in four volumes, by Gene Wolfe. Sci-Fi/Fantasy.
like Heinlein, Wolfe has some free-thinking ideas about gender identity and flexibility. Wolfe at his absolute best, Book of the New Sun, beginning with Shadow of the Torturer, is a massive alternate universe, in epic style. one of the few works i ever read twice, and i'm just itching to read it again. totally original. awesome, awesome writing. 

I got these books on your recommendation and I find them strangely haunting. While I was reading them I felt that the main story line; we went here; we did this and that was pretty ordinary. But there were attention grabbing creatures (aliens) and events (influencing human evolution and development) along the sidelines. I just wished the sidelines had more focus and the "we went here; we did this" had less focus. So I considered them good. Good but not great. Well, it has been a couple of weeks since I finished and I'm finding that there is a craving to re-read surfacing in my mind. What a trip!

Thanks.

Quote from: saraswatidevi on August 26, 2007, 06:21:34 PM
I got these books on your recommendation and I find them strangely haunting. While I was reading them I felt that the main story line; we went here; we did this and that was pretty ordinary. But there were attention grabbing creatures (aliens) and events (influencing human evolution and development) along the sidelines. I just wished the sidelines had more focus and the "we went here; we did this" had less focus. So I considered them good. Good but not great. Well, it has been a couple of weeks since I finished and I'm finding that there is a craving to re-read surfacing in my mind. What a trip!

Thanks.

i totally accept what you say about the storyline as "we went here; we did this"

that is what i was referring to as the stories' structure i.e., the epic style, which generally begins in one place, wanders through various adventures, and eventually returns home, like Ulysses in The Oddysey. 

it is my opinion that Gene Wolfe cannot function outside of this style, so please don't get sucked in to some of his other works -- except for the Soldier in the Mist series, which is excellent. (but it's also in the epic style). i hear there was a third book added to it recently, which i haven't read.