Soldier of the Mist

Latro, Book 1

De: Gene Wolfe

Narrado por: Gregory Connors

The first volume of Gene Wolfe's powerful story of Latro, a Roman mercenary who received a head injury that deprived him of his short-term memory. In return it gave him the ability to converse with supernatural creatures, gods, and goddesses who invisibly inhabit the ancient landscape.

©1986 Gene Wolfe (P)2021 Audible, Inc.

Excellent and historically literate

Compelling structure and narrative that expects a lot from the reader, both in terms of historical and mythological background and with the difficulty of the plotting, with gaps and unknowns that recur in each chapter. The reader is expected to keep the narrative flow where the narrator loses it every day. One would think he would have the idea to have a summary for himself catching the important points instead of expecting to reread his entire story every morning…

The den of the cthonic earth mother is a horrifying place. Recommend you do basic research on the triple godesses, hera, the persian war, and lycurgan sparta if you are not already familiar before starting.

To be honest the structure grows a bit tiring. Every chapter the narrator loses what the audience already knows and has to relearn again and again. I lost steam in the second book, but may take it up again.

Fantastic

A great tale of Ancient Greece. Excellent weaving of history and myth with engaging characters. Enjoyable in full.

Soldier of the mist

The book is one of my life long favorites. Thought provoking memorable. So immersive you can feel the story .

Good read, even better narration

Narrator did a great job with pronunciation and the different voices in the book. My favorite was IO. I was reading the paper version also. My recommendation is to read slowly and, as needed, go back and reread certain sections to remind yourself of names mentioned previously; it helps with context. I found it helpful to refer to the glossary as well to clear up some things. If you aren’t familiar with Greek mythology, the book may not have as much meaning. However, even without that knowledge, it’s a good series. Like I said, it is easier to understand if you take your time and return to previous chapters, to reread information about characters and/or events, as you go. Also, I like that the main character forgets his life every day.

So glad I stumbled no this

Amazing book! New Wolfe fan confirmed here. The names and places are difficult but worth going with the flow

Read Gates of Fire first for context

If you know nothing of Greek history, you might need more information to really enjoy this book. I had difficulty with this book when I was younger. Since then I have listened to the audio book "Gates of Fire" by Steven Pressfield. That book presented enough history to provide context to the world of "Soldier in the Mist."

Now, "Soldier in the Mist" is proving to be an entertaining read.

Readers follow a soldier who has suffered a head injury and who is trying to make sense of the world he's living in. His travels reveal Greek culture in the time of the Persian invasions, predating some of the the Greek philosophers so prominent in our thinking of Greece today. Plato and Socrates were in the future; this was a time of cultural wars, real wars, soldiers, heroes, gods and slaves.

The main character's quest to understand the world around him presents an ongoing puzzle for readers as well. I already know I'm going to listen a couple of times to find things missed on the first reading.

“How strange are the ways of the gods. How cruel.”

Gene Wolfe dedicates Soldier of the Mist (1986) to Herodotus, the “father of history.” The historical setting of the novel is 479 BC, after the allied Hellene navy has defeated the Persian navy of the Great King (Xerxes) at Salamis and their army has defeated the Persian army at Plataea (here called Clay). In his metafictional Foreword, Wolfe says that he’s translated into English an archaic Latin papyrus manuscript written by a Latin mercenary called Latro (which “may mean brigand, guerrilla, hired man, bodyguard, or pawn”), who fought for the Persians. Wolfe says that his translation retains the mercenary’s habit of literally translating Greek place names according to his imperfect knowledge of Greek. This estranges the ancient world we thought we knew, as Corinth is called Tower Hill, Salamis Peace, Thermopylae Hot Gates, Boeotia Cowland, and so on.

Gene Wolfe likes tricky narrators who make challenging writing (for him) and reading (for us). Severian in The Book of the New Sun (1980-83) has an eidetic memory, whereas here Latro, after receiving a head wound in a battle, suffers from amnesia, such that he’s forgotten many things from his past (like his name and homeland) and forgets everything that happens to him in the present by the time he wakes up each morning as if in a mist or from an immediately forgotten dream. (His body does remember how to do things like fight and ride a horse.) As a result, he must write down on his scroll (in his book) everything he thinks important enough to “remember” from each day before going to sleep at night.

Thus, Latro repeatedly describes people he’s traveling with but forgotten (though we remember them) and often resumes his tale after suspenseful or important things have happened that he has forgotten because he was unable to write them down. And even if he does write important things, upon waking he’ll forget having written them and only “remember” them if he rereads them in his scroll. Because he can’t always reread his book, he ends up having to be reminded of events and people and situations by his companions, who say things like, “Latro, read the part where…” or “We sailed on the Europa with him, Latro,” or “Latro, do you remember who I am?” or “Is it because you can’t remember the past that you are so wise, Latro?” Once one of Latro’s companions writes a passage in his book for him!

