Soldier of Sidon by Gene Wolfe

…Considering how long Latro’s story has been waiting, readers could be forgiven for expecting Soldier of Sidon (published in 2006) to be a disappointment. Fortunately, both Wolfe and Latro have aged very well. Years have passed and Latro still cannot remember what happens from one day to the next… In Soldier of Sidon, Latro and his story move at a fast pace, but not so fast as to keep Wolfe from writing fantastically nuanced scenes… Four decades into his career, Wolfe’s writing remains reliably rich and his plots full of mystery, swords, and dazzling damsels (who are not necessarily as distressed as they appear). As in the first two Soldier books, Wolfe does his best to tell Latro’s adventures without overlooking the day-to-day life in an ancient civilization. Soldier of Sidon is a fine work, and perhaps the best thing about it is that it leaves room for a fourth novel. Read the rest.