The Fifth Head of Cerberus

Far from Earth two sister planets, Sainte Anne and Sainte Croix, circle each other. It is said that a race of shapeshifting aliens once lived here, only to become extinct when human colonists arrived. But one man believes they still exist, somewhere out in the wilderness.

In THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS, Gene Wolfe brilliantly interweaves three tales: a scientist's son's gradual discovery of the bizarre secret of his heritage; a young man's mythic dreamquest for his darker half; the mystifying chronicle of an anthropologist's seemingly-arbitrary imprisonment. Gradually, a mesmerising pattern emerges.

“A subtle, ingenious, poetic, and picturesque book...Wolfe is so good he leaves me speechless. - Ursula Le Guin.A truly extraordinary work. One of the most cunningly wrought narratives in the whole of modern SF, a masterpiece of misdirection, subtle clues and apparently casual revelations. - Science Fiction: 100 Best Novels.”

A subtle, ingenious, poetic, and picturesque book...Wolfe is so good he leaves me speechless. - Ursula Le Guin.

A truly extraordinary work. One of the most cunningly wrought narratives in the whole of modern SF, a masterpiece of misdirection, subtle clues and apparently casual revelations. - Science Fiction: 100 Best Novels.

Gene Wolfe was born in New York and raised in Texas. He trained as a mechanical engineer, but began to publish short stories in the 1960s. He won a World Fantasy Award for THE SHADOW OF THE TORTURER and a Nebula for THE CLAW OF THE CONCILIATOR. He is a World Fantasy Life Achievement winner.

Far from Earth two sister planets, Sainte Anne and Sainte Croix, circle each other. It is said that a race of shapeshifting aliens once lived here, only to become extinct when human colonists arrived. But one man believes they still exist, somewhere out in the wilderness.In THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS, Gene Wolfe brilliantly interweaves three tales: a scientist's son's gradual discovery of the bizarre secret of his heritage; a young man's mythic dreamquest for his darker half; the mystifying chronicle of an anthropologist's seemingly-arbitrary imprisonment. Gradually, a mesmerising pattern emerges.

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