Another interesting effect of his head wound, apparently, is that Latro can see and talk with assorted gods (e.g., Hades), demi-gods (e.g., Hercules), ghosts (e.g., Achilles), and monsters (e.g., werewolves) that no one else notices, unless he happens to touch one of the beings, which then enables his companions to see them. Wolfe evokes the sublime and numinous in such moments.

One of the pleasing things about reading the novel is figuring out what god or ghost Latro happens to encounter based on clues he gives, because he almost never calls them by the common names we know them by. (He does call living people by their familiar historical names, like Pausanias the Spartan regent.)

What kind of story is it? Like other Wolfe novels, it’s a picaresque tale in which Latro somewhat passively (one meaning of his name is pawn) travels to or is taken to the Mediterranean points of interest circa 479 BC, like Hill (Thebes), Thought (Athens), and Rope (Sparta), as he’s trying to reach a temple devoted to the Earth Mother (Demeter), because she cursed him with amnesia because he somehow provoked her ire. The Destroyer (Apollo) is trying to help Latro. His real quest is for his identity, his home, his friends.

As he travels, he meets (and forgets) various people, some of whom help or hinder him, enslave or free him, love or hate him, stay with or leave him, including captains, soldiers, slaves, generals, merchants, madames, priests, and so on from a variety of cultures.

The resourceful black man is Latro’s friend, with whom he communicates in gestures, as the black man apparently doesn’t speak Greek, which Latro does. Early on, a refined poet called Pindaros (Pindar) in the service of Apollo becomes Latro’s guide for a time. And a pretty and keen young slave girl (not quite a woman) called Io gets herself given to Latro at a temple of Apollo and generally sticks by him no matter what. (It’s moving when upon waking Latro says things to Io like, “Who are you and why do you call me master?” because she loves him, but he forgets her each morning.) Hypereides is a wise, warm Athenian merchant-captain who’d rather be trading bull hides than fighting wars. Pasicrates is a proud young Spartan whose “face had that relentless regularity of a statue, but his eyes seemed as cruel as a stoat’s,” and who says things like, "Mild lessons are soon forgotten." Eurykles is a con man necromancer who claims he can raise the dead and (maybe) turns into or is possessed by Drakaina, a creepy sexy serpent woman from Colchis who takes a keen interest in Latro (“Her belly scales sounded like daggers drawn from their sheaths”).

There is a fair amount of action: wrestling (like many Wolfian heroes, Latro is good at fighting) and love making (like many Wolfian heroes, he’s attractive to members of the opposite sex, including prostitutes, goddesses, nymphs, and monsters). And there are the above mentioned sublime divine encounters, as well as a climactic siege of Sestos at the end of the novel. Unfortunately, the novel ends abruptly without resolution, as if a single long novel were being divided into a trilogy, this being the first book.

Gregory Connors capably reads the audiobook, giving Latro an American English accent and the other characters from other Mediterranean cultures various UK and other accents, I suppose because Latro is a foreigner.

The rich variety of characters and places and events makes the imagined ancient world feel authentic and vibrant. It reminds me of Robert Graves’ excellent Hercules, My Shipmate. Wolfe writes illuminated historical fiction that feels exotic and real, with compelling characters, so I’m looking forward to seeing where he takes the story and its people (and gods) in the sequel, Soldier of Arete (1989).

Head injury leading to godly visions

Gene Wolfe’s Soldier of the Mist is the first installment in the Latro trilogy. Latro is a soldier in ancient Greece who as a result of a head injury cannot remember from day to day. In exchange, he can see and hear gods (and by touching them, make them visible to others). A healer recommended writing down his activities so that he can read the next day. What transpires is a series of adventures as he gradually accumulates a coterie. At various times, he is enslaved, but always manages to secure his freedom.

Wolfe structures the tale from the standpoint of a historian transcribing the scrolls that Latro has produced. He relies on traditional Greek mythology, but overall, this is more of a series of interconnected stories, rather than a novel with some degree of closure at the end.

The narration is good with solid character distinction. Pacing is smooth.

Bit on the boring side

When I read the description I thought I would love it. And I've always wanted to read Gene Wolfe books.

However, the book is a bit dull. It just never really grabbed me and then it just ended abruptly. The audiobook contains about half an hour of the next book in the series at the end of the last chapter. So you think you have 30 minutes left but suddenly the book ends.

The book isn't bad at all but it's just not good enough to continue with the rest of the trilogy.

Gross

I was skeptical when this author made a child rather ambivalent about being raped. Then he describes someone's lover as half a woman, half a child. Men writing women strikes again. I didn't finish it. I wasn't enjoying it enough to sit through that.