Rating: 
Summary: What? Huh? Not to be Read out of Order!
Review: This book is loaded with memorable scenes, incidents, and characters. I expect that from Gene Wolfe. I also expect plot complexity and some non-linearity. However, this story is so dream-like, impressionistic, and non-linear that it pushed me beyond my patience limit. I REALLY wanted to understand and enjoy it, but I kept getting lost. In all fairness, I did read it out of sequence; I read it AFTER reading BOTH "The Book of the Long Sun" and "The Book of the New Sun" (in that order, which was also backwards). "The Urth of the New Sun" is really a post-script or culmination to "The Book of the New Sun" series and acts as a bridge to "The Book of the Long Sun". I plan to eventually re-read the entire set (twelve books!) in their proper order: "The Book of the New Sun" (four books), "The Urth of the New Sun" (one book), "The Book of the Long Sun" (four books), "The Book of the Short Sun" (three books). I've read them all and understand how they fit together, but re-reading them in the proper order might help me grasp the twisted flow better and appreciate more "The Urth of the New Sun".
Rating:
Summary: What? Huh? Not to be Read out of Order!
Review: This book is loaded with memorable scenes, incidents, and characters. I expect that from Gene Wolfe. I also expect plot complexity and some non-linearity. However, this story is so dream-like, impressionistic, and non-linear that it pushed me beyond my patience limit. I REALLY wanted to understand and enjoy it, but I kept getting lost. In all fairness, I did read it out of sequence; I read it AFTER reading BOTH "The Book of the Long Sun" and "The Book of the New Sun" (in that order, which was also backwards). "The Urth of the New Sun" is really a post-script or culmination to "The Book of the New Sun" series and acts as a bridge to "The Book of the Long Sun". I plan to eventually re-read the entire set (twelve books!) in their proper order: "The Book of the New Sun" (four books), "The Urth of the New Sun" (one book), "The Book of the Long Sun" (four books), "The Book of the Short Sun" (three books). I've read them all and understand how they fit together, but re-reading them in the proper order might help me grasp the twisted flow better and appreciate more "The Urth of the New Sun".
Rating: 
Summary: Time/Space Voyage of Adventure
Review: Unquestionably a grand conclusion(or epilogue) to Wolfe's tetrology of the New Sun. Characteristic of the preceeding four books but is lacking in content. You keep expecting something that Wolfe just doesn't deliver. Wolfe, as usual, has suprises around every turned page. Conceptually a masterpiece in its time/space connotations with space travel, ideas that I had never been exposed to or since. Wolfe's style makes the reader "think outside the box" and use the ole' imagination for a change(unlike some authors that spell everything out).If you are a fan of Wolfe's works, then it is a "must read."
Rating: 
Summary: For People who Read New Sun and Want Answers
Review: Urth of the New Sun is Wolfe's follow up to Book of the New Sun, which I believe to be one of if not the finest sci-fi fantasy novel ever written. Book of the New Sun left off with parts of the story unfinished and certain mysteries unsolved. I think Urth of the New Sun is basically the answer to Book of the New Sun and much more. However, when I say much more, I mean for every enigma that is brought to light, and every story that is completed, ten more are opened up. This type of writing is very typical of Wolfe and if you've read New Sun you will know what to expect, but the book doesn't really read like New Sun. Their are actually events the take place within the plot line that open possible evidence as to why this book reads and feels different then New Sun, but you would have to read the entire novel and really think about it before you could beggar a guess. For me it was just another opportunity to enter the mind of Severian and walk again on the world of Urth. To put it simple if you enjoyed New Sun, you will enjoy this. If you haven't read New Sun, take a step back and read that first.
Rating:
Summary: For People who Read New Sun and Want Answers
Review: Urth of the New Sun is Wolfe's follow up to Book of the New Sun, which I believe to be one of if not the finest sci-fi fantasy novel ever written. Book of the New Sun left off with parts of the story unfinished and certain mysteries unsolved. I think Urth of the New Sun is basically the answer to Book of the New Sun and much more. However, when I say much more, I mean for every enigma that is brought to light, and every story that is completed, ten more are opened up. This type of writing is very typical of Wolfe and if you've read New Sun you will know what to expect, but the book doesn't really read like New Sun. Their are actually events the take place within the plot line that open possible evidence as to why this book reads and feels different then New Sun, but you would have to read the entire novel and really think about it before you could beggar a guess. For me it was just another opportunity to enter the mind of Severian and walk again on the world of Urth. To put it simple if you enjoyed New Sun, you will enjoy this. If you haven't read New Sun, take a step back and read that first.
Rating:
Summary: Essential if you've read The Book of the New Sun
Review: Urth will live as "the coda" to New Sun. We don't believe that it will ever be fully accepted into the New Sun canon but exist outside of it as a separate work despite what Foundation may think. It illuminates a great deal of the material that people may have puzzled over in New Sun and brings up a great deal of new issues to ponder-one of which is one of the greatest coincidences we have seen in any literature anywhere; the kind of coincidence that so impossibly defies probability that one is thrown into a state of pondering the existence of divinity, which no doubt Wolfe intended. This book will not, however, gather the fierce following the original New Sun captured.
WHO SHOULD READ THIS:
If you enjoyed New Sun it's hard to imagine that you would not read this book and will need little urging from us to go do so. It is rather essential for Wolfe devotees. Anyone who enjoys the unspoken vividness of Eastern philosophy will find a great deal to enjoy here and may derive pleasure out of it without ever having read New Sun. There are occasions here where one is reminded of Siddhartha and other works dealing with consciousness, time, and humanity's place in the universe.
WHO SHOULD AVOID:
If New Sun was too hard for you or irritated you, definitely pass. Urth isn't that different. If you haven't read New Sun, you probably shouldn't read this book first-although Reading Urth first and then backtracking to New Sun might provide an interesting experiment in itself. In some ways, that sort of reverse reading is in keeping with principles contained in Urth. Interesting. If that little digression into reverse reading was uninteresting to you and made your head hurt, definitely pass. That's the kind of thing that fills scores of pages in Urth.
READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW AT INCHOATUS.COM
Rating:
Summary: Conclusion to a truly great series
Review: Wolfe returns to the world of Severian after an absence of some years, and (as often seems to be the case in series where this happens) returns with renewed energy and imagination. A lot of loose ends are tied up, a few new ones are created. The descriptions of the ship are very memorable. It's debatable whether this book needed to be written, as the series works without it, but it's the sort of series I never wanted to end, and it's certainly a worthy follow up. The end, when it does come, is more of a fading away than a termination, partly due to the complexities of the plot structure, partly due to the impression it leaves on you: Severian will never disappear from my memory.
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