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Summary: Jack Vance's _The Dying Earth_ brought to fulfillment.
Review: I've read a fair amount of science fiction and fantasy over the years, including all of the classics of "The Golden Age." It took me a long time to admit it, but this is the best of them all. This is the best science fiction book I have ever read.In this book, Severian, apprentice in the Guild of Seekers for Truth and Penitence, is sent to the library of the Autarch, the ruler of the Commonwealth, for several books, and meets the head of the Librarian's Guild. This man explains how the Librarian's Guild attracts its apprentices. In each library is placed a copy of The Book of Gold, which attracts exactly those youths who will make good librarians. These children are taken into the guild. No apprentice can say, later, just what The Book of Gold is about. It is, simply, the most wonderful book in the world. Wolfe has said that, for him, The Book of Gold (or one of them, anyway) was Jack Vance's book _The Dying Earth_. _The Book of the New Sun_, of which this book contains the first two of four volumes, is an homage, in large part, to _The Dying Earth_. _The Book of the New Sun_ is a story of the far future, when Earth's sun is dying, and all of the people with the inclination to do so have left the dying planet. This book is about the remaining inhabitants, both human and extra-human, and the world as it is left to them, and what is to become of it. It is also a book to give the old, tarnished word "redemption" a new lease on life. Wolfe is a practicing Catholic, but while this informs his viewpoint, this is not your average book of Christian allegory. It's a reworking of some elements found in the New Testament, and a lot of elements definitely not found there. A lot of other words get a new lease on life too. Many other reviewers below seem to feel that some or all of the many difficult words in this book are made up. None are. Neither are any of the proper names. The quest to find them is a difficult one: just because a word is not found in the OED does not mean it is imaginary. The common noun "anpiel", for example, is drawn from the proper name "Anpiel", the name of the angel who takes care of birds...and I admit I had to write to Mr. Wolfe on my own to find this out. But none of these amounts to a real reason to read these books. Read them, instead, to see how this kind of thing SHOULD be done: from the inside out, from a boy swimming in the river to the final alteration of the cycle of creation.
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Summary: An overall excellent book.
Review: While I cannot say this book is the best that I have ever read, it definitely ranks in the top 98% or so. Gene Wolfe delivers a stunning narrative of Earth in the far-distant future. Although Shadow and Claw (the first two books in the series) have a strong fantasy/science fiction edge, they surpass the traditional mold of Tolkein and take the genre to a new contemporary level. This is one of the novels that bridges the gap between Science Fiction and legitimate Lichrachure. If you haven't read it, then read it! If you've already read it, then read it again (especially if you don't agree with me).
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Summary: Brilliant Masterpiece!
Review: This is the greatest SF book I have ever read in terms of scope, grandeur, and imagination (with Dan Simmons's "Hyperion" coming second). It is also written in a dark, dense, haunting style. A superb, unforgettable read!
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Summary: Shakespeare, Dickens, Joyce, Borges....Wolfe
Review: If science fiction will ever gain any sort of critical respect from the literary canon, this is the type of book that would do it. I know there are plenty of books on amazon.com that are just filled with all kinds of 5 star reviews, and then when you read them, you think the reviewers must have been 15 years old...this book is different. Sure, it can be compared to Tolkien on the shallowest level, but it is much more akin to Dickens, Joyce, Proust, Chesterton, and (especially) Borges. Not that I dislike Tolkien, but he is overused as a comparison to provide any meaningful context in which to judge a book. This book could be read for countless lifetimes without exhausting its wealth. On the surface its another stable boy becomes emporer sort of story (although a neat twist is that the "stable boy" is actually--by profession--a torturer), but wow...if any story can validate an entire genre, here it is. The imagery is also decidedly beautiful. The story is! set in an unspecified, but EXTREMELY distant future...the moon has been made verdant and now shines green in the sky...the Sun is dying due to "a worm" at its center...the sands on the beach are full of colors because the sand is not really sand, but the glass and stone from our buildings of today ground into a fine powder...all the mountains have been carved to the shape of former "autarchs"...the city in which the action starts is actually a former spaceport and the towers of the city are spaceships.... I could go on and on. Most of these things are not explained directly in the book. They are hinted at and must be pieced together from the clues strewn about, and this makes the imagery that much more powerful. I cannot say enough about this book. If you aren't convinced, read what John Clute has to say about Wolfe, both in his books of essays, and in "The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction", which rightly calls Wolfe the most important write! r of science fiction in the world today.
