by Gene Wolfe

isbn: 0312872275
subject: SF, Fiction and Literature, Short Stories
finished: 2/5/2000

Because Strange Travelers collects a number of short stories (previously published elsewhere) that Wolfe has written over the past decade, I was not expecting them to be tied together by a common theme. The theme, however, is strongly apparent: in each story, a character attempts to escape from a dismal situation or existence -- these attempts do not often succeed. That's not to say that some of the stories aren't funny, but the overall tone is bleak. As always, Wolfe's stories repay careful reading -- I read this book rather quickly and shudder to think of how much I missed. I enjoyed this collection a lot, but readers new to Wolfe would probably do better to begin with The Fifth Head of Cerberus or The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories.