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Fantasy. Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML: The Book of the New Sun is unanimously acclaimed as Gene Wolfe's most remarkable work, hailed as "a masterpiece of science fantasy comparable in importance to the major works of Tolkien and Lewis" by Publishers Weekly. Shadow & Claw brings together the first two books of the tetralogy in one volume: The Shadow of the Torturer is the tale of young Severian, an apprentice in the Guild of Torturers on the world called Urth, exiled for committing the ultimate sin of his profession �?? showing mercy toward his victim. Ursula K. Le Guin said, "Magic stuff . . . a masterpiece . . . the best science fiction I've read in years!" The Claw of the Conciliator continues the saga of Severian, banished from his home, as he undertakes a mythic quest to discover the awesome power of an ancient relic, and learn the truth about his hidden destiny. "One of the most ambitious works of speculative fiction in the twentieth century." �?? The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied… (more)
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I'd say obviously yes if you are a Wolfe fan or like science fantasy. I don't fit in either category. I've often liked the journey of the Wolfe short stories I've come across but always felt let
Wolfe always intended the Book of the New Sun as a sole volume. Publishing realities - publishers did not routinely publish 800 page fantasies in those days - dictated that book be broken into four volumes, one a year starting in 1980.
This first half, though, despite some wanderings in fables, tales, and a play nested in the main narrative, is pretty engaging. Our hero Severan is a member of the Order of Seekers of Truth and Penitence, and, while he's pretty matter of fact about his apprenticeship and training, we don't get a lot of details but just enough glimpses of his work to know that torturer is not a symbolic title. He's also possessed of an eidetic memory with the narrative leavened with bits of foreshadowings that his story will take some unexpected turns.
We hear of his youth, an orphan left to the guild, his early encounter with Vodalus - a would be revolutionary whom Severan sort of imprints on, and the sin that sends him into exile: allowing Thecla, a noblewoman sentenced to a peculiar torture, to kill herself. Into exile, he takes Terminus Est, " The Line That Divides", his great sword. That's the first quarter of this volume. The rest of it covers his wanderings during exile until he settles into a provincial city as torturer. We get clues as to the past and present of this world, and Wolfe concludes each novel with a brief appendix explaining some, but not all, of his vocabulary and concepts. That part of Wolfe's puzzle, the nature of the world, I didn't mind as much as the story briefly stalling with all those other nested stories. And I liked Severan pausing the narrative to ruminate on the nature of love and other matters. And, as time goes on, we find out that, while Severan may have a photographic memory, that does not make him a reliable narrator in the matter of his relationship to Thecla.
And the characters and scenes largely kept my interest: a mysterious green man and sailor, a giant and his odd doctor companion, a woman of extreme beauty, a woman perhaps retrieved from the dead, cannibalism (this story was written in the 1970s when memory transference via RNA ingestion was an idea that showed up), a prison inhabited by generations who know nothing outside its walls, and the Autarch - leader of this society.
But, having gone the whole journey with Severan, I can tell you it does not end well. Still, this first half was enjoyable.
The Shadow of the Torturer follows the last year of Severian’s life in The Citadel of Nessus and his few days after leaving into exile after breaking the greatest rule of the guild of torturers. Severian finds himself challenged to a duel and explores greater Nessus in preparation while coming into contacting with numerous interesting characters. The Claw of the Conciliator picks up a bit after the previous book with Severian performing his duties in a small mining town before going on a series of journeys going to the seat of government the House Absolute and leaving, all the while trying to figure out everything he’s involved in while trying not to dishonor his guild once again.
The first volume of the book, Shadow, was very intriguing and while somethings were clear—as might have been the plan—there was enough there to make me look forward to continuing on Severian’s journey. However the second volume, Claw, was all over the place with quality, interest, and frustration as one the main problems from the first volume, namely the first-person narration by Severian was all over the place. Add in an entire chapter that described a line-by-line recreation of a nonsensical play just to setup an attack by one of the characters on the audience in the next, much short chapter just added to my dislike of this particular volume.
I had high hopes for Shadow & Claw given that it was the first half of what is considered a classic tetralogy by Gene Wolfe. While I did like the first volume of the omnibus, the second one has made me wonder why this is considered a fantasy-science fiction classic by many.
