process, so that I missed the part where everything comes together. However, I read the same copy everyone else did, and no one's ever shown it was incomplete.
Ignoring the fact that the book goes right over the heads of its audience, CASTLEVIEW is not one of Wolfe's stronger works. I was annoyed by the speed in which Wolfe introduced new characters, so that it was difficult to follow who's who. Chapters end abruptly on some mysterious development which may create suspense but which irks the reader. Ironically, the teenagers are the only characters which are portrayed realistically, and the adults are somewhat two-dimensional, which is the opposite of how these sorts of things normally turn out.
Gene Wolfe is truly one of the finest writers in the English language. His four-volume work The Book of the New Sun is legendary, and his latest work The Book of the Short Sun is filled with moments of sublime beauty and poignant emotion. I would most certainly recommend that one read Wolfe's "solar" works first (starting with the BotNS), his magisterial novel PEACE, and just about everything else he's every written before coming to CASTLEVIEW. I do recommend CASTLEVIEW, and reading the book sure does explain why so many Wolfe scholars are beating their heads against the wall on this one. Save CASTLEVIEW for last.
June 22, 2017
Like all of Wolfe's books, this is good, but not for everyone. It feels like a casual read for the first half, but then it becomes clear that questions are piling up much faster than answers. Despite what others have written about Castleview, it is possible to understand what happened, mostly, though it will take a little work. For non-readers of Wolfe, I recommend that you not begin with this book. The Sorcerer's House is a much better first choice. For readers of Wolfe, I was surprised at the speed with which the story moved. The end did feel a little rushed, but for an experienced Wolfeian, it's worth your time.
March 1, 2025
Video Review:
Don’t Read This One First… | Castleview by Gene Wolfe Review
https://youtu.be/nl93sQC099c
Don’t Read This One First… | Castleview by Gene Wolfe Review
https://youtu.be/nl93sQC099c
January 24, 2014
An Arthurian fantasy where the whole of Fairyland appears to descend upon a small, midwestern town. To what effect and what purpose, I'm still not clear about. Poor cell phone reception ensues.
The beginning is a mess of interconnecting story lines and characters. People meet, part, meet others, part, bouncing around like pinballs. It's a mess of contrivances, coincidences, and deus machina, and I'm not clear on the point of it all. I'm sure Wolfe had one, because there had to be an easier/clearer way to move the story forward. Technology fails at appropriate times, people make their appearances and then vanish. I get that some of them are ghosts/fairies and magic is involved, but it makes it all darn hard to follow.
Also had difficulty with all the female characters, and there were a lot of them. The real estate agent, the house wife, her mother, her sister, her niece, the car salesman's wife, her daughter, the woman running the camp, and the various girls living there... Didn't help that they all had vanilla names like Sally and Julie. It was difficult keeping them apart, and I had to resort to context of the story, which sometimes was thin.
Lastly, after a majority of the book dealing with people talking and driving around to do more talking, it was finally in the last chapters that the plot moved to Fairyland and things got interesting. Of course, this being Gene Wolfe, answers and explanations were pretty thin.
The beginning is a mess of interconnecting story lines and characters. People meet, part, meet others, part, bouncing around like pinballs. It's a mess of contrivances, coincidences, and deus machina, and I'm not clear on the point of it all. I'm sure Wolfe had one, because there had to be an easier/clearer way to move the story forward. Technology fails at appropriate times, people make their appearances and then vanish. I get that some of them are ghosts/fairies and magic is involved, but it makes it all darn hard to follow.
Also had difficulty with all the female characters, and there were a lot of them. The real estate agent, the house wife, her mother, her sister, her niece, the car salesman's wife, her daughter, the woman running the camp, and the various girls living there... Didn't help that they all had vanilla names like Sally and Julie. It was difficult keeping them apart, and I had to resort to context of the story, which sometimes was thin.
Lastly, after a majority of the book dealing with people talking and driving around to do more talking, it was finally in the last chapters that the plot moved to Fairyland and things got interesting. Of course, this being Gene Wolfe, answers and explanations were pretty thin.
February 11, 2012
I've tried really hard to like Gene Wolfe, because people like Neil Gaiman think he's wonderful. But I just can't do it.
