The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe

We are discussing The Fifth Head of Cerberus (1972) by american science fiction writer Gene Wolfe. Wolfe has a reputation for being a writer’s writer and those who like him, like him a lot. Among his most prominent works are the tetralogy The Book of the New Sun (1980-83), which eventually expanded to about a dozen books in the Solar Cycle. Fifth Head treats ideas of colonialism, identity and obsession. This earlier and much more compact collection of three novellas already offers a glimpse of his style and ideas.