The Shadow of the Torturer (3.5/5)
The Claw of the Conciliator (2/5)
I can see very well why this book was rated so highly here in Goodreads. Wolfe's writing is lyrical and his imagination is great. However, after reading through the entire
This book felt like a dream. We drift from scene to scene without any true understanding of how each segment began. We travel with the narrator from dank castles and torture chambers to timeless gardens and then end up at an enemy camp and then find ourselves wandering with different companions here and there. We always seem to know where we are going, like in dreams, but never seem to get anywhere no matter how long we travel. In the same vein, this is also how I feel about the supporting characters. People drift in and out of scenes and it always seems natural that we meet up again with old characters and that we lose an important traveling companion for a chapter or two. But when I stop and think, it is really quite strange. Meeting up again with Dr Talos and Baldanders, losing Dorcas for a bit, the reappearance of characters, seeing Thecla's sister, etc. It's so very odd, but for some odd reason as I was paging through the book, I don't question it.
I think it's the nature of Wolfe's writing. It is lyrical and beautiful and dreamy, though he does not flowery language. It's a combination of the way he makes the reader feel as if we are observing along with the narrator and the fantastical situations we watch. For example, the battle with the poisonous plants was particularly intriguing to me. It was different, it was strange, and it was written as if it were completely normal. Same with the gardens. Lovely piece of writing.
But this book frustrates me because I feel as if nothing has been concluded, that there seems to be no purpose in this book (like a dream, hey). I am just so annoyed because the title is called Shadow and Claw, and we don't even understand anything about the Claw. Obviously it's important, but why? What is it's mystery? But the main character doesn't even care about that. What is the battle about? What is so important in that little town he is travelling towards? What is the point of this book?
All Severian does is wander around from town to road to city and back to road, meeting people and seeing fantastical things. But does anything actually happen that is of significance? Sigh.
I also did roll my eyes at how Wolfe describes women and his apparent "love" for them, especially since that love only seemed to be composed of him catching sight of their bodies and falling in love with their appearance. No matter what the women do or say or act. Eh.
But I mostly just paged through those moments and kept going.
Thus, I feel as if I have to rate it 2.5 stars, rounding up to 3 stars. Although it was interesting to read, I would never ever read it again. And I highly doubt I will pick up the sequel, even to see how the story would end. My dreams never have a true ending either.
I don't think I would recommend this book to my friends though. It's a very niche sort of writing, in my opinion. I'm not sure what book I could compare this to. But perhaps that's why it is so highly lauded.
It is a must read but beware it is hard to tackle. If you persevere, you will be rewarded more than fairly.
This volume collects the first two books of the four
At times, it's easy to see why. The world through which the characters move is rich, detailed, and imaginative. Wolfe tells the story in the first person, through the eyes of Severian -- an apprentice to the guild of torturers, cast out from his home and trying to find his way. His voice is grim, thoughtful, and vastly different from that of a typical fantasy hero. When it works, the reader is drawn into a wonderful world, with subtle philosophies at play. Severian is very moral in some ways, and very amoral in others, and it makes for an arresting journey.
And yet these books can be incredibly frustrating at times. Wolfe leaves out so much that it is often impossible to maintain an emotional connection with his characters. For example, Severian meets the rebel leader Vodalus early in his life; this encounter influences him greatly; he more or less declares his loyalty to this man above all else; and yet we never have any indication of why.
Wolfe seems to be more interested in creating a work of art than a narrative. The narrative, as a result, suffers greatly in places. Fortunately, the art is impressive enough that he gets away with it. Recommended, but only to patient readers.
First of all, this is a series of episodes which do not really make a coherent whole. Editing out half of them would only make the
While the story has its moments and Wolfe gets points for some originality and literary ambitions with his treatment of language and text, he also fails miserably in too many ways. For me, the most unforgivable are ‘love’ episodes. They read like the most stereotypical prosaic romance stories if those were written for a male audience. I wanted to stab my eyes whenever Severian mused on his love/sex objects of interest.
I can see very well why this book was rated so highly here in Goodreads. Wolfe's writing is lyrical and his imagination is great. However, after reading through the entire
This book felt like a dream. We drift from scene to scene without any true understanding of how each segment began. We travel with the narrator from dank castles and torture chambers to timeless gardens and then end up at an enemy camp and then find ourselves wandering with different companions here and there. We always seem to know where we are going, like in dreams, but never seem to get anywhere no matter how long we travel. In the same vein, this is also how I feel about the supporting characters. People drift in and out of scenes and it always seems natural that we meet up again with old characters and that we lose an important traveling companion for a chapter or two. But when I stop and think, it is really quite strange. Meeting up again with Dr Talos and Baldanders, losing Dorcas for a bit, the reappearance of characters, seeing Thecla's sister, etc. It's so very odd, but for some odd reason as I was paging through the book, I don't question it.
