This is the start of a new major work by Gene Wolfe, the first of three volumes that comprise the 'Book Of The Short Sun', which takes place in the years after Wolfe's four-volume 'Book Of The Long Sun'.
Horn, who was the narrator of the earlier work, now tells his own story. Though life is hard on the newly settled planet of Blue, Horn and his family have made a decent life for themselves. But Horn is the only one who can locate the great leader Silk and convince him to return to Blue and lead them all to prosperity.
So Horn sets sail in a small boat on a long and difficult quest across the planet, trying to return to the Whorl - the giant interstellar ship still inhabited by the civilisation that brought the settlers to Blue - in search for the now legendary Patera Silk.
Gene Wolfe is the winner of the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, as well as the Nebula Award, the World Fantasy Award, the John W Campbell Memorial Award, the British Fantasy Award and the Prix Apollo.
