Book of the Long Sun

The Book of the Long Sun

Front cover of the first half or first two books in one volume (Orb Books, 2000)
Author	Gene Wolfe
Series	Solar Cycle
Publisher	Tor / Tom Doherty
Publication date	1993–1996 (four vols)
Preceded by	Book of the New Sun sub-series
Followed by	Book of the Short Sun sub-series

The Book of the Long Sun (1993–1996) is a series of four science fantasy novels or one four-volume novel by the American author Gene Wolfe. It is set in the same universe as The Book of the New Sun series that Wolfe inaugurated in 1980, and the Internet Science Fiction Database catalogs them both as sub-series of the "Solar Cycle", along with other writings.

The Long Sun story is continued in The Book of the Short Sun (1999–2001), a series of three novels or one in three volumes. In Short Sun the relation to the original New Sun is made clear.

The Mythopoeic Society considered The Book of the Sun as a whole for annual literary awards. It was one of five finalists for the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award in 1997.Locus magazine and the American SF writers considered the volumes separately for "Best Novel" awards.

A young priest Patera Silk tries to save his manteion (neighborhood church and school) from destruction by a ruthless crime lord. As he learns more about his world, a vast generation ship called the Whorl, he learns to distrust the gods he has worshiped and to revere the supposedly minor god known as The Outsider who has enlightened him. He becomes a revolutionary leader and prophet.

The working title for the series was Starcrosser's Landfall, and dust jacket mockups of the first volume were printed with that title. In the defense at the end of the final volume, the author refers to it alternately as The Book of the Long Sun, Starcrosser's Landfall, and The Book of Silk.

In the event, The Book of the Long Sun was published in four volumes, almost simultaneously in the U.S. (Tor Books imprint, Tom Doherty Associates) and U.K. (New English Library imprint, Hodder & Stoughton). The Tor hardcover editions (see table) were almost 1500 pages long in sum.