Rating: 
Summary: Tempered Brilliance
Review: Science fiction and fantasy are literary genres that I doubt will ever rank among my favorites. However, I am always open to a stretch from my usual reading fare, so when a bookish colleague stated with impassioned conviction - "this is the best book I've ever read!" - I had to peer inside the covers of "Shadow & Claw". Gene Wolfe is inarguably a highly skilled and richly talented author. I had already read Wolfe's "There Are Doors" and was decidedly underwhelmed. But this first half of a tetralogy was entirely on a different level of polish. Wolfe is a prolific writer, and when one produces as many books as he does, some are bound to be less, some more. I was willing to give him another look. I'm very pleased that I did. No, this is not my favorite book ever. Nor will it make the top ten on my top bookshelf. But it enthralled me instantly, pulled me in to its lush and intricate language, clouded my mind's eye to the reality around me to be reopened into the fantasy world of Severian the Torturer, and brought to life a brilliant array of characters, creatures, and settings. Wolfe has taken on an intriguing challenge in developing a central character, Severian, who tortures and kills for a living. How does one feel empathy for such a vile man? Ah, but one does. Wolfe succeeds, at least initially. Brought into the guild of Torturers as a child, Severian does what he has been taught to do, and, in spite of his gruesome work, he has a core spirit that has its sharper edges softened by compassion and tempered by a sense of honor. As the story weaves its highly imaginative path, however, my empathy for Severian does, admittedly, wane to some degree. As his understanding and, mostly, his free choice of occupation increase, he becomes less sympathetic. It's hard to feel for a man who takes such precise pleasure in his work of torment and death. His intelligence and his ability to discriminate also come under question as he falls in and out of love in the blink of a wandering eye with every female - prostitute, damsel in distress, prisoner, actress, or wandering waif - who crosses his path. Honestly, Sev. Tone down the testosterone, will you? Yet I read this book to the end, and I read quickly. Whatever genre, Wolfe is a rare talent. I do understand why my bookish colleague so adores his work. I've already begun reading the second half of this tetralogy, "Sword & Citadel". Severian falls far short of being my hero, but the otherworldly world he inhabits will have my attention a while longer.
Rating: 
Summary: Justifies the Existence of Science-Fiction
Review: If Gene Wolfe's BOOK OF THE NEW SUN stood alone, towering over a vast field of L. Ron Hubbard "blockbusters" and the latter works of Piers Anthony, surrounded by the worst of the Star Trek and Star Wars novels, the existence of science-ficton would be justified, and its glory established forever. Wolfe's four-volume work is, of course, one novel. It is also one of the finest works of 20th century literature. As usual, Wolfe brings the powers of a Dickens, a Proust, a Kafka, (in other words, a unique genius like and yet unlike every other unique genius) to bear on his subject matter, and here the subject matter is memory, space, time, sin and redemption, God and Man. This is the Book of Gold, and its beauty and strength is great. It is worthwhile to note the high praise given to Wolfe's work even (perhaps especially?) by critics who profoundly disagree with his moral and metaphysical aims--Ian Watson, roughly, said that Wolfe has re-written the New Testament, only with better prose and a nicer sense of structure. I disagree--but imagine the kind of book that can bring forth such claims when ideological sympathy is not a contributing factor. Read Wolfe!
Rating:
Summary: This is embarassing
Review: Are people losing their imaginations...do they need an obvious resolution for everything? To be spoonfed? Do they need the thinking to be done for them? All these people giving this book 1-3 stars for the wrong reasons...if you do not like it, if it's not to your taste, then you have every right to state your opinion, but to say this book is full of pointless passages and whatnot is ridiculous...to mock it for using a vocabulary you don't understand? Gene Wolfe has and can write a book with simple vocabulary that is still complex, but this book, for many ovbvious reasons, called for a rich vocabulary with many different language roots. Figure it out. Read carefully cause there isn't a wasted breath...things do happen for a reason, they're just not explained explicitly...what's the point in telling the readers everything...you ruin the fun...anyways, my gripe is people who trash something they don't understand...
Rating:
Summary: Where Do I Start Describing Its Quality?
Review: After reading Gene Wolfe's "The Book of the Long Sun" I felt that he was an excellent writer who developed his characters to a depth seldom reached by other authors. His writing rides the border between prose and poetry, and is laden with imagery, allusions, and metaphors. He also likes to throw in unexpected but plausible twists. Now that I've read "The Book of the New Sun", which actually precedes "The Book of the Long Sun" as far as the story-line history goes, I know that Gene Wolfe is one of our greatest writers of fantasy, science fiction, or speculative fiction. "The Book of the New Sun" reaches so far into our future that the sun is going red and dying. Humanity has forgotten much of its ancient past (us), although glimmers of it poke through here and there. The main character and the story's narrator, Severian, guides us through his life, starting as a young, apprentice torturer (an honorable but unrespected profession) and moving toward his unpredictable fate as ruler of the world (or Autarch). This book covers his early years. The writing and the story are so complex and rich and deep that I know I am giving a totally inadequate description of the story, but a comprehensive description would take pages (and pages). This is a somewhat melancholy but wonderfully rich and well-told tale, and is (very, extremely) highly recommended for all readers who enjoy speculative fiction in any of its forms, from Arthur C. Clarke's hard science fiction to J. R. R. Tolkien whimsical epic fantasies to Charles de Lint's semi-Gothic urban legends. The only readers who won't like this book are impatient ones; the story is so involved that it cannot possibly start fast. It is, however, worth the patience required.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding, but not an unqualified recommendation...
