The Solar Cycle

Also known as "The Briah Cycle," this is a sequence of novels and short stories taking place in the same fictional universe.

Texts in the Solar Cycle

The novels comprising the Solar Cycle include:

The following short stories also take place in the Solar Cycle universe:

Additional texts

  • Though Wolfe has said that it is not set in the same universe, The Fifth Head of Cerberus (1972) shares a great deal of imagery, thematics, and other concerns with the Solar Cycle, to the extent that some Wolfe critics consider it a prelude or a sort of "dress rehearsal" for the larger cycle.
  • The Castle of the Otter: A Book about the Book of the New Sun (1982) -- now incorporated into Castle of Days (1992) -- is a collection of essays about The Book of the New Sun, written while and shortly after Wolfe was completing that sequence.
  • Shadows of the New Sun: Essays (2002) is another collection of essays, in which Wolfe, among other things, comments extensively upon the Solar Cycle.

Thematics of the Solar Cycle

Imagery in the Solar Cycle

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