Critically acclaimed science-fiction/fantasy writer Gene Wolfe, best known for his Book of the New Sun series, died April 14 at age 87. He was the author of more than 30 novels and nine short story collections, for which he won multiple Nebula Awards, Locus Awards and World Fantasy Awards. Wolfe received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 1996 and was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2007.
After being drafted into the Korean War, Wolfe became an industrial engineer and was a senior editor for the trade publication Plant Engineering. He developed the machine that cooks Pringles potato chips. The success of the first two entries in the Book of the New Sun series, The Shadow of the Torturer (1980) and The Claw of the Conciliator (1981), allowed Wolfe to pursue writing full-time. The other two volumes in the Book of the New Sun, which can be considered either four separate books or a single four-volume work, are The Sword of the Lictor (1982) and The Citadel of the Autarch (1983).
The Book of the New Sun series takes place on a far future Earth where the Sun has dimmed and the planet is cooler. It follows Severian, a disgraced apprentice in the torturer's guild and an unreliable narrator, despite his self-proclaimed perfect memory. Wolfe continued what became known as the Solar Cycle by setting The Book of the Long Sun (1993-1996, four volumes) and The Book of the Short Sun (1999-2001, three volumes) in the same universe. Wolfe was much admired by other authors. In a 2011 Guardian article, Neil Gaiman called him "the finest living male American writer of SF and fantasy--possibly the finest living American writer." --Tobias Mutter
