Wolfe's fiction is dense but rewarding, and his use of language is often stunning. He makes good use of obscure words, not to show off, but to enhance the grandeur and alienness of his settings. The series is set far into the future. The books chronicle his begining life as part of his guild, through his exile and wanderings and meetings with the strange cultures and inhabitants of the Earth of the very distant future. His moral struggles are played out in his straightforward narration, but they lie under the surface of his adventures.
Mysteries abound, and many secrets are revealed to the careful reader.
There are stories within stories, and even a play within the story. The series is now complete with the release of the final book, and is being reprinted in two omnibus editions Nightside the Long Sun Lake of the Long Sun Calde of the Long Sun Exodus from the Long Sun The Book of the Long Sun has now been added to by Wolfe's new series, the Book of the Short Sun . The cargo of the Long Sun Whorl have made it to Blue, the new colony world. Now Horn, a student of Patera Silk's, must journey back to the Whorl to find Silk to get his assistance in overcoming their difficulties. Not the least of which is the alien and vampiric Inhumi .