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Title: The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories by Gene Wolfe ISBN: 0-312-86354-3 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 15 July, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4.93 (15 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: A Treasury of Magnificent Fiction
Comment: Two fantastic stories, "The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories" and "Seven American Nights" bookend another excellent collection from the masterful Wolfe. Several of the stories contained herein were award nominees...and rightfully so. With each story, the reader gains more appreciation for the skill employed by Wolfe. Truly he is a master storyteller.

The two stories mentioned above stand out as the masterworks of the collection. Each is a touching and delicate rumination on love and the tender connections that bind us to one another. In "The Island..." a young boy retreats into the fantasy setting of a Dr. Moreau-type novel when his chaotic family situation comes to a head. (This is only one way to read the story. A literal interpretation makes the story even more interesting and is hardly improbable in a Wolfe story) "Seven American Nights" tells thte tale of a young Middle Eastern man who comes to a ruined (post-apocalyptic?) America in search of a nebulous goal (Wolfe twice tantalizingly mentions something hidden beneath a mountain. Nuclear Weapons?) The young man is entranced by a young actress and his quest is subsumed by desire. A masterful piece.

Other standout stories inlcude "The Toy Theater" about a powerful puppeteer and "The Eyeflash Miracles" wherein a blind boy travels with a deranged ex-school superintendent.

Wolfe tells dense yet powerful stories. I don't claim to fully understand his works, but I do make the attempt. I've yet to read the Gene Wolfe story that wasn't worth my time. He is one of th most accomplished American writers today. This collection of his early short fiction is a marvelous collection and should be read. Highly recommended.

Rating: 5
Summary: This is one of the best short story collections ever.
Comment: I'm usually hesitant about rating books as 9s or 10s on Amazon's scale. There are only perhaps a few dozen books of all time that I'd rate as 10s, and they tend to be written by the likes of Tolstoy and Cervantes. Even within a narrow category, where 10 means "best of this category," I'm hesitant about giving 10s. But, whether the caterory is "modern science fiction" or "20th century short story collections," Gene Wolfe's The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories and Other Stories gets at least a 9 or 9.5 (and we can round that off to 10 since 9.5 isn't one of the choices). Wolfe's collection is superb. It features all three of his Island -- Doctor -- Death stories ("The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories," "The Death of Dr. Island," and the "Doctor of Death Island"), all three of which are superb. The collection also features such wonderful short works as "Seven American Nights," "Alien Stones," The Hero as Werewolf," and "The Eyeflash Miracles." As you can probably guess from the title, the three Island -- Doctor -- Death stories form the heart of the collection. They are amazing not only in that all are great stories but that, despite the title similarities, each is different from the other. "The Island of Dr. Death," deals with a young boy who flees life by entering the fantasy world of the book he is reading -- a book that sounds as if it were The Island of Dr. Moreau as written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. "The Death of Dr. Island," possibly the best story in the book and one of the best SF stories ever written, deals with a three young sociopaths receiving therapy in a space station. Dr. Island is the "island" in the space station providing the therapy. The story examines human interaction, as well as what we do and don't value in life, on multiple levels. "The Doctor of Death Island" involves a prisoner who awakes from a cryogenic sleep only to find that humans are now virtually immortal and that a life sentence is still a life sentence. The ending is literally Dickensian. There is not a bad story in this book. The collection as a whole ranks with the best Wolfe has produced, which means that it compares favorably not only to any SF you care to mention but to any modern fiction you care to mention

Rating: 5
Summary: Wolfe's best collection.
Comment: His Castle of Days comes at the second place.
One other reviewer called this a perfect introduction to Wolfe. It certainly is. Do not begin with The Fifth Head of Cerberus. That one might turn you off.
Wolfe is at his best in these short stories and he keeps publishing them. I hope an additional collection will appear. Even in his novels Gene Wolfe holds tight to his concept of creating tiny gems of writing. Every chapter in the Book of the New Sun could be seen as a short story. Some of them might well stand alone. Will make some weird reading, but that's Wolfe.
This is a review of this collection, so I will return to this book now. This language is one of the best prose I have yet encountered. Vladimir Nabokov is another superb stylist. If the language won't sedate you the ideas will.
This is so good! On par with the greatest of short story writers. Certainly the top of SF in general.
I'm not giving away anything. Just buy yourself a copy and start reading, slowly. Give it the time it needs. SF readers are generally not used to this kind of writing, but don't think you can't handle it. I don't think that many non-SF/F readers come here, but that's fine. They don't know what they're missing.
Other readers recommended the more favorite stories in this collection. Follow their advice. Start with them.

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	Title: The Fifth Head of Cerberus : Three Novellas by Gene Wolfe ISBN: 0312890206 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 15 March, 1994 List Price(USD): $12.95
	Title: Castle of Days by Gene Wolfe ISBN: 0312890427 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 15 March, 1995 List Price(USD): $14.95
	Title: The Urth of the New Sun : The sequel to 'The Book of the New Sun' by Gene Wolfe ISBN: 0312863942 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 15 November, 1997 List Price(USD): $15.95
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