The Fifth Head of Cerberus (S.F. Masterworks)

New
Paperback
2010
$10.79

Far from Earth two sister planets, Sainte Anne and Sainte Croix, circle each other. It is said that a race of shapeshifting aliens once lived here, only to become extinct when human colonists arrived. But one man believes they still exist, somewhere out in the wilderness.
In THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS, Gene Wolfe brilliantly interweaves three tales: a scientist's son gradual discovery of the bizarre secret of his heritage; a young man's mythic dreamquest for his darker half; the mystifying chronicle of an anthropologist's seemingly-arbitrary imprisonment. Gradually, a mesmerising pattern emerges.

Synopsis

Far from Earth two sister planets, Sainte Anne and Sainte Croix, circle each other. It is said that a race of shapeshifting aliens once lived here, only to become extinct when human colonists arrived. But one man believes they still exist, somewhere out in the wilderness.

In THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS, Gene Wolfe brilliantly interweaves three tales: a scientist's son gradual discovery of the bizarre secret of his heritage; a young man's mythic dreamquest for his darker half; the mystifying chronicle of an anthropologist's seemingly-arbitrary imprisonment. Gradually, a mesmerising pattern emerges.

$10.79

Quantity

10 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 240
Publisher: Gollancz
Published: 29 Mar 2010
ISBN 10: 0575094222
ISBN 13: 9780575094222
Book Overview: An SF masterpiece.

Media Reviews

Gene Wolfe is unique. If there were forty or fifty of this first-rate author--no, let's be reasonable and ask Higher Authorities for only four or five--American literature as a whole would be enormously enriched. -- Chicago Sun-Times
One of the major fictional works of the decade...Wolfe's novel, with its elusiveness and its beauty, haunts one long after reading it. --Pamela Sargent
A richly imaginative exploration of the nature of identity and individuality. --Malcolm Edwards, The Science Fiction Encyclopedia
SF for the thinking reader..The style is highly literate and the ideas sophisticated and handled with sensitivity. -- Amazing SF
One of the 100 best science fiction novels...A truly extraordinary work. One of the most cunningly wrought narratives in the whole of modern SF, a masterpiece of misdirection, subtle clues, and apparently casual revelations. --David Pringle

Author Bio

Gene Wolfe was born in New York and raised in Texas. He trained as a mechanical engineer, but began to publish short stories in the 1960s. He won a WORLD FANTASY AWARD for THE SHADOW OF THE TORTURER and a NEBULA for THE CLAW OF THE CONCILIATOR. He is a WORLD FANTASY LIFE ACHIEVEMENT winner.