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A review by cheezvshcrvst
An Evil Guest by Gene Wolfe
4.0
Dialogue was superb, and it was an excellent multi-genre novel. Somehow felt a bit severed at the end there, almost as though there was more story to tell or else the main part of the story was omitted. Enjoyable read still the same.
**Edit (2022 reread)**
Okay, time travel, some scathing criticisms of Lovecraft (or was that my own interpretation), and… well, really, An Evil Guest has me trying to decide if what I think of it or understand about it changes with me or with the ongoing global destruction wrought by capitalism or somehow the knowing that many of the references Wolfe makes will be lost to time even as certain elements remain present or will emerge in the future… I don’t know. Rating this book as good or bad, or any one thing or another, is kind of missing the point. Money is the root of all evil, but there are also evils far older. Cassie is not a strong female protagonist, but she’s also very obviously not the main character except to herself (and aren’t we all.) Physics, alchemy, travel/colonialism, celebrity obsession, and greed are all plot points as well as the ensemble cast. What’s there to know about what Wolfe doesn’t tell us? And, kindly, be sarcastic about it when you ask: what *didn’t* Wolfe tell us in this novel? (It’s there that those themes and plot points are most *obviously* the story.)
**Edit (2022 reread)**
Okay, time travel, some scathing criticisms of Lovecraft (or was that my own interpretation), and… well, really, An Evil Guest has me trying to decide if what I think of it or understand about it changes with me or with the ongoing global destruction wrought by capitalism or somehow the knowing that many of the references Wolfe makes will be lost to time even as certain elements remain present or will emerge in the future… I don’t know. Rating this book as good or bad, or any one thing or another, is kind of missing the point. Money is the root of all evil, but there are also evils far older. Cassie is not a strong female protagonist, but she’s also very obviously not the main character except to herself (and aren’t we all.) Physics, alchemy, travel/colonialism, celebrity obsession, and greed are all plot points as well as the ensemble cast. What’s there to know about what Wolfe doesn’t tell us? And, kindly, be sarcastic about it when you ask: what *didn’t* Wolfe tell us in this novel? (It’s there that those themes and plot points are most *obviously* the story.)