Castleview was the book that finally brought me to the point of giving up on him. I could probably have put up with the perpetual ambiguity about which dead characters were actually dead if the live characters had acted and reacted like real people. The closing scene, in particular, is so unrealistic to actual human emotions that I resolved never to attempt another Gene Wolfe book again.
It's just a bizarre, inexplicable sequence of things that happen - or, in some of his books, a bizarre, inexplicable sequence of not much happening - to alienated characters who seem to have learned how to be human from a poorly-written instruction manual. Clearly, his genius is over my head.
Castleview was the book that finally brought me to the point of giving up on him. I could probably have put up with the perpetual ambiguity about which dead characters were actually dead if the live characters had acted and reacted like real people. The closing scene, in particular, is so unrealistic to actual human emotions that I resolved never to attempt another Gene Wolfe book again.
It's just a bizarre, inexplicable sequence of things that happen - or, in some of his books, a bizarre, inexplicable sequence of not much happening - to alienated characters who seem to have learned how to be human from a poorly-written instruction manual. Clearly, his genius is over my head.
March 2, 2022
Con esta novela descubrí a Gene Wolfe. Me encantó su manera de escribir y los giros de guión. Lo disfruté muchísimo cuando lo leí.
Mi comentario del libro de entonces: "Que al final Shields fuera el rey Arturo es lo que menos esperaba"
Mi comentario del libro de entonces: "Que al final Shields fuera el rey Arturo es lo que menos esperaba"
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 23, 2021
This is Gene Wolfe’s idea of a thriller. Takes place in his home state of Illinois. Reminds me of a lot of Twin Peaks, only it was written before Twin Peaks premiered. 5 stars.
March 2, 2024
Castleview es un pueblo americano, pero está muy cerca del país de las hadas; y es raro pero no imposible ver de lejos algunos castillos.
Muere un vecino cualquiera cuando unos citadinos están por mudarse al pueblo y quizás comprar su casa. En ese momento recrudecen los cruces de personajes entre un país y otro. Claro que para las personas aceptar el mundo feérico es arduo. Toda la primera parte del relato es una historia de terror, donde en un día y una noche larguísimas se cruzan, se pierden, y se encuentran muchísimos personajes, mientras de a poco van aceptando lo sobrenatural.
Hay una batalla final intentando escapar del hada Morgana, y no queda el final totalmente abierto, por suerte.
Muere un vecino cualquiera cuando unos citadinos están por mudarse al pueblo y quizás comprar su casa. En ese momento recrudecen los cruces de personajes entre un país y otro. Claro que para las personas aceptar el mundo feérico es arduo. Toda la primera parte del relato es una historia de terror, donde en un día y una noche larguísimas se cruzan, se pierden, y se encuentran muchísimos personajes, mientras de a poco van aceptando lo sobrenatural.
Hay una batalla final intentando escapar del hada Morgana, y no queda el final totalmente abierto, por suerte.
December 31, 2023
Not terrible. Probably would have given three stars if this were from another author, but we all know what Wolfe’s capable of and there’s just a little too much phoned in here.
Most of the book is pretty straightforward but the ending doesn’t make a lot of sense. Also some character motivations, particularly around Sally and her son, were frankly bonkers. A lot of decisions that only make sense in terms of Wolfe trying to move the plot along.
Sorcerer’s house deals with similar ideas and themes, and is way better.
Most of the book is pretty straightforward but the ending doesn’t make a lot of sense. Also some character motivations, particularly around Sally and her son, were frankly bonkers. A lot of decisions that only make sense in terms of Wolfe trying to move the plot along.
Sorcerer’s house deals with similar ideas and themes, and is way better.
October 20, 2016
This story reminds me of Castle Perilous where so much of the exciting stuff happened off-screen (or off-page). I found the style of switching POV with a cliffhanger every stinking time to get annoying pretty quickly.
The cover tells you it is an Arthurian epic set in Illinois but that is only mostly spelled out in the final chapter.
I think this story is supposed to be experienced as a dream or an LSD trip (as one character remarks), where things happen with no explanation, people change and random people appear and disappear often.
If you choose to read it, do so in as short a time as possible as there are a lot of characters and the POV changes frequently. It actually reminds me of my own Nanowrimo attempts in that there are too many incomplete ideas and what would only appear to the author, who has researched the subject specifically, to be an appropriate amount of mystery.
