The Fifth Head of Cerberus Review

I stumbled across The Fifth Head of Cerberus a while back, and it rather unexpectedly ended up on my TBR. I had heard of Gene Wolfe, but I hadn’t read any of his works up until now. But going down my list of books to read meant reading this one next. Let’s get into the review.

The original story appears as a novella, though two additional stories make up a single volume under the same title. The book was published in 1972. In this novella, a young boy lives with his brother, father, and aunt in a giant mansion on another planet. The mansion acts as a brothel, though the boy and his brother are kept away from the activities going on downstairs. They are also tutored by robot servants. One day, the boy goes to his father, who reveals that the boy’s new name is Number 5. The father subjects the boy to a series of experiments. As the years pass, the boy grows up wanting to understand his origins and why the experiments need to take place.

This book surprised me, mostly because I didn’t know what I was getting into. I thought I would jump headfirst with only a vague notion of what the book was about. So it surprised me in a good way! Though my feelings remain a little complicated. I want to speak first on the mystery included in the book and its development. The central plot involves the protagonist’s relationship with his father and uncovering the truth behind the people of the planet. However, the mystery doesn’t develop into a satisfying conclusion. It almost feels glossed over in a way.

I do know that this novella acts as the first of three in one volume. Because I only read the first one on its own, I wanted to judge it separately from the other two. Now, however, I might gain more context and a different kind of ending if I read all three. But I still think that the first volume should stand on its own in some way. I admired it for its complexity as well as the bits of action that appeared throughout. I might develop a new opinion on this first volume if I read the other two in conjunction.

With the complexity of this book, it makes me want to get more into Gene Wolfe’s work. Like I said, I might read the other two novellas in this volume. We’ll see. In the meantime, it’s back to my TBR and writing another blog post. Happy reading!

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