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''Operation Ares'' is Gene Wolfe's first novel, published as a paperback original by Berkley Books in 1970. While no later editions were issued in the United States, a hardcover edition was released in the UK market by Dobson Books in 1977, followed by a Fontana paperback in 1978.〔(ISFDB publication history )〕 The title is sometimes rendered ''Operation ARES''. The novel began as a short story written by Wolfe in 1965. He submitted the story to Damon Knight, who suggested that Wolfe expand it into a novel.〔Joan Gordon, ''Gene Wolfe'', Starmont House, 1986, p.17〕 Wolfe completed the novel, then titled ''The Laughter at Night''〔Robert Frazier "Gene Wolfe - 'The Legerdemain of the Wolfe'" (interview), in ''Shadows of the New Sun, ed. Peter Wright, Liverpool University Press, 2007, p.49〕 in 1967, and sold it to Berkley Books. Wolfe and his editor, Donald R. Bensen, cut about 20% of the manuscript's 100,000-word length for publication.〔Peter Wright, ''Attending Daedalus'', Liverpool University Press, 2003, p.5〕 ''Operation Ares'' depicts a dystopian future, with the United States controlled by an anti-technological leftist regime. The story traces protagonist John Castle's conflict with the government and his increasing involvement with a rebellion backed by a Martian colony which has severed its ties to the U.S. government.〔 While occasionally cited as a libertarian text,〔(''Operation Ares'', a novel by Gene Wolfe )〕 Wolfe himself attributes its politics to his being "much more a doctrinaire conservative when I was a good deal younger.〔James B. Jordan, "Gene Wolfe Interview", in ''Shadows of the New Sun, ed. Peter Wright, Liverpool University Press, 2007, p.104〕 ==Reception== Joanna Russ found the novel unsatisfying, saying "I know what Mr. Wolfe can do when he sets his mind to it; ''Ares'' is far below his best. She described it as "a convincing, quiet, low-keyed, intelligent book which somehow fades out into nothing" and, despite praising Wolfe's technique, concluded it was "a failure, shadowy and inconclusive."〔"Books", ''F&SF'', April 1971, p.69〕 Larry McCaffery characterized ''Ares'' as "a generally undistinguished first novel."〔(Larry McCaffery, "On Encompassing the Entire Universe: An Interview with Gene Wolfe" )〕 Wolfe himself says "I wasn't really skillful enough to write a good novel at that time. I don't think ''Operation Ares'' is a very good novel."〔Melissa Mia Hall, "An Interview with Gene Wolfe", in ''Shadows of the New Sun, ed. Peter Wright, Liverpool University Press, 2007, p.41〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Operation Ares」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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