Rating: 
Summary: Great book if you don't mind the work
Review: Now, don't me wrong on the number... I loved the book... however, it can be a difficult read. I found myself putting it down then picking it up again a week or two later because my brain hurt. Allusions coupled with near stream-of-consiousness writing (in the first person no less), and with a surrealists touch makes for some cryptic reading. All his made up words didn't help either. But it's an intriguing story and worth the work that is put into it. The only reason it didn't get a higher rating is because of the amount of work you have to put into it. Characters seemingly come and go at a whim, almost like a dream. But through it all, it shines through as powerful prose.
Rating: 
Summary: One series that MUST be read.
Review: A fantasy so fantastic it surpasses the word fantasy and reads more like truth. It is such an intricate and interwoven story that it astounds you. It's flecked with literary references that leaves you wondering how many more you'll catch when you read it again. Have a dictionary close by--even the language plays a part in the story. You won't want to put it down, it's that much fun.
Rating:
Summary: This is as good as it gets
Review: I can't say much about this series that hasn't already been said below, but if you haven't read it, you missed one of the 10 best sf series ever written. I read it for the first time in 1984 and I've read it six more times since.If you're a student of literature, this book has so many references to myths and classical literature you'll find yourself trying to figure out where you remember every person's name, and every landscape from. Start with your Greek classics, but don't forget the Bible, Roman lit, or Aesop's fables. For starters, you'll find Dorcas in the New Testament and the story is VERY relevant. It's easy to figure out that the "New Sun" has more than one meaning here, and there's no question that Severian is a messianic figure, but that's only scratching the surface. Read it, and read it again. And after a year or two, read it again. Gene Wolfe is undoubtedly equal to any sf writer ever published. (Yes, even Philip K. Dick) More importantly, he may be one of the best writers of any genre, in any language, in any age. Your great-grandchildren may very well be reading this book in college English Lit courses.
Rating:
Summary: Terminus Est: Look No Further than this book
Review: I remember so many things, each of them burned into the retina of my inner eye. The maddening spirals of the Witches' Tower, the yellowed pages of Severian's book of Stories. Severian wishing for hot water as he shaves by the riverside with a soldier's razor. The city of Nessus. The vast Wall. The robes of the Pellerines. The maze-like passageways of the House Absolute. The tragic death of Severian's alter-ego, the country boy who shares his name. These provacative, unforgettable fragments bubble up out of my subconscious when I least expect it. A part of me will now always reside on the Urth of Severian. Unlike any other book I've ever read, Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun allowed me to experience, after a fashion, the world of Urth in much the same way as the boy in The Neverending Story experienced the world of Falcor and Atreu. Through his use of strange, half-forgotten words of the English language and a few new words of his own, Wolfe is able to evoke an utterly alien but hauntingly familiar Earth-- Severian's "Urth." I can't think of any other work which compares to it in scope, or detail, or complicated, lovable, unforgettable characters. To read Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun is to experience for the first time a universe you always suspected was close by. So don some fuligin robes and start the journey. Severian's waiting.
Rating: 
Summary: Rewarding but difficult.
Review: This is a sort of a science fantasy, true, but I disagree with those who call it science fantasy only because it's set in the far future. Perhaps if the people in Wolfe's future could destinguish their technology from magic it would be science fiction, but they seem unable to. They, as enhabitants of the far future often do, live under an autarchy, which is (as far as I can tell) a lot like a monarchy, except autarchy sounds better, don'tcha think?
So here we have a steady basis for *lots and LOTS* on decipherment(sp?) on the part of the reader. If one were to read the Book of the New Sun assuming that it was set in the past, it would pretty damn much make sense plotwise. But there are problems with that, since these people in the Book have starships, modern weapons, (which they obviously call "ancient") and other technology not availible in other "fantasy".
The difficult thing about that being that Wolfe's protagonist Severian (obviously derived from "to sever,"-read the book) has got no idea that this is technology rather than magic. The Torturer's Guild lives in a freakin' spaceship fergoshsakes, and I get the impression that he has _no clue_ about it! This is a very cool idea Gene Wolfe has got going here but as a result the reader truly has to be into this and figuring out what Wolfe is talking about in modern terms, otherwise the book makes no sense and you think it was written during an acid flashback, or that he's trying to get all metaphysical for no reason, like _Stranger in a Strange Land_ or something of the sort. But he's not at all, he's simply making the reader think a bit about something rather than said reader's sex life or next meal.
