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278th out of 2,946 books
—
12,393 voters
The Book of the New Sun (The Book of the New Sun #1-4 omnibus)
by
Gene Wolfe
Recently voted the greatest fantasy of all time, after The Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit, Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun is an extraordinary epic, set a million years in the future, on an Earth transformed in mysterious & wondrous ways, in a time when our present culture is no longer even a memory. Severian, the central character, is a torturer, exiled from...more
Hardcover, book club, 950 pages
Published
1998
by Bantam Doubleday Dell
(first published 1983)
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Um...wow? I have now read this book twice in the past year, and am looking forward to regular rereads every December.
I had heard lots of fantastic things about Gene Wolfe, and this series in particular, so I figured this was the best place to start. The first time through, I thought it was good. A little slow in parts, and other times it was difficult to keep up with what was going on, but overall? Very enjoyable. I rated it a modest 3.5 stars, figuring I'd revise my rating up after subsequent r...more
I had heard lots of fantastic things about Gene Wolfe, and this series in particular, so I figured this was the best place to start. The first time through, I thought it was good. A little slow in parts, and other times it was difficult to keep up with what was going on, but overall? Very enjoyable. I rated it a modest 3.5 stars, figuring I'd revise my rating up after subsequent r...more
I just raised my rating from 4 stars to 5 after my second read-through. The Book of the New Sun ranks among the best books I've read in my 55 years on the planet. I can see why the NYT called it "a major work of twentieth-century American literature" and the Washington Post called Gene Wolfe "the finest writer the science fiction world has yet produced."
The story is set so far in the future that the Sun is dying. That is all I'll say about the plot...no spoilers here! Very well written. Deeply...more
The story is set so far in the future that the Sun is dying. That is all I'll say about the plot...no spoilers here! Very well written. Deeply...more
I actually have a slightly different edition (hardcover, from the Science Fiction Book Club), but this is the only omnibus of all four volumes I could find on here. I ordered this as one of my six free books or whatever when I joined, because the description sounded neat and it was good value for money; I stumbled upon one of the finest writers, in any genre, North America has produced. Still mysterious, beautiful, profound and terrifying in turn, this series is very much a must-read for you. Ye...more
Sevarian the torturer is an outcast on a dying Earth for the crime of showing mercy to one of his 'clients.' We are shown a lot of this strange world by Sevarian as he wonders, staying ahead of those who would do him harm for his betrayel.
My wife read these as they came out and was on tanterhooks waiting for the rest. For some reason, I didn't read them until all four were out. I've bought the set at least 3 times that I know of-the first paper releases. The trade paperbacks which each have two...more
My wife read these as they came out and was on tanterhooks waiting for the rest. For some reason, I didn't read them until all four were out. I've bought the set at least 3 times that I know of-the first paper releases. The trade paperbacks which each have two...more
My favourite book of all. Bar none. This is so far removed from what people think of as fantasy or science fiction that it is almost impossible to describe to someone who is yet to read it. Some of the most finely crafted writing there is. In any genre. Gene Wolfe is one of those authors who some people just don't get, his style can be disjointed temporally and ambiguous descriptively but if it clicks you will be a fan for life.
This is undoubtedly his masterpiece. The Book of the Long Sun and Th...more
This is undoubtedly his masterpiece. The Book of the Long Sun and Th...more
I wish I had begun reading each book on its own; if I had, I wouldn't have bothered finishing either of the last two books. As it is, I'm giving the entire book an awkward "average" of the ratings. It's hard to extract each book's feel, but here are the ratings I believe I'd give each part:
The Shadow of the Torturer - *****
The Claw of the Conciliator - ****
The Sword of the Lictor - ***
The Citadel of the Autarch - **
While the later books continue to do a fantastical job of world-building, the plo...more
The Shadow of the Torturer - *****
The Claw of the Conciliator - ****
The Sword of the Lictor - ***
The Citadel of the Autarch - **
While the later books continue to do a fantastical job of world-building, the plo...more
I am a biased reviewer. First, I am beginning to suspect that I don't like multi-volume fantasy very much, with a few exceptions since there are always a few exception. Second, Wolfe and I fundamentally disagree about the nature of reality, and his view of it seeps through the corners of his writing in an unavoidable way. It's more than allegorical (except in one scene that almost exactly parallels a Biblical story) - it's better than that, but it's still close to the surface and tangled in the...more
This is an extensive epic fantasy book.
If I may draw a parallel for its style, it felt somehow like 'The never-ending story': stunning, original imagery, lots of subplots and countless open ends. I don't mean to say it's a book for kids, mind you.
You'll need patience to go through it and it helps if you enjoy rich, complex language: if you know some Latin or Greek you will feel like you're able to 'peek behind the curtain' as the author uses them to convey the sense of some forgotten language he...more
If I may draw a parallel for its style, it felt somehow like 'The never-ending story': stunning, original imagery, lots of subplots and countless open ends. I don't mean to say it's a book for kids, mind you.
You'll need patience to go through it and it helps if you enjoy rich, complex language: if you know some Latin or Greek you will feel like you're able to 'peek behind the curtain' as the author uses them to convey the sense of some forgotten language he...more
One of the pinnacles of achievement in science fiction. A stunningly brilliant series that will stand the test of time, unto the age when our sun is a mere cinder. I read this many years ago, but I figured it needs to go on my goodreads shelf. I got my original paperback copies of the series signed by Wolfe at the World Fantasy Convention in Pine Mountain, Georgia, in the early '90s. He liked the White Wolf Werewolf: The Apocalypse t-shirt I was wearing, so I gave him one.
