Shadow & Claw: The First Half of the Book of the New Sun: 1

Fantasy literature has often been looked down on as a teen market or a less than serious escapist out let. It’s twin sibling, Science Fiction, is often used to discuss big philosophical issues, mortality, the sustainability of culture, dystopian futuristic possibilities and even the very essence of where life came from but Fantasy literature rarely offers anything so deep. There are a few authors that bring something exceptional to the table, the grandeur and span of Tolkien’s story telling, the acid laced multiverse of Moorcock’s heroes and the Dickensian density of Mervyn Peake but much of the canon is derivative and sadly lives up to the low expectations many place on the genre.That was why revisiting this series of books, books I read in my youth but probably didn’t fully appreciate at the time was enlightening for the fact that for everything I have said is often lacking in the genre, Gene Wolf, proves that there is a better way.The story is simple but as I will explain later, it isn’t the story that is the real selling point. Severian is a young man brought up in the bosom of a very ancient guild, a guild of torturers, an organisation who via strict codes operate as the impassive face of justice as decreed from above. After allowing an act of what he sees as mercy towards a prisoner in his charge he is banished from the guild and so begins a journey through a world he has barely experienced. The first few chapters set off down a very traditional fantasy path but when Severian finally encounters the city around him to head into exile the scope of Wolfe’s writing is revealed.We learn of the world at the same pace as Severian himself, much of it as mysterious and strange to him as it is to the reader and this is where perspectives change. Initially the descriptions of this city give it a medieval or ancient feel but hints are given that this is not just another arbitrary setting with the typical swords and sorcery settings plundered for the sake of familiarity. This is actually Earth in the far future, one where the technology of this distant time seems like magic to his (and thus our) uneducated eyes. Small pieces of detail make reference to our own times, a time now ancient history in the timeline of the books.But like all good literature it is also the quality of the writing that stands it apart from the pack. The story is being told by Severian in later life, so we are reading a memoir of his life and so the narrative is surrounded with insights, reflections and hindsight’s from a position where the narrator is already aware of the full scope of the story, his final destiny and the effects of the choices that he made along the way. It is this quality, along with the strength of the writing that add some wonderful philosophical dimensions to the story, a chance to rethink the twists and turns of his life and their role in his journey.To add to the mystery the back-story of society is coloured in very slowly and Wolfe’s use of archaic and often invented words add to the exotic feel. There is a complex class structure which we learn about as our protagonist does, the guilds and history of the world around him often hang half finished allowing the reader to mentally complete the picture and even Severian’s own childhood is only hinted at as the narrative requires.It is a series, which is slow and subtle, rich in detail rather than action and all the better for it. It is also Severian’s story own we are allowed into only via his recollections and thoughts. Many fantasy’s can be summed up easily, A fellowship must destroy a ring to save a world, Thomas Covenant must defeat Lord Foul to preserve the Land, this series of books is much more difficult to predict and is much more about the journey, a slow unravelling of information which follows the ethic of “it is better to travel hopefully than to arrive.”

Incredibly descriptive and so it really puts you in the shoes of the main character, Severian. Wolfe’s use of old language - seemingly lost in time - makes it a trifle more difficult to understand some sentences for the average reader but you’ll soon get into the rhythm and it becomes a masterpiece as created by Wolfe’s fascinating ability to make text flow.

Bought all the books of the New Sun after reading the reviews.Slow to develope but very compelling once you become familier with the style of writing. The Characters are very well described and you soon care what happens to them all.One of the best stories I have read for a while.If you like Sci-Fi then go ahead and read them.

Brilliant a must read!!

I don't need many words to review The Book of the New Sun: simply brilliant.You want more words? Best book of its decade, and in my personal all-time top ten.My last words on this book? Fully fleshed-out characters, intriguing worldbuilding, compelling dialogues, intricate interweaving of character storylines, this has it all.I wonder if Gene Wolfe ever considered following up on this masterwork; I'd buy it in a flash.

