steve_pikov 's review for:

The Fifth Head of Cerberus: Three Novellas by Gene Wolfe by Gene Wolfe

3.5

challenging mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

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Think of this not as merely a collection of novellas, but as a trilogy of them set in the same twin-planet system, with Marsch as the character who unifies them. He's a minor character in the first, and the narrator of the folkloric origin tale in the second. In the third, he's the focal character, imprisoned for an unnamed crime by a brutal regime disturbed by the shape-changing nature of the Indigenous population. Still relevant for anyone concerned with Indigenous-Settler issues, and complicated enough to merit re-reading.