Review: I've read some of the reader reviews of "Shadow and Claw" and come to the conclusion that the book needs an introduction. Many of the negative reviews, I think, come from readers who weren't familiar with Gene Wolfe's writing style, which is understandable. So let me say for Wolfe that you cannot by any means read "The Book of the New Sun" the way you would ordinarily read a book. This mostly stems from the fact that the book is supposed to be an autobiography, and the writer, Severian, really can't be trusted to describe things accurately. A pretty good example would be the first woman Severian becomes interested in, Agia. He tells us that she was the most unattractive woman he has ever been attracted to. Fine, but the way that he becomes somewhat obsessed with her at a glance would suggest otherwise, and the way she treats him would account for his recalling her as being ugly. This is a minor example, to be sure, because it is a matter of Severian's perspective. There were other times in the book that I got the impression that Severian was telling flat-out lies. It's confusing, but it makes the book extremely interesting to read, simply because you are able to figure out much of what actually happened. Another thing to keep in mind, as somebody said in a quote on Wolfe's "The Fifth Head of Cerberus," (I forget who, and don't really care to find out, mostly because I'm lazy) is that Wolfe is "a master of the casual revelation." Which is to say that Severian will out of nowhere mention some vital piece of information, apparently assuming that we already knew about it. And we probably would know were we from his world, as he assumes we are. The only other thing to be aware of is the vocabulary, which thankfully is not nearly as difficult as people have described it. By and large, you won't have to look up the words being used simply because while you may not what an individual word means, you can infer it's meaning from the sentence it is used in. I started out looking up words constantly, and found that they mostly meant what I had already assumed they did. This is not to say that you shouldn't have a dictionary on hand, but looking up every word used that you don't know would be excessive. If all this sounds intimidating, I highly recommend that you read "Cerberus" which will give you a better handle on Wolfe's style. It's great book, and a good place to start if you are unfamiliar with Gene Wolfe. (If you do take my advice, it would be good to note that Severian's writing style is most similar to the first novella in "Cerberus.") The main thing I want to be clear on is that you shouldn't start reading this book expecting another "Lord of the Rings." While it can be argued that the "New Sun" series is of a similar calibur in terms of greatness, these are entirely different books. "LOTR" is an entertaining story, and you don't have to read into it at all. Everything you need to know is right there on the pages. The "New Sun" series is a bit more literary (Which sounds like a cultural elitist term, but I can't think of another one. Rest assured, I don't mean to belittle "LOTR" in any way, shape or form). If you're reading purely for an entertaining story, you would probably do well to look elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Imagination has nothing to do with this.
Review: I find it astounding that some reviewers think that those who didn't like this book have no imagination. I would like to start by saying that I'm a huge fan of obscure, bizarre and challenging fiction. Some of my favorite writers are Jonathan Caroll, Murakami, Jeff Noon, Mark Daniliewski, to name just a few. That should give you an idea that I definitely do not like to be "spoonfed". But..... It's not an invention of the unimaginative that a book of fiction, and especially a novel, must have a plot, and a continuity. It is not an ivention of the "dumbened" by mainstream that in a work of fiction, ideas must tie into the plot. A story must have a climax, or at least if one part of it ends with a cliffhanger the next one must pick up where the previous one left off. Those are RULES OF LITERATURE, people! No matter what kind of writing you like you just can't ignore those! A work of fiction does not necessarily have to tell a story in a simple, easily understandable way, but it MUST TELL A STORY. If a work of fiction does not have a plot it is either a) not a work of fiction or, b) a rather bad work of fiction. Putting together a nice collection of interesting thoughts and colorful scenes does not turn them into a novel. The reason I'm giving 2 stars is because the first book in this series is not bad. It creates a wild setting, interesting characters and a great premise. I swallowed the first book really quickly, and could not wait to get to the second. Unfortunately, the second book is simply horrendous. I did not mind the weird language, by the way. That's not my gripe. My gripe is that the book wanders without aim all over the place. There is simply NO PLOT, no matter which way you put it. Hey, I thought Severian was sent to this city in the north to do his guild's work there. What the heck is he doing joining a theater troupe, having sex with pretty much every female he comes across and, in general, doing things that have neither reason nor point??? Maybe I'm in fact stupid and just don't get it. This seems to be the common explanation from all the reviewers who give this book 5 stars. But, easy as it is to say, I'm yet to see at least one of them explain exactly WHAT makes this book so great. It's easy to say "this is amazing". But WHAT is so amazing? WHAT revelations are you talking about, WHAT subtleties, WHAT twists, WHAT complexities? Name just one! Then I might start believing you. (...)
