A review by stephenmeansme
The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe

4.0

Three linked novellas about cyclic conquest and colonization. From the setting itself - the twin worlds of Saint-Croix and Sainte-Anne (endlessly circling each other) - to the layers of castes and inhabitants - first the native(?) Annese, half-legendary and maybe-probably extinct, then French human colonists, then non-French human colonists. The title novella, first in the triptych, is about the tyranny of generations. The second is literally "A Story," possibly of Annese provenance, but one of those only written down after the conquest, so the influence of the conqueror is obscure but there. The third is a twisted Kafkaesque mystery, starting from the never-explained initials of the title (we know they're the initials of a character, whose nature and place in the story is even more mysterious) and running right through the multiple overlapping narratives.

In other words, Wolfe is one hell of a writer. I think now that he is probably better at novella length or longer (odd for an sf writer!) even though some of the stories in "The Death of Doctor Island and Other Stories and Other Stories" were quite good and I really couldn't get into his later novel "Home Fires." This might be a bit twisty for a first read, definitely for a first excursion into sf.