About this title: Unanimously acclaimed as one of the finest works of science fiction ever written, the four-volume epic The Book of the New Sun is now available for the first time this decade. This dramatic adventure follows Severian as he transforms from a ruthless monster to a savior of a world. Sword & Citadel contains the concluding two volumes.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Orb Books
Date published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780312890186ISBN:0312890184
Description: Acceptable. Unless specifically noted to the contrary, item may contain library markings; 100% of this purchase will support literacy programs through a nonprofit organization! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Orb Books
Date published: 1994-10-15
ISBN-13:9780312890186ISBN:0312890184
Description: Fair. Text unmarked and in good shape. Cover has edge wear and is curling. Page edges have a small stain. Good as a reading copy. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Orb Books
Date published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780312890186ISBN:0312890184
Description: Very Good. 0312890184 Text free of underlining, writing and highlighting. 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, and "one of the most ambitious works of speculative fiction in the twentieth century" by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Sword & Citadel brings together the final two books of the tetralogy in ... read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Orb Books
Date published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780312890186ISBN:0312890184
Description: Good. 1 spine crease, almost no cover edge wear or scuffing, text pages unmarked, slight front cover lift, appears very lightly read. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Orb Books
Date published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780312890186ISBN:0312890184
Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. (A58_1/9)#Book is in good condition. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 416 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Tor Books
Date published: 1994-12-01
ISBN-13:9780312890186ISBN:0312890184
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780312890186. read more
Binding: Soft Bound
Publisher: Orb Books
Date published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780312890186ISBN:0312890184
Description: Good. Used copy-Because of our high volume, we can not accurately describe each book, so we list the MINIMUM condition you can expect; most are better than the condition listed. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Orb Books
Date published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780312890186ISBN:0312890184
Description: Fine; Collectible. No writings/underlines/highlights. Inside pages are nice and clean. Free track. Satisfaction guaranteed! Fast! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: St Martins Pr
Date published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780312890186ISBN:0312890184
Description: Unanimously acclaimed as one of the finest works of science fiction ever written, the four-volume epic The Book of the New Sun is now available for the first time this decade. This dramatic adventure follows Severian as he transforms from a ruthless... read more
As a conclusion to the Book of the New Sun (you will be lost without reading Shadow & Claw), this continues the incredible epic.
Gene Wolfe creates a totally unique world of rich story-telling. This is not dorked out sci-fi/fantasy (which perhaps maybe sometimes I like). This is no-limits story telling, each vignette expertly crafted as its own rich world, and sewn together like some fantastic tapestry. This book defies genre.
The writing is very complex, so be prepared to work -- but it is well, well worth the effort."
"This is the second half of Severian's bizarre journeys in Urth, which started with "Shadow and Claw." The latter was a very tough read, but I found Sword and Citadel to be easier, much in part because I got used to Wolfe's elaborate and shifting styles. It was still tough though, for the developments in this book really stretched conventional story telling. I would have to state that this book is masterful in its ideas and blending of the sci-fi and fantasy genres. I don't want to give anything away by describing the ingenious and thought provoking parts of the story, except to say they help in evolving the narration of Severian to a degree of bafflement at times. Also, there are parts in the book in which I lost faith in Severian, as his evidence for the seemingly supernatural elements of the Claw are confused week, and seemingly unreliable. I found this particular feeling to be an important element for the reader insofar as Severian's story is not merely an adventure against powerful antagonists, but also a journey of self discovery, an overall religious experience. This book is not for the weak: one needs stamina and a high ability to contextualize language as well as plot. I look forward to "The Urth of the New Sun," described as a coda to this series of books.Quote-right"
I still greatly enjoy the tale and the carefully constructed sentences, but in this, the Third Book, I found myself wading in places, wondering what the idea was with this-or-that scene. The kind of wondering, mind you, that isn't good. I wasn't exactly bored (you can guess that from the rating) but at times I was less entertained and intrigued than other times.
While some characters actually show up again and we learn what the really are up to (this was great--the whole Dr. Talos & Baldaners element was very fascinating and set up, it turned out, quite an exciting climax of the Book) a lot of other characters and scenes appear to be random and without any real purpose, which annoys me. Of course, this can still change in Book Four;-)
I liked how we follow our protagonist's emotional and moral development, but unfortunately they remain somewhat distanced for my taste. I think this is due to the fact that everything is told by the protagonist in hindsight, leaving a sort of blanket between him and everything--also these, very important, facts. So I find it hard to really care about, in the end. That is... I do... But not as much as I think the actual scenes warrant. For instance, the boy he is walking with for a little while quite unexpectedly dies (and violently so!); a shocking enough event, but our torturer's descriptions of his emotional tormoil and agony didn't ring "true" for me; it was too detached.
