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by: Gene Wolfe  List Price: $25.95 Amazon.com's Price: $17.13 You Save: $8.82 (34%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Binding: HardcoverDewey Decimal Number: 813.54 EAN: 9780765321336 Edition: 1st ISBN: 0765321335 Label: Tor Books Manufacturer: Tor Books Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 304 Publication Date: September 16, 2008 Publisher: Tor Books Release Date: September 16, 2008 Studio: Tor Books Related Items:
Browse for similar items by category: Click to Display Editorial Review: Product Description: Lovecraft mets Blade Runner. This is a stand-alone supernatural horror novel with a 30s noir atmosphere. Gene Wolfe can write in whatever genre he wants--and always with superb style and profound depth. Now following his World Fantasy Award winner, Soldier of Sidon, and his stunning Pirate Freedom, Wolfe turns to the tradition of H.P. Lovecraft and the weird science tale of supernatural horror. Set a hundred years in the future, An Evil Guest is a story of an actress who becomes the lover of both a mysterious sorcerer and private detective, and an even more mysterious and powerful rich man, who has been to the human colony on an alien planet and learned strange things there. Her loyalties are divided--perhaps she loves them both. The detective helps her to release her inner beauty and become a star overnight. And the rich man is the benefactor of a play she stars in. But something is very wrong. Money can be an evil guest, but there are other evils. As Lovecraft said, "That is not dead which can eternal lie." Average Rating:
 Rating: - Pulp PostmodernismI want to start with a Spoiler Alert given the nature of this review. An Evil Guest is a post modern experiment which uses the conventions of a pulp novel to explore how narrative differs from life. In the first 3 chapters, Wolfe introduces a modernized 1930's environment complete with a Doc Savage like character (Gideon Chase) and a beautiful heroine (Cassie Casey). The stage is set for the introduction of the suitably mysterious villian. Jarring reader expectations, Wolfe uses the ... Read More Rating:  - brilliant fun...An Evil Guest follows other recent Wolfe novels (Pirate Freedom, Wizard/Knight) that pastiche various fantasy or SF forms of the past. Unlike the others I just mentioned, Evil Guest is broader in ambition and more more true to its (multiplicity of) sources. At its core, Evil Guest is basically a Hammett or Chandler "mystery" thriller circa 1930. The style, use of dialog, basic milieu, and plotting would feel right at home next to the Big Sleep or Maltese Falcon. Yet we have a completely ... Read More Rating:  - Not to my tastesFelt too much like work, rather than leisure. Felt like I had to struggle every paragraph to figure out if the context of the conversation had changed, why it might have changed, how it had changed, etc. I think there is a line that can be crossed between being cute and trying to make the reader think, and creating a story that is not understandable. I bought this because it was compared to two books I enjoyed greatly. Castleview and Free Live Free. I would compare this book ... Read More Rating: - A completely confusing messThis review saddens me very much to write. Gene Wolfe is my favorite author and I have read every one of his novels. With Wolfe you expect that his books will often not be straightforward but this book is just completely confusing. I mean seriosly does anyone really have a clue as to what actually happened in this book? This book very much reminds me of Castleview since it brings fantasy elements into everyday life. Castleview is not rated highly for a reason as it is confusing if not entertaining. ... Read More Rating:  - An odd one among his many odd booksSo sure I am that I will love them, that I buy all of Gene Wolfe's books in Hardcover as soon as they are released, and have done so for quite some time. Many of his earlier works and short story compilations are among my favorite for this genre. And everything about this book screamed I would love it - a masterful author writes Lovecraftian hard-boiled sci-fi... not something you find everywhere. I have to admit though, that this story was even more obtuse than expected, and seemed more like ... Read More 
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