Which brings me to the next problem-Severian's raging love life. I disagree with one of my friends, who thinks Gene Wolfe is perhaps having a bit of a time getting any erm Crisp in his Cucumber if you know what I mean, so maybe our Mr. Wolfe here is having Serverian ermm get it so to speak, quite a lot in this book. Well at least Wolfe dosen't write romance-novel fodder. He's tasteful about it but still the overwhelming impression I get (and I am not at all a prude) here is that there is TOO MUCH SEX in this series. But at least he dosen't go into vivid detail.
The writing, while challenging, is , well, authentic. It's written from the first person, so really what you get here combining a fantasy-type character and a _really_ difficult narrative, is some excellent grammar, some frighteningly long sentences that will give you Proust-diagramming flashbacks, and probably the largest number of Incredibly Obscure Words ever. Armiger. Conciliator. Lictor. Autarch. Exhultant. (and those are some of the easiest)
The reason behind this is that Gene Wolfe, apparrently not in a Frank Herbert-like mood when writing this, decided to use _only real english words_...but with skewed meanings. No gom gabbars or kwisatz haderachs here, but you'll still have to figure out what the hell an armiger or exhultant _is_, which will probably differ from the dictionary definition (I never looked). So you have to do that while trying to grasp what magic is what sufficiently advaned technology, while trying not to trip over Severian's neverending sentences, while trying not to have an aneurism from the incredibly small print in these crappy tradepaperbacks. Go for original used copies like I did, they aren't as nice looking and they're usually book club editions, but they don't have that stupid small print. They also cost less than fifteen bucks apiece. I got this entire series for seventeen dollars used, way better than thirty for the whole series in these TOR/ORB editions.
When you get down to it, the best part of this series is Wolfe's incredible skill in writing a convincing first person tale. When you get to the notes from Wolfe (who refers to himself as the mere "translator" of the Book) in the back, you sort of think, "Oh, yeah, this guy wrote all this. Not Severian."
But still it makes you want to believe that perhaps Gene Wolfe is only the translator, of a lost Book from a ravaged future.
Rating:
Summary: A Story of Sin and Redemption.
Review: Gene Wolfe has written a classic piece of literature, weaving inventive baroque language and maze-like storytelling to produce a mesmerising tale of the future. Severian is both good and evil, light and dark, cruel and merciful. As he travels across Urth he realizes that he is the Conciliator, the one who can bridge the gap between mankind and the Creator. Christian imagery and symbolism make Severian one of the most memorable characters you will ever come to understand. You will read this book over and over, rewarded each time for your pains by additional richness and depth
Rating:
Summary: The young Apprintice leans about what it is to have friends.
Review: The young apprintice must learn to be a friend a lover and a man filled with compassion. In the begining he has the job of a student. As he grows he leans that with resposibility ther comes a price. He learns that sometimes that to be nice the only thing he can do is show mercy. Even if that mercy means death for a loved one. Being brought up without a mom or dad not even knowing his parents for that matter. He had to teach himself how to judge a man and how to trust others. He meets with a few friends and alot of people who just want to take what they can from him. The friends he earns stay with him almost to the end. He overcomes his past and dears to try and let love in. The only problem and maybe the best part of the story is how they leave you with almost a mild depression with the want no the need to get the next book so that you can find out what happens next
Rating:
Summary: An incredible read.
Review: I think that most people have failed to give science fiction any literary credit. Who amongst us today know that Mr. Wolfe is truly the greatest American writer alive? I would read Book of the New Sun two times a day, everyday, like the Bible, just so I know that I've done the right thing: enriching my life
Rating:
Summary: These books will endure for generations as classics.
Review: There's little I can add to the glowing reviews Wolfe has already received. The language is poetic, and the allusions to mythology and philosophy will
stimulate and entertain even the most intellectual and literate of readers.
In this respect the books go far beyond Tolkien's efforts. While thus appealing to the intelligentsia, Wolfe manages to tell a rousing tale to keep even the most casual reader entranced. These are among the best books of the 20th century, and deserve to be better known outside of the fantasy/SF community.
Rating:
Summary: Literature masterpiece
Review: Have You read Tolkien or Borches? How do You like them? If the answer is "how can anybody don't like these authors?", You must read this book.
It's not just fantasy/s.f. it's Literature. From the first pages You are brought to the brave/glorious/colourfull world of New Urth (some millions years to the future), where all is new and all is resembling something from other great books, from your own life or your dreams. Excellent! The most powerfull literary experience, which I had in last years.
Excuse me for my English, I'm writing from Russia
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