I think it's the nature of Wolfe's writing. It is lyrical and beautiful and dreamy, though he does not flowery language. It's a combination of the way he makes the reader feel as if we are observing along with the narrator and the fantastical situations we watch. For example, the battle with the poisonous plants was particularly intriguing to me. It was different, it was strange, and it was written as if it were completely normal. Same with the gardens. Lovely piece of writing.
But this book frustrates me because I feel as if nothing has been concluded, that there seems to be no purpose in this book (like a dream, hey). I am just so annoyed because the title is called Shadow and Claw, and we don't even understand anything about the Claw. Obviously it's important, but why? What is it's mystery? But the main character doesn't even care about that. What is the battle about? What is so important in that little town he is travelling towards? What is the point of this book?
All Severian does is wander around from town to road to city and back to road, meeting people and seeing fantastical things. But does anything actually happen that is of significance? Sigh.
I also did roll my eyes at how Wolfe describes women and his apparent "love" for them, especially since that love only seemed to be composed of him catching sight of their bodies and falling in love with their appearance. No matter what the women do or say or act. Eh.
But I mostly just paged through those moments and kept going.
Thus, I feel as if I have to rate it 2.5 stars, rounding up to 3 stars. Although it was interesting to read, I would never ever read it again. And I highly doubt I will pick up the sequel, even to see how the story would end. My dreams never have a true ending either.
I don't think I would recommend this book to my friends though. It's a very niche sort of writing, in my opinion. I'm not sure what book I could compare this to. But perhaps that's why it is so highly lauded.
I'm barfing rainbows.
Very few books change the way you read, think, write.
Wow...
—The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe
I do not shrink from difficult prose. In fact, I seek it out.
I’d read the first volume to “The Book of the New Sun” nearly twenty years ago. It didn’t grab me like I’d hoped, obviously, else I’d have finished the damn thing. But now that I’m on the second part, I can’t help think that maybe I was unprepared for a work of fantasy to be so challenging. Tolkien may have invented who-gives-a-shit-how-many-Elvish-languages, drew maps of worlds of Middle-earth to rival those from the Renaissance, and penned prose as purple and yawn-inducing as Henry James. Yet, once I sifted the nuggets from the scree, his works were largely accessible. Not so with Gene Wolfe. “The Claw of the Conciliator” is fucking hard. I mean, I’m looking up at least one word a page—sometimes four. Fuligin, carnifex, baluchither, thylacodon, hipparch—enough red squiggly underlines in a Word document to fool one into believing he suffered from macular degeneration. And it’s not just the lexicon you’ll scrape together to get through it (there actually IS one: “Lexicon Urthus”—no shit), but the sheer amount of omitted backstory, just dumping a poor soul in this far-flung world to wade through the waters and verbiage and huge cast of characters, makes one almost feel as if his compass were useless being that close to the magnet factory. Wolfe assumes the reader is intelligent and doesn’t spoon feed, explicate or even bother with neologisms. Swear to God, every word I’ve had to look up is either archaic, Latin or dug out of some layer in the earth only discovered once the quake ended, dislodging cities and forcing up defunct tongues on fresh mantle.
It’s exhausting. I’m taking it in pieces. Like it probably should be. And I’m being rewarded with beauty. For all that esoterica I’m finding complex souls, missions problematic and unexpected, countries divulged and summarily drowned in blood, magic and ritual. I’m not yet sure if it’s great or just greatly impressive. But its power is undeniable. And it sure as shit wrings the neck on anything a fantasy serial with feathers has presented, chicken-hearted hops in the farmyard, thus far. At least in my experience.
And what he doesn’t tell or show is a hovering shadow with more density than the average immersive fantasy author’s entire oeuvre. I can’t wait to sink my head back into this tar pit
Things I liked:
The setting: Gene Wolfe definitely created a world and a set of characters that seemed alien to my first reading. I found myself stopping often
Words: He uses lots of cool words and although I found myself looking up heaps of them in the dictionary I more often than not found the particular ones he chosen to be singularly appropriate to the sense in which they were used.
Things I thought could be improved:
Narrative jumps around: A few more bridging paragraphs or epistemological excerpts would have helped me to work out whether or not I'd missed half a book between chapters or not.
Standout: The torturers guild was excellently realized (like something out of a Gothic novel) I loved this and all the related trappings.