I read this at the recommendation of a friend, otherwise I probably would not have finished it.
It's a very odd book. The premise is interesting enough, and the writing is actually pretty good as well, if from a bit of an odd perspective.
However, somewhere between those two it falls apart. There is no thrust to it. It feels aimless. Individual scenes are good, but have little to do with the scene before them or after them. There is great detail spent on things that are not relevant to the plot,...more
It's a very odd book. The premise is interesting enough, and the writing is actually pretty good as well, if from a bit of an odd perspective.
However, somewhere between those two it falls apart. There is no thrust to it. It feels aimless. Individual scenes are good, but have little to do with the scene before them or after them. There is great detail spent on things that are not relevant to the plot,...more
this book is a shot across the bow, followed by two amidships and one squarely in the stern, towards anyone inclined to erect a barrier between "literature" and science fiction. wolfe creates a rich world of fractal detail, where the clarkean coexists with the archaic with the seamlessness of elements that have already done so for eons. to this he adds a protagonist and plot where subtle details noticed only on a second or third reading can reveal vast but previously hidden concepts and connecti...more
Certainly one of the most subtle and complex science-fantasy epics in the genre. The surface story is only one aspect of what the author is after; there are far deeper themes lurking below. And the narrator is far from reliable. One of the few series I've read twice, and the second time round I discovered many new things to appreciate about it. Highly recommended.
Picaresque pseudo-allegorical post-apocalyptic Bildungsroman and a few other things besides. Vance if he took himself seriously; some of the markers of the SF of its time, but owes much (thankfully) to the "humanist fantasy" (the best of Leiber and Saberhagen) of decades earlier.
A true masterpiece of the genre. I read it as one story, same as i did with the original Dune novels. The 4 books are very dense and you can read them multiple times. The plot is the rise of an exiled "torturer" to Autarch of a moribund Urth with a dying sun.
Not sure how to feel about this one. Enjoyable and frustrating at the same time. Very self-indulgent. Severian continually refers to himself as a "simple" or "stupid" man, but will go into a random metaphysical/philosophical rant after looking at a rock or a flower. The atmosphere and bizarre characters are great though and the whole series just feels epic.
Highly Recommend for fans of fantasy and science Fiction. Long read but worth it,the story sucks you in right from page one. Couldn't put it down.
A truly great futuristic fantasy, beautifully, beautifully written. One of my top ten fantasy/SF novels of all time.
Just great. One of the true classics of any genre. This book still haunts me more than 10 years after I finished it.
This book is not fantasy. It is science fiction, to be more specify, space opera. I enjoyed it.
Oct 03, 2009
Jaine Fenn
added it
One of my top books in my 20s, mainly for the fantastic world-building. Must re-read this one too!
Reading this book is the closest I've come to replicating the sensation of dreaming.
Can be difficult to follow, but it's worth it. Easier now that we have Google.
A vast, gloomy picaresque novel set in a mysterious and wonderful world.
A masterpiece of the science-fantasy genre. Highly recommended.
A god-send to fantasy. I'm enjoying every moment.
Amazing book...I've read it twice.
on my list to reread
Amazing. Such imagination.
Although the subject matter is grim, and there is not a single really likeable character in the series - I love these novels because they are SO well written and SO totally different. I am rereading them again - with an on-line unabridged dictionary. The edition I own has the first two titles together (Shadow of the Torturer & Claw of the Conciliator) and a volume with the second two titles (Sword of the Lictor & Citadel of the Autarch).
The finest piece of science fiction literature that I've ever read, and truly one of a kind. Powerful, relentless, magical, violently beautiful, this books operates as much on an allegorical level below language as it does on the surface of the impossibly rich and well-drawn story and world. It is an essential book in any genre, and an unsettling fable of self, ambition, destiny, and the nature of truth and memory.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Sword and Laser: audible genre/sf series sale | 1 | 41 | Mar 25, 2013 09:46am | |
| RG2013: The Book of the New Sun | 4 | 8 | Feb 08, 2013 08:27am | |
| Do you like Author Collaborations? If so who would you like to see work together? | 1 | 4 | Jul 23, 2011 09:20am |
Gene Wolfe is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith, to which he converted after marrying a Catholic. He is a prolific short story writer and a novelist, and has won many awards in the field.
The Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award is given by SFWA for ‘lifetime achievement in science fict...more
More about Gene Wolfe...
The Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award is given by SFWA for ‘lifetime achievement in science fict...more
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“. . .Consciousness came and went.
Consciousness went and came like the errant winds of spring, and I, who so often have had difficulty in falling asleep among the besieging shades of memory, now fought to stay awake as a child struggles to lift a faltering kite by the string.”
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1 person liked it
Consciousness went and came like the errant winds of spring, and I, who so often have had difficulty in falling asleep among the besieging shades of memory, now fought to stay awake as a child struggles to lift a faltering kite by the string.”
“And it came to me that these trees had been hardly smaller when I was yet unborn, and had stood as they stood now when I was a child playing among the cypresses and peaceful tombs of our necropolis, and that they would stand yet, drinking in the last light of the dying sun, even as now, when I had been dead as long as those who rested there.”
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1 person liked it
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Mar 24, 2012 12:10pm