''The Sorcerer's House'' is a 2010

epistolary Epistolary means "in the form of a letter or letters", and may refer to: * Epistolary ( la, epistolarium), a Christian liturgical book containing set readings for church services from the New Testament Epistles * Epistolary novel * Epistolary poem ...

fantasy novel by Gene Wolfe. It was published by Tor Books.Fiction Book Review: The Sorcerer’s House by Gene Wolfe, Author Tor $24.99 (302p)
, at '' Publishers Weekly''; published January 11, 2010; retrieved October 7, 2016

Synopsis

When ex-convict Baxter Dunn squats in an abandoned house in the town of Medicine Man, he discovers numerous strange and supernatural phenomena – not least of which is that he has been retroactively declared the house's legal owner.

Reception

'' Publishers Weekly'' called ''House'' "a complex, spellbinding web", and "a book of wonders" that "speaks eloquently about the nature of responsibility and family", but faulted the "rushed, incoherent ending", and the extent to which many characters were

stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...

s; similarly, at '' io9'',

Charlie Jane Anders Charlie Jane Anders is an American writer and commentator. She has written several novels, published magazines and websites, and hosted podcasts. In 2005, she received the Lambda Literary Award for work in the transgender category, and in 2009, t ...

emphasized that the novel was "really splendid", with "more than enough cleverness and fun", but described ''House'' as "pretty much lightweight fluff" when compared to other works by Wolfe, and stated that it "runs out of narrative steam towards the end",Gene Wolfe's New Novel: Another Weird House Book
by

, at '' io9''; published May 12, 2010; retrieved October 7, 2016 while ''

Fantasy Magazine A fantasy fiction magazine, or fantasy magazine, is a magazine which publishes primarily fantasy fiction. Not generally included in the category are magazines for children with stories about such characters as Santa Claus. Also not included ar ...

'' specified that although it was an "excellent novel" which was "quite absorbing", it was also "by Wolfe's standards, fairly simple", and "not great Wolfe, but good Wolfe".The Sorcerer’s House by Gene Wolfe
reviewed by Rich Horton, at ''

''; published March 2010; retrieved October 7, 2010 '' Pop Matters'' commended Wolfe for the novel's accessibility and readability, deeming it an excellent introduction to Wolfe's writing, and noted that since ''House'' is set in the present day, no

lexicon A lexicon is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Koine Greek language, Greek word (), neuter of () ...

is required (unlike with many of Wolfe's other novels).The Sorcerer's House by Gene Wolfe
reviewed by Robert Moore, in '' Pop Matters''; published March 14, 2010; retrieved October 7, 2016 '' Locus''s Paul Witcover, however, concluded that ''House'' would be a disappointment even for Wolfe aficionados, as it has "all of Wolfe's tylistictics (...) on full display", and that despite having a "tangled and complicated" plot with "cunning complexity and (an) intricately woven web of circumstance and identity", the novel is "essentially sterile".The Sorcerer's House, Gene Wolfe
reviewed by Paul Witcover, in '' Locus'', March 2010 (Issue 590 - Vol. 64, No. 3), page 23; archived online at LiveJournal

References

2010 fantasy novels Epistolary novels Novels by Gene Wolfe {{2010s-epistolary-novel-stub