I am a fan of Gene Wolfe and have enjoyed other books he has written. I am glad I got this one from a swap shelf at work so it was worth what I paid for it. I would not have finished except that my Kindle is now broken and I don't expect to buy a new one until Christmas.
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Added minutes later: I published my review, then read the reviews of others. They mostly agree with me, with one pointing out the occasional beautiful paragraph, but one person, https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1..., wrote his review in Greek and rated it five stars. I ran it through Google Translate and here is an excerpt:
None of that is wrong.
The cover tells you it is an Arthurian epic set in Illinois but that is only mostly spelled out in the final chapter.
I think this story is supposed to be experienced as a dream or an LSD trip (as one character remarks), where things happen with no explanation, people change and random people appear and disappear often.
If you choose to read it, do so in as short a time as possible as there are a lot of characters and the POV changes frequently. It actually reminds me of my own Nanowrimo attempts in that there are too many incomplete ideas and what would only appear to the author, who has researched the subject specifically, to be an appropriate amount of mystery.
I am a fan of Gene Wolfe and have enjoyed other books he has written. I am glad I got this one from a swap shelf at work so it was worth what I paid for it. I would not have finished except that my Kindle is now broken and I don't expect to buy a new one until Christmas.
---
Added minutes later: I published my review, then read the reviews of others. They mostly agree with me, with one pointing out the occasional beautiful paragraph, but one person, https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1..., wrote his review in Greek and rated it five stars. I ran it through Google Translate and here is an excerpt:
And saying to myself that sometime will reread his books.
Like this one. Where in a city of America, the Castleview, -name due to occurrences of a castle in orizonta-, weird things are. Strange strangers mingle with everyday locals, mythical creatures make their appearances, characters with dual personality pull the strings of a mysterious conspiracy. Gradually, playing with the mind of the reader, Wolfe, composes smiximo of both worlds - the everyday with the mythical. A folktale creatures, based on the Scandinavian pantheon, the Northern European legends and the legend of Arthur. Phantom, vampires, trolls and knights invade the reality of this small town.
Of course, we are talking about Woolf. An intelligent writer who does nothing easy the reader. Here selects a theatrical approach. The scenes unfold through dialogues, characters come and go several times from the action, without descriptions. thus intensifying the dramatic and bizarre this already strange history where as if these events take place in the minds of the protagonists, like a play that evolves in absentia of the remaining small community.
I loved the book. And once again I enjoyed this regurgitating the end, that regurgitate the scenes, trying to make sense out of the vision of Woolf in each book.
None of that is wrong.
February 19, 2021
I have no idea. I'm used to Wolfe's novels being obscure or confusing, but this one felt like it was written in a different language that just happened to also be English. A modern take on Arthurian legend, but in no way as accessible as that sounds--it often feels like the ways this veers closer to "real" life just make it that much more difficult to parse. It might improve if I spent some time getting more familiar with the myths it draws on, but I can't imagine I'd want to revisit this.
September 19, 2025
I'm still confused but less so than the first time... better than remembered. Wolfe is like if Twain learned something from Nabokov.
September 19, 2023
this is my first Gene Wolfe book i read and this is probably one of the weirdest starting points to an author's work. my reason i picked this is because of the beautiful cover art and the basic description sounded interesting. so i will go out and say this book has some really awesome ideas but it was confusing to follow at times.
the pacing is very fast and is a good page turner and its not a boring book to read. i just think the way how it jumps around and introduces the characters can be hard to follow. the characters are decent but i feel like there is abit too many of them. also the final sections of this book seem like it was going to be epic but it felt rushed with not a lot of detail to the climax wish is a shame since there was one part of it that sounded so weird that it was awesome and i would have loved to hear more about it.
i think this is a book that is hard to recommend to most people but i'm sure a lot of gene Wolfe fans will love it and maybe on a reread i would like it more but as of now i think its an average book that could have been a huge favorite. so i don't hate it or love it. i do want to read other gene Wolfe books, i just think this is not a beginner friendly book to be introduced to.
the pacing is very fast and is a good page turner and its not a boring book to read. i just think the way how it jumps around and introduces the characters can be hard to follow. the characters are decent but i feel like there is abit too many of them. also the final sections of this book seem like it was going to be epic but it felt rushed with not a lot of detail to the climax wish is a shame since there was one part of it that sounded so weird that it was awesome and i would have loved to hear more about it.
i think this is a book that is hard to recommend to most people but i'm sure a lot of gene Wolfe fans will love it and maybe on a reread i would like it more but as of now i think its an average book that could have been a huge favorite. so i don't hate it or love it. i do want to read other gene Wolfe books, i just think this is not a beginner friendly book to be introduced to.