Rating:
Summary: Genius or sham?
Review: That's what I can't figure out about this book, and this writer. I'd read books before that I felt were not for me, or that I felt I had not understood. This one, however, left me wondering, "IS there anything to understand?" I like challenging reads, but sometimes there's such a thing as a pointlessly difficult read with no other reason for being difficult than to claim itself a masterpiece. Unfortunately, only very few of such books are actual masterpieces, and this is not one of them. First, the good points: the main character is definitely very unique and intriguing. Despite his rather odd and disturbing occupation, Wolfe manages to make him strangely compelling. The writing is highly descriptive, detailed and rich, creating a picture of a truly bizarre, fantastic society. That said, there is no doubt that the story IS original. Yet at the same time, it falls short on so many levels that it would take me about 5 pages to describe in detail. The main character's nature and profession are what makes him so interesting yet, having given us much insight into his past and present, Wolfe all of a sudden disregards those aspects completely just as the story starts getting interesting. He brings in more compelling and well-written characters (Dorcas, Agia, Jonas) in the middle of book one, only to abandon them for no solid reason and with no explanation by the beginning of book two. He makes things happen that seem like they might lead to very interesting plot turns and resolutions, but in the end they only prove to have been completely pointless and unnecessary. All that the reader is left to think is, "huh?" There are enough loose ends in this book to choke and elephant. So many times in the course of reading it, I found myself drawn into the story in one chapter, only to be disappointed and confused by lack of resolution and continuity in the very next. By the end of book two I felt annoyed and exhausted and definitely not interested of reading any more. I cannot help but imagine the author writing this book without quite knowing where and how it would end, and with a thick dictionary of medieval terms at his side. I feel that the fancy archaic and invented terms were put in there simply because they sounded cool, and for no other reason than to make the writing sound fancier and more original. But if you really look at it, it's what's often called a "replacement technique". Replace "horses" with "destriers", replace "nobles" with "chatelaines", replace "gold" with "orichalks", and there you have it. I'm sorry to say but that is NOT a mark of a genius. Fancy words do not an original story make. If you want to see a truly original story set in a truly alien world, don't waste your time on this. Try China Mieville's "Perdido Street Station", and its sequel, "The Scar" instead.
Rating:
Summary: Pretentious writing and disturbing plot
Review: I don't think I've ever been so torn by a book.
In one sense, it is grander than much sf/fantasy,
and deserves a mention. On the other, I find
the book disturbing and the writing
pretentious (use of obscure words which add
nothing to the story). I'm giving it two stars for the original ideas,
but no more due to the writing and unsympathetic
characters.
Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing: Brilliantly Detailed and Tedious
Review: By the number of awards bestowed upon this admittedly legendary series, I have to admit that I was anticipating being 'blown away' by the book(s). Quite the contrary, unlike legendary works by Tolkien (admitted 20th century master of Fantasy) or Dickens (to whom he's compared on the book jacket) or Hemmingway, Gene Wolf's works are not pre-eminently accessible to the common man. Now, with that being said, this isn't to say that books should be on the ubiquitous 6th grade-level or that Gene Wolf's work is not excellent in the abstract, impressionistic, stream-of-consciousness sense of the word. However, not disclaiming the aforementioned caveat would be, itself, a tremendous oversight by a reviewer. Additionally, while the author's metaphorical prowess is astounding--- such as an entire play serving as a chapter in the Claw book while,too, apocryphically detailing the entire mythos of the series-- so, too, is the author's (or, as it's first person, the protagonist's) amazing inability to have any semblance of a conclusion to each of the (original) books. As with a rambling speaker that loses his audience due to tangental gambits, so too do(es) the book(s) digress and diverge before coming an amazingly abrupt ending. I found myself torn between my full appreciation of Gene Wolf's linguistic mastery and those sections of the book that fleshed out characters such as Dorcas, Jonas and Jolenta (among others), while despising those sections, which, to date--perhaps resolved in the concluding volume(s)-- should have been left on the cutting room floor. Where's the lithium? The book(s) need(s) it.
Rating:
Summary: Be Warned!
Review: While certainly a very eye-opening andcreative novel, this book is tedious, confusing, and ultimately very frustrating. I must have read the opening few pages five or six times, before I finally understood what Gene was trying to say. If you are ready to struggle painstakingly through a book, than maybe this is the series for you. Otherwise, skip it. I made the mistake of reading the entire first book, and about half of the second before finally giving up.
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