 First (limited) edition | |
| Author | Gene Wolfe |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Carl Lundgren |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Mark V. Ziesing |
Publication date | 1984 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 496 |
| ISBN | 0-9612970-1-8 |
Free Live Free is a novel by American writer Gene Wolfe, first published in 1984.
Mr. Free has a house which is slated for demolition. He puts an ad in a newspaper advertising free living quarters to anyone who helps him find a mysterious lost object hidden in the house. Four strangers (a mystic, a private eye, a prostitute, and a salesman) arrive.
The novel was initially published as a limited edition small press item in 1984, then mass market published by Gollancz in 1985. In 1999, it was republished by Tor Books, with an appendix intended to "untangle some of the more serpentine elements of the plot." [1]
In Starburst , David Langford called Free Live Free a "fine, delightful book", while emphasizing that it is ultimately "unclassifiable". [2]
Dave Langford reviewed Free Live Free for White Dwarf #71, and stated that "the final surprises aren't even the kind of surprises anticipated. I refuse to say more. It's a breath of fresh air. Read it." [3]
Kirkus Reviews described it as "an uneasy, lurching mix of fantasy, science fiction, and mystery", stated that the conclusion was "a bust", and asked why Wolfe "can't put together a book that fully convinces and satisfies." [4]
At the SF Site, Jean-Louis Trudel called it "deeply engaging", with "a compassion not always evident in Wolfe's other books", but felt that its conclusion was "a bit of a letdown", with certain revelations and explanations being "not entirely persuasive". [5]
CNN states that it is "outrageous", "ingenious", "highly entertaining", and "masterful", but concedes that the ending is not only "contrived", but "confusing", and that only "Wolfe's mastery of the written word" prevents the novel from being entirely burlesque. [1]
Blood Music is a science fiction novel by American writer Greg Bear. It was originally published as a short story in 1983 in the American science fiction magazine Analog Science Fact & Fiction, winning the 1983 Nebula Award for Best Novelette and the 1984 Hugo Award for Best Novelette.
Footfall is a 1985 science fiction novel by American writers Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. The book depicts the arrival of members of an alien species called the Fithp that have traveled to the Solar System from Alpha Centauri in a large spacecraft driven by a Bussard ramjet. Their intent is conquest of the planet Earth.
Valentine Pontifex is a novel by Robert Silverberg published in 1983.
Mindkiller is a 1982 science fiction novel by American writer Spider Robinson. The novel, set in the late 1980s, explores the social implications of technologies to manipulate the brain, beginning with wireheading, the use of electric current to stimulate the pleasure center of the brain in order to achieve a narcotic high.
Gene Wolfe's Book of Days is a short story collection by American science fiction author Gene Wolfe published in 1981 by Doubleday.
Bones of the Moon is a novel by American writer Jonathan Carroll, depicting the real and dream life of a young woman. Like many of Carroll's works, it straddles the horror and fantasy genres.
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Software is a 1982 cyberpunk science fiction novel written by Rudy Rucker. It won the first Philip K. Dick Award in 1983. The novel is the first book in Rucker's Ware Tetralogy, and was followed by a sequel, Wetware, in 1988.
Dayworld is a science fiction novel by American writer Philip José Farmer. Published in 1985, it is the first in the Dayworld tetralogy of novels inspired by Farmer's own 1971 short story "The Sliced-Crosswise Only-On-Tuesday World". There are two sequels - Dayworld Rebel (1987) and Dayworld Breakup (1990) - and one prequel, Dayworld: A Hole in Wednesday, co-authored by Danny Adams (2016).
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The Annals of the Heechee is a science fiction novel by the American writer Frederik Pohl, published in 1987 by Ballantine Books. It is about a dead space explorer's machine-stored version who is trying to discover why the Assassins, a mysterious type of pure energy beings, are threatening the stability of the universe. It is part of Pohl's Heechee Saga, which is about the Heechee, a fictional alien race created by Pohl. The Heechee developed advanced technologies, including interstellar space travel, but then disappeared.
Night Hunter is a novel series by Robert P Faulcon published beginning in 1983.
Starburst is a science fiction novel by American writer Frederik Pohl, published in 1982.
Mute is a novel by Piers Anthony published in 1981.
The Book of Being is a novel by Ian Watson published in 1985.
Modern Science Fiction and the American Literary Community is a book by Frederick Andrew Lerner published in 1985.
Pohlstars is a collection by Frederik Pohl published in 1984.
Natfact 7 is a novel by John Tully published in 1984.