A review by beefmaster
Soldier of the Mist by Gene Wolfe

3.0

The worst parts about Wolfe's fiction is that things happen to the protagonists and then they lie about it, whether or not it benefits the character to obfuscate. They do it because that's what Wolfe likes. The protagonists trip merrily along while characters come and go. With the Book of the New Sun, the reader at least enjoys the thrill of recognition when faced with one of Wolfe's little mendacious creations (such as when you realize the Citadel at the beginning is probably an old spaceship). In Soldier of the Mist, the recognition is a bit dulled because who doesn't know that Athens = Athena = Thought (the name by which the characters refer to the polis). Latro goes about things, tripping along merrily, and I never quite got the sense of the larger picture. Why should I care that Demeter is using him as a pawn? For what? But luckily, it's as well written and polished and exacting as anything else I've read by Wolfe.