June 9, 2025
Har haft lite tid att smälta den nu, det behöver man ofta med Wolfes verk. Som alltid är den märkligt. Stilistisk så är den mesta dels ganska alldaglig — kanske vad man kan förvänta sig av en mysterieroman — även om den stundtals lyfter till betydligt högre litterära höjder (men inte i närheten av vad Wolfe kan åstadkomma… han är so tokig när han leker stilistiskt).
Boken börjar som en ganska ordinär men ändå spännande, fyndig och mystiskt spökhistoria men blir bara mer och mer och mer konstig för att framåt slutet påminna om en dålig tripp gift med arthurianska myter och smäckfull med mäktiga scener (Den vilda jakten var kanske min personliga favorit, väldigt mäktig!). Som vanligt är Wolfe väldigt subtil i sina ledtrådar (som ofta kräver mer eller mindre obscura kunskaper som han inte tillhandahåller för att lösa) och de flesta gåtor är nog ännu olösta för mig — vem är Lucie och varför pratar hon franska? Varför säger Will att Valse Triste är från Peer Gynt? Vem, om någon, är kung Arthur?
Boken börjar som en ganska ordinär men ändå spännande, fyndig och mystiskt spökhistoria men blir bara mer och mer och mer konstig för att framåt slutet påminna om en dålig tripp gift med arthurianska myter och smäckfull med mäktiga scener (Den vilda jakten var kanske min personliga favorit, väldigt mäktig!). Som vanligt är Wolfe väldigt subtil i sina ledtrådar (som ofta kräver mer eller mindre obscura kunskaper som han inte tillhandahåller för att lösa) och de flesta gåtor är nog ännu olösta för mig — vem är Lucie och varför pratar hon franska? Varför säger Will att Valse Triste är från Peer Gynt? Vem, om någon, är kung Arthur?
November 13, 2021
This is one of my all time favorite books. What I love about it, is the very thing that most readers dislike. I’m not gonna give you a pretentious “you just don’t get it “ explanation. Let’s be real, this is art and everyone is different. The best description that lets you know exactly what you are about to get into, is the very description that made me want to jump right in. It can best be described as reading a David Lynch film. It is a beautiful work of surreal art. The bizarre and sometimes lack of structure is the beauty of it. It would be the same as renting Mulholland Falls and accidentally picking up Mulholland drive. So if you aren’t into this sort of thing, by all means pass it up. If you do want to read, reread and interpret a story in ways that are probably nowhere near where Gene Wolfe was going with it, you will love it.
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March 28, 2025I need to pore over a couple lengthy analysis write-ups (and a possible reread of the novel in relatively short order) prior to casting a proper rating and assessment. As with any Wolfe story (even a relatively shorter one like Castleview), it's a thousand-piece puzzle my brain is still shifting together, a mine in which my laboring pickaxe seeks buried gems.
That being said, this is a very good, fast-paced read, allusive in the best ways, and undoubtedly one of Wolfe's more accessible books at surface level.
"Whether liketh you better, said Merlin, the sword of the scabbard? Me liketh better the sword, said Arthur. Ye are more unwise, said Merlin, for the scabbard is worth ten of the swords, for whiles ye have the scabbard upon you, ye shall never lose no blood be ye never so sore wounded, therefore keep well the scabbard always with you."
That being said, this is a very good, fast-paced read, allusive in the best ways, and undoubtedly one of Wolfe's more accessible books at surface level.
"Whether liketh you better, said Merlin, the sword of the scabbard? Me liketh better the sword, said Arthur. Ye are more unwise, said Merlin, for the scabbard is worth ten of the swords, for whiles ye have the scabbard upon you, ye shall never lose no blood be ye never so sore wounded, therefore keep well the scabbard always with you."
