Condition: Acceptable. Former library book. Please see the images for more details. May show signs of wear such as:
• Shelf wear or scuffing on the cover
• Creases, marks, or tears on pages or dust jacket
• Possible remainder marks or previous owner’s name/notes inside
First printing: November 1985
Cover art: Enric
Blurb: “The completion of the contemporary mas-terpiece, The Book of the New Sun, established for Gene Wolfe the unexcelled reputation as the great living master of prose style in the science fiction field. The Chicago Sun-Times said, as the last volume was pub-lished, "It's not difficult to call him science fiction's best genuine novelist.
Now, at the height of his powers, Wolfe gives us FREE LIVE FREE, another major work of science fiction.
A private detective, a witch, a salesman and a prostitute, four people brought together by fate, are searching for the lost treasure of Benjamin Free. "Free Live Free", said the newspaper ad, and Jim Stubb, the out-of-work detective; Madame Serpentina, the occultist;
Ozzie Barnes, the salesman who has lost his confidence; and Candy Garth, the generous and overweight prostitute; all come together for a time in Free's old house, a house scheduled for demolition to make way for a high-
Each of the four respects the kindly old Free, who drops hints of his exile from his homeland, and of the key to his return which he has hidden in the house and lost, and now can no longer use. Then the day of eviction comes, and in the melee our characters create in their battle with the police, Free disappears.
Their efforts to save the house fail, and it is partially destroyed.
What is the key?
To Barnes and Candy, it is money; to Stubb, it is a mystery to be solved; to Serpentina, it is transcendent knowledge. In the aftermath of the destruction, together in a nearby hotel suite, the four form a compact to search both for Free and for his treasure.
And the search takes them far beyond their
wildest dreams.
Gene Wolfe, in a class by himself, has created a deep, articulate story of four carefully conceived characters, a novel of science fiction worthy to stand beside The Book of the New Sun.
GENE WOLFE
Gene Wolfe lives in Barrington, Illinois. He has frequently been nominated for all the major awards in the SF field and has won, among others, the Nebula Award and John W.
Campbell Memorial Award and the World Fantasy Award, for best novel of the year.
Aside from the four novels that comprise The Book of the New Sun, his works include the novels, Peace, and The Fifth Head of Cerberus, and several story collections, including The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories.
Cover art by Enric
Cover design by Joe Curcio