I do like how the tale is a sort of adventure tale on par with the classics, such as The Odyssey, with all the same ramifications of learning, growing up etc., etc. It is also good to see how the huge sword he has carried with him turns out to be more influental than expected, and to learn more about the mysterious "trinket" he carries with him (the Claw); the latter in particular looks like it's very important for the whole plot. But it's too bad too much seems weirdly disjointed. For my taste, at any rate.
It is all still a masterpiece, but I do hope the Fourth Book turns out better than this one.
The Citadel of the Autarch:
Excellent--in a very demanding way. Just like the whole Series, really. Fortunately Book 4 manages to rise the level of things, so now I am forced to give 5 stars;-)
What's interesting is that when I closed the book I wasn't really much the wiser on the world of Urth and what was going on!? Yet I cannot but admire this book. Okay, there are a few war scenes in this book that I did not enjoy that much (I generally tend to be a little bored whenever I encounter such scenes in stories), but they did make sense and they did help the protagonist evolve and learn things. And considering that we have heard about this war throughout the story it was only right that Severian got to be there in person. So they needed to be there. Just like everything else in the story, which in my opinion meet ends excellently, if not always conclusively, in this book.
My favourite part is without exception The Last House sequence. For me it had reminiscences of Hodgson's The House on the Borderlands, with its dizzying concepts of travelling through the universe and witnessing the death of planets. Here we are not travelling the universe but we are seeing various stages of Urth dying at different times. It was mindblowing and so well-conceived that I was breathtaken, which happens very rare nowadays when I read a book. So it says something. That the various stages were also quite realistic (in real, non-fiction life terms) only added to this experience--not to mention adding a feeling of dread.
Really, you have to read it for yourself to see what I mean;-)
I had a laugh (literally) when a deus ex machina prop popped up... that is came down from the sky... and actually introduced itself by defending an author's right to use such a device to move a story forward! How often does that happen, eh? And the weird thing is--in the end it made sense in this story. After all, the underlying suggestion of the protagonist destined to do the things he do are revealed to really be part of an almost mechanical world system (but with static time as the "playground" of that world system, so it's rather different from e.g. a Newtonian mechanism), and really be a prophecy come true--with the help of a lot of shadowy, vision-like, and genereally always unknown powerful players in the background making sure Severian ends up being the ruler, the Autarch.
The "quest" element is neatly solved, and explained where it needs explanation, so we do get a "satisfying end," but lots of lots of things are left unexplained. In fact, the book ends with our dear protagonist getting ready to leave Urth for the stars--without knowing whether he will succeed in ultimate success or not. All of which seems to be tied up with a larger scheme of things, the history of Urth and the destiny of mankind. Perhaps past, present and future... As such can be said to exist in a static time scenario. Not to mention that it is tied up with science, religion, philosophy, storytelling (btw--there are lots of almost fairytale-like stories in this book, told by people the protagonist meet)... etc., etc. ...
There's so much in here. Even if I spent the rest of my life reading these books I am not sure I would grasp everything in them.
"This book... I don't know what to think about this series. Wolfe writes in an extremely roundabout, limited 1st person puzzle-prose where he throws as many words as possible at you despite a conscious design to tell you as little as humanly possible about what's happening. There's almost no exposition at all - everything is told and shown through little more than extremely obtuse hints (oddly enough, he breaks his own trend by explaining certain plot points in facepalmingly-simple breakdowns - but only for those puzzles which were already the plainest and easiest to put together, leaving all the huge questions looming unaddressed in the background). It's most definitely one of those books that's designed to be re-read to get the full effect.
Overall, I couldn't really relate to the book on any emotional level, but it intrigued me intellectually as a puzzle. Trying to put together the pieces of the history and background, or even just figuring out what the heck was going on right then in the plot, was like a lateral thinking puzzle with characters. And it was intriguing, albeit often frustrating. Also, it's one of those where it's so obtuse that when you read discussions/interpretations and find out what really happened, as much or more of it ends up being "uh, really?" than "Ohhh, I see it now." Especially when it tosses in a few throwaway lines about the entire cosmology of the series/world/universe.
These books should not be read or taken as individual novels, but as one long work - they will not stand on their own. I won't count that against them because they ARE published as omnibus editions, but it's something to be mindful of. Also, there is a fifth follow-up book, Urth of the New Sun, that acts as a coda to Severian's story and goes into more detail explaining a lot of the especially out-there details of the story. It's fair to evaluate the quartet without it, as that's how it was originally written, I just wonder whether it's a good idea."
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