Nightside The Long Sun (Book of the Long Sun)

This series is not generally considered to be one of Wolfe's best. Kind readers say it has great characters and starts off well, but the story flounders halfway through. Less kind readers say it's a bear to get through this series, but it's necessary to understand the amazing Short Sun series. I haven't read this series since college. I wasn't expecting much, but the first volume was better than I anticipated.

The main character, Patera Silk, is a priest at a church that is deep in debt. At the beginning of the book Silk has a vision where he believes God tells him that he needs to take action to save the church. This is science fiction, but reads like a heist story followed by a murder mystery. Unlike many other Wolfe novels, this has a third-person narrator. It's an attempt to make you believe the narrator can be trusted, but Wolfe narrators are rarely reliable. As with other Wolfe stories, there are hints of other things going on in the background as well.

Overall I enjoyed this book. I found the story kept me wanting to read more, and the cliffhanger ending has me excited to read the second volume.