Storeys from the Old Hotel by Gene Wolfe

Set in a bleak, distant future influenced by Jack Vance's Dying Earth series, the story details the life of Severian, a journeyman torturer, exiled from his guild for showing compassion to one of the condemned. His best-known and most highly regarded work is the multi-volume novel The Book of the New Sun. It was published in German and French-language editions within the decade. He first received critical attention for The Fifth Head of Cerberus ( Scribner's, 1972), which examines 'colonial mentality within an orthodox science fiction framework'. Wolfe's first published book was the paperback original novel Operation Ares ( Berkley Medallion, 1970). Wolfe died at his Peoria home from cardiovascular disease on April 14, 2019, at the age of 87. Wolfe said, 'There was a time when she did not remember my name or that we were married, but she still remembered that she loved me.' Wolfe's wife, Rosemary, died on December 14, 2013, after a series of illnesses, including Alzheimer's disease. Wolfe also underwent cataract surgery on his right eye in early 2013. Wolfe underwent double bypass surgery on April 24, 2010. The Wolfes moved to Peoria, Illinois in 2013. Wolfe lived in Barrington, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, with his wife Rosemary, where they raised four children.

He was a senior editor on the staff of the journal Plant Engineering for many years before retiring to write full-time, but his most famous professional engineering achievement is a contribution to the machine used to make Pringles potato chips. After returning to the United States, he earned a degree from the University of Houston and became an industrial engineer. Wolfe dropped out during his junior year and subsequently was drafted to fight in the Korean War. While attending Texas A&M University, he published his first speculative fiction in The Commentator, a student literary journal. He and his family moved to Houston when he was 6, and he went to high school and college in Texas, attending Lamar High School in Houston. Wolfe was born in New York City, the son of Mary Olivia ( née Ayers) and Emerson Leroy Wolfe. In 1998, Locus magazine ranked it the third-best fantasy novel published before 1990 based on a poll of subscribers that considered it and several other series as single entries. Wolfe is best known for his Book of the New Sun series (four volumes, 1980–1983), the first part of his 'Solar Cycle'. Wolfe has been called 'the Melville of science fiction', and was honored as a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He was a prolific short story writer and novelist, and won many literary awards. He was noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith. Gene Rodman Wolfe (– April 14, 2019) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer.

Storeys from the Old Hotel by Gene Wolfe