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Summary: Literary Masterpiece
Review: While this series is sometimes hard to follow (Have a Old French/Latin dictionary handy). It is worth reading. Gene Wolfe turned the world of fantasy inside out with Shadow of the Torturer.
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Summary: Hey, 10 for a rating is not good enough!! Give me 12 or 15!!
Review: This series is easily the best book ever written. It is fantastic how Gene Wolf can conjure up images, colours, smells and noises. You'll be complete lost in this book as you read it, go days without food or sleep. I've read them 4 or 5 times over the last 14 years, and I will be coming back for more. Full of legends and stories referring back to that long lost past (which is today) delicatly distorted. To describe the books as 'Science Fiction' does not do them justice. Definitly fiction, but very little of the 'science' part. An absolute must! Don't borrow it from the library, because you won't return it... I'm still, after all these years waiting for an (unlikely) sequel, after all, the story is never told...
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Summary: Wonderful
Review: Absolutely fantastic. This book, or books, is probably the most worthwile book you can buy. Wolfe has been praised by everyone and criticized by no one for his incredible 4 volume epic series, The Book of the New Sun. It's everything you've heard about and more. The depth of character and plot, the richness of the world it takes place in, all are mind-blowing. Don't miss this one, it would be one of the biggest mistakes of your life.
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Summary: Only dreams can create more vivid imagination in one's self
Review: At first I was tempted not to review this book. I wanted to keep it secret, like a dream no one can understand or appreciate except myself. I brushed aside this temptation, though, because each and every person who enjoys reading will cherish this unbelievable tale. An inconceivable plot filled with striking and unforgettable characters, permeated with incomprehensable twists and bends, and the most lush descriptions you will find anywhere. It will actually make you feel the experiences that Severian, the uncommon hero, undergoes. I reccomend this book for everyone who is up for a little challenge and is not scared to experience fantasy at its finest.
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Summary: One of our greatest writers...
Review: I remember grabbing this book of the "best of SF" shelf in my library when I was twelve. Hell, the cover and title were pretty cool looking. I wasn't ready then. I got through the first novel out of respect to Mr.Wolfe, and vowed one day to return to this book and master it. Well a few years later that is exactly what I did. I'm twenty-one now I own every one of Wolfe's works, and I've read them all countless times. His writing is staggering. He gives us so much in his writing but leaves you too soon. Reading his books forms a partnership between writer and reader that I've never experienced before. I realize I haven't actually reviewd his book so let me do so: This is a major work! You WILL love it. And the strange feeling it leaves you with will never leave. The plot is intricate, the characters marvelous, and the ideas it puts forward will have you thinking long after you are done. BUY THIS BOOK!!!!!!
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Summary: Thank you Gene Wolfe
Review: One day, when I was about 14, I was making rice. I had just finished a book on socrates (that I was forced to read by my father, an english professor) The rice would take twenty minutes so I ran upstairs to get a book. I wasn't into any particular genre and just grabbed the first book that looked worth reading, (and wasn't ancient philosophy) I ended up reaching for Shadow Of The Torturer. I began to read and ended up burning my rice. I couldn't put this book down. It wasn't suspenceful, just amazing. To me Gene Wolfe is a hero. I am now 16 and have read the seriese many times. I can't wait to see what I get out of it when I am 18...20...50. This is a book that will be passed down to my children and grandchildren. When I told my father how much I enjoyed it he was sceptical that I could really understand it. It is true there is much need for a dictionary, but all the work put into reading this book comes back to you 100 fold. The fact that someone age 14 could read it and enjoy for the story shows that you don't have to have a Ph.D. to fall in love with it. Being older and wiser only hightens the experience. Please don't decide not to read this book becouse it seems like to much work, It isn't. Gene Wolfe lets YOU decide if you want to read it for the story, or the literary superioraty. Please give yourself a chance to fall in love with a book.
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