December 13, 2018
Loaded with English mythology, cohabitated somehow with a 20th c Illinois town, this story is a hard sell from the beginning and never quite overcomes the daunting challenge. The arbitrariness of the premise is the thing. Coming from an author who is capable of so much more, I wonder if this isn't an early manuscript unearthed and published to capitalize on his New Sun fame. Gene Wolfe is certainly capable of better than this screwball story of regular people wrestling with powers and personae of the faerie realm. There are standout moments but overall the story is adrift in conflicting story elements and falls short of what could have been an intriguing tale of urban dislocation.
January 26, 2023
Wolfe has his limits. His characters are thoughtful, rational creatures, the likes of which are almost never witnessed in the blinking, sweating world. Women get short shrift and don't get your hopes for nuanced depictions of non-white people. His prose is hefty and one can expect digressions at every turn of a hat. For all these criticisms, Gene Wolfe is still one of my favorite writers ever and I'll read his work over and over again if I have to. Castleview ranks on the lower end of his stories for my tastes, but I still enjoyed the snot out of it.
Recommended for those who lack a belief of sin, but still do it anyway.
Recommended for those who lack a belief of sin, but still do it anyway.
June 19, 2025
I can understand why this one throws so many readers - It's going to take a second pass to really appreciate the characters' motivations. The collision of mythology and folklore in the finale is superb, though, if you're into that.
Check it if you're already into Wolfe, especially if you wonder how he'd fare at a dime-store paperback.
Check it if you're already into Wolfe, especially if you wonder how he'd fare at a dime-store paperback.
December 4, 2020
One of the most confusing books I have ever read. Didn’t know what it was about and only have a vague idea after finishing it. Could’ve easily been a much better book if the author had made a little more effort in writing so that it made sense.
July 23, 2022
One of Wolfe's more playfully obscure novels, sometimes to its detriment, and suffers from slightly odd pacing in its last movements. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/200...
August 24, 2022
3.5 out of 5
A little vague, confusing, meandering- but full of neat characters and wild, fairy-tale happenings. It doesn't make sense most of the time, but it paints a pretty (and pretty scary) picture
A little vague, confusing, meandering- but full of neat characters and wild, fairy-tale happenings. It doesn't make sense most of the time, but it paints a pretty (and pretty scary) picture
May 30, 2023
Wolfe’s best books combine remarkable surface pleasure with incredible hidden depths. While Castleview undoubtedly has it depths, its surface issues (wild pacing, scattershot character motivation) place it among his least satisfying books. Its stretches of brilliance deserved better.
May 10, 2025
Eh, it was OK. Seemed to take forever to get something going. I think my main issue with Wolfe is that I read The Book of the New Sun, which is amazing, and everything after that pales in comparison.
July 4, 2017
Sometimes a song will move you, but the next time it will leave you cold. Perhaps if I were to read this book again, I wouldn't score it as high. How did it make 5 stars, despite the 3 stars it was heading for halfway through? I don't know. Was it anything to do with the gin-and-tonic I was drinking when I read the last 20%? Perhaps. All I know, is that for me, it made the step up to something special. In the first half, the abrupt changes of POV caused me to re-start reading many paragraphs. It was an annoyance. Yet somehow, as the book progressed, this became a stylistic reflection of the nature of the plot: full of hairpin turns.
Castleview is a strange book. It has a sense of the uncanny. It's as much a horror as a fantasy. It's also enigmatic and impenetrable, at least to my intellect. They say Gene Wolfe's work is best re-read. Perhaps that's true, but I never think I will "understand " it. Literature shouldn't principally be a puzzle to solve, so I hope Mr Wolfe will forgive my lack of appetite for "solving" Casteview. I loved it, let's just leave it at that. And I think you will get more enjoyment out of it too, if you just "go with it" and relish the prose, dialogue and characterization. I did, anyway. Oh, and pour yourself a G&T.
Castleview is a strange book. It has a sense of the uncanny. It's as much a horror as a fantasy. It's also enigmatic and impenetrable, at least to my intellect. They say Gene Wolfe's work is best re-read. Perhaps that's true, but I never think I will "understand " it. Literature shouldn't principally be a puzzle to solve, so I hope Mr Wolfe will forgive my lack of appetite for "solving" Casteview. I loved it, let's just leave it at that. And I think you will get more enjoyment out of it too, if you just "go with it" and relish the prose, dialogue and characterization. I did, anyway. Oh, and pour yourself a G&T.
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