Wow. I mean seriously... Wow. I am just beginning my second reading. Just a chapter in to that second time round and I am reeling at the dense web that I only tenuously grasped the first time round. I suspect that when I have finished I will want to give it more stars. Oh... I can't.A week later.... Oh wow. But may I be rude? If you found this staid or slow, you need to go back to your Conan ( which by the way is.where I began ever reading) . This is as good as any writing gets. If you don't get this,u or can't set aside your genre prejudices, then you are blind to one of the greatest pieces of contemporary (how old am I?) writing there is. This is spiritual biography (maybe mine not Gene's). It is discursive philosophy; it is moral fable; it is a a book about books and writing. I can say this while also feeling/believing differently about the world than I think Wolfe does. But this is a book that allows. I hate organised religion and I am an apostate from Wolfe's faith- Catholicism. But if there could be such a thing as a Catholicism of imagination, then this is it. If you are bred in absolutes, moral truths and final meanings, and yet find them deeply suspect, this book is therapy - whatever you now believe or not. I have seen a quote from Wolfe which I now paraphrase badly (I cant be bothered to check and I do not have an eidetic memory): all great works of art come close to meaning the opposite of what they intend.Read this book, or rather all four, and do not expect it to resolve. It's a matter of faith.PS I read a line somewhere in the tetralogy and I swore blind it was a quote from Dante, so fantastic was it as a piece of poetry. I could not find in the Divine Comedy and finally had to conclude it really is Wolfe. That's how good this book is.

Though apparently highly acclaimed, this book is slow, rambling and seems to go nowhere. If your looking for excitment and adventure then be sure to look elsewhere!

A truly beautiful book. The story of Severin has probably been a major influence for many other stories that have been written since, be they books or games. None have been told with the grace or depth of Wolfe's prose.

People who don't understand this book got caught in the pleb filter. Book is amazing. Some of the terminology is archaic, but it adds so much character to the book; you won't find anything like this anywhere else (in a good way). Helps if you can also read Latin at a beginner level, but not essential.

El libro es un clásico; difícilmente se puede hablar con justicia de él en tan pocas líneas, pero si te interesa mínimamente vale la pena leer toda la saga. El único problema es que la edición, al incluir dos libros, tiene letras bastante pequeñas, combinado con que es una lectura complicada de por sí, hace de la experiencia algo cansada y tediosa. De todas formas vale la pena comprarlo, es un buen precio y es de las pocas ediciones que se puede encontrar a la venta. 10/10

The first book is really my favorite. I really wish someone would make a movie/game of this already, though some of Gene's ideas only work in a written work. In the second book, some stuff happens that absolutely ties these two together. The prose is my favorite of any Gene Wolfe book and the story gets better and better the older I get. Must read for any Lovecraft fans.

I paid extra money to buy a hardcover book (circa 50% more honestly), and while it's okay and was delivered rather undamaged, it was:- poorly packed (not a single piece of bubble foil or anything else really, just thrown into a cardboard box, both parcels, that's also why some of the paint came off on the corners of the books)- a bit dirty (some sort of stain that I cleaned up with wet towels. It wouldn't come off under finger)/scratched (one of the books has small kind of damage, looks like it was scratched in the warehouse.- the hardcover is indeed "hardcover", but it's not anything special really. I have seen better ones, but fine. It's not something that I can blame amazon for, but the quality of paper is kind of a joke to me (for the price they want).The chapters have ugly headers, but the book looks okay. It's the matter of "style", although I have seen some pretty books...It's printed in the USA (chinese quality though). I wanted the edition written in English, because this is the author's main language, plus I wanted something else than paperback, because they tend to fall apart quite easily...

Wolfe's writing is far from simple. This two-books-made-one (and also the others from the New Sun series) are difficult to read; the vocabulary is sometimes confusing, the sentences are mostly convoluted and several concepts are difficult to comprehend. The story, however, is rich, with interesting characters and bizarre situations. The narrative is mainly slow-paced, diverging from other high fantasy stories.Reading this book is a challenge. And, in my opinion, a totally rewarding one, since its plots and storytelling structure does not follow the same rules and formulae applied in almost every fantasy story currently available.