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The Barnes & Noble Review
The Wizard, the second and concluding volume of Gene Wolfe's Wizard Knight duology, is so much more than an epic fantasy about a boy's transformation into a fearless knight in a realm filled with giants, dragons, and mischievous elves. It's a deeply moving existential tale about the important things in life -- namely one's honor.
When a teenage boy from modern-day America suddenly finds himself in Mythgarthr -- the middle realm of a strange universe that contains seven interconnecting worlds -- and is transformed into a hulking knight by an irresistibly beautiful elf queen, he begins a perilous quest to not only retrieve a legendary sword but also to find out what it means to be a hero. In The Wizard, Sir Able of the High Heart is a much-changed man. The teenager stuck inside the body of an adult warrior has slain dragons, defeated nightmarish foes, led armies, and visited numerous fantastical realms. Accompanied by a unicorn steed, a talking cat, a supernatural demon-dog named Gylf, and a small group of unlikely friends, Able is delayed in his quest to somehow reunite with his beloved elf queen by a strict code of honor that forces him to battle frost giants, seductive sorceresses, and egomaniacal kings.
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction describes Wolfe as "neither the most popular nor the most influential author in the sf field" but concludes that "[he] is today quite possibly the most important." Science fiction, horror, speculative fiction...and now -- after writing the Wizard Knight duology -- Wolfe can add fantasy to his list of genres mastered. Paul Goat Allen
Bill Sheehan
One of the central achievements of The Knight -- an achievement Wolfe sustains in the second volume -- is its fresh, vivid rendering of some very familiar elements. Able's experiences in the Seven Worlds include knightly quests, pitched battles, trials by combat and assorted tests of honor. In the course of his adventures, he encounters flesh-eating ogres, bellicose giants, undead witches and warriors, seductive sorceresses and (of course) maidens in distress. Each of these encounters seems newly minted and original, and that is no mean accomplishment. One of the many high points is an airborne battle between Able and a fire-breathing dragon named Grengarm. This beautifully described set piece ends the opening installment, setting the stage for this larger, ultimately superior second volume.
— The Washington Post
Publishers Weekly
The teenage boy who wandered into another set of realities in Wolfe's The Knight has attained his ambition of knighthood. Now, as Sir Able of the High Heart, he returns in this sequel riding a steed that's not a horse, wielding his magic sword and bound by oath not to use his new otherworldly powers. Such a summary is like saying a spoonful of tap water constitutes the whole of all oceans. Wolfe's words wash over the reader with transparent grace and charming playfulness as he spins his profoundly imaginative, metaphysically complex, yet ever-entertaining tale with astonishing naturalness. In trademark Wolfian fashion, the memory-altered protagonist acts as narrator, telling the truth whenever possible and to the full extent of his own understanding. This second volume satisfactorily supplies many answers to the riddles and allusions of its tantalizing predecessor, but posits new mysteries as well. The novel stands alone and might even be best if read before The Knight, but will surely drive readers to the first as well. The conclusion hints at possible further adventures. Outstanding fantasy these days is often convincingly and compellingly anti-Tolkien, but Wolfe proves one can tell an epic, myth-based story of honor, loyalty, courage and faith relevant to our own dark times. This is fantasy at its best: revelatory and inspirational. Agent, the Virginia Kidd Agency. (Nov. 10) Forecast: Wolfe has won the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, among many other major awards. Expect this two-book saga (The Knight was published earlier this year) to win him a few more. This is far more accessible than his earlier multivolume masterpiece, The Book of the New Sun (1980-1983). Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
The grand conclusion to a fantasy two-parter about a knight with the soul of a teenaged boy. In The Knight (2003), Wolfe sent an American teenager into another world, a multitiered fantasy universe divided into seven different planes of existence. There, he became known as Sir Abel of the High Heart, a powerful knight with a sword, Eterne, that your average hero would kill for. Now, we find Abel having recently come back to the land of Mythgarthr. Although he's aged some 20 years in the realm of Skye, the passing of time there doesn't really seem to follow the standard rules, and, while he doesn't seem very mature, he definitely isn't a kid anymore. A seasoned warrior, Abel is in the midst of a struggle between the realm of King Arnthor against a race of Frost Giants intent on raiding south into the hotter lands to capture human slaves to work their fields. The Wizard's first half allows Abel to tell about his struggles in this conflict, and he's an engaging narrator, though given to the prolix. When Wolfe shifts the action away from Abel, though, and turns to the diplomatic efforts of his squires Svon and Toug (and Mani, the speaking cat: less gimmicky than it sounds) in their effort to stop the giant-human fighting, the action shifts into high gear and the comprehension factor (despite the upfront list of dramatis personae) begins ratcheting dramatically downward. Wolfe likes to spin spiderwebs of plot and counterplot inside his impressively constructed universes, and fortunately his innate sense of humor keeps matters from getting impossibly dense. Even as he trots out the fantasy tropes (elf-like beings, a battle with a dragon, jousting matches, honorable peasants, arrogant royalty),he both undercuts expectations and fulfills them in each and every page. Mordant, thrilling, all tangled up in heavy knots of double-crossing and magic.
