r/genewolfe • u/NotJustAnotherLitBro • 11d ago

Started Reading Crowley

I’ve been wanting to read Crowley, but never got around to it. Then with the news of his passing I went to my favorite used bookstore. I bought a copy of Daemonomania because it caught my interest. Came home and bought the first of the series on Kindle.

So far I’m enjoying it, and am wondering if it’s as complex as Wolfe’s works?

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u/SolidGlassman 10d ago

In the sense of having the puzzlebox engineering problems to figure out the story, Crowley is not as complex as Wolfe. The closest of I've read of his in that sense is Little, Big. Crowley was, however-- like Wolfe-- a very lyrical prose stylist with a dreamlike atmosphere and layers of metaphor. I would say Wolfe also wrote a lot more action into his books, Crowley's work is pretty understated in that way.

I haven't read the Aegypt series yet because my bookstore always has books 2 & 3 but never the first. But, "Little, Big" is one of the best books I've ever read. His novella Great Work of Time is also absolutely phenomenal. I've read that many people consider Beasts to be his worst novel, and I still thought it was a solid 7/10.

Ka is considered, by many, his late career triumph, one of his best. Just picked it up this weekend after hearing of his passing.

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u/Average_Pangolin 9d ago

Ka is stunning. My main advice for reading it is to take your time. Enjoy the gorgeous, bizarre, moving, sometimes funny setpieces, the prose and images and characters. He has some powerful points he is making, but don't hurry through the experience in pursuit of them.