Shadow & Claw : The First Half of 'The Book of the New Sun'

Rating:
Summary: An truly unique and fascinating science fiction/fantasy.
Review: Often considered Gene Wolfe's masterpiece, "The Book of the New Sun" is a dark and supurbly detailed chronicle of a life's journey through an Earth so far in the future that magic and science are indistiguishable from each other. Now re-released in a quality paperback book format, the the five-part series leads the protagonist, Severian, on a life's journey where both his personal identity and the fabric of reality often blur. It is a retelling of a life of discovery, adventure, love, and terror unlike any other. Gene Wolfe executes his prose with a simple humanity which lends reality and credence to an otherwize bizarre and frightening vision. This is a truly unique experience and a must-read for both the sci-fi and fantasy buff.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books ever written
Review: This book is one of the most beautiful writings ever produced in the English language. It is not what I would call an accessible "storytelling" book; Stephen King is the master at writing such novels. This book is beautifully written and complex at every level, from each sentence to the whole story and every image and thought it creates in one's mind. It is also an unforgiving book -- nothing is really explained. But, the book rewards careful reading and re-reading. I enjoy it anew every time I read it. My son has read it several times since he was a teenager and has become enthralled. Without compromising, Wolfe is letting his central character tell a story that takes place in a culture and a physical environment far removed from our own. The reader must struggle to comprehend this alien landscape with only the unfamiliar and idiomatic, but still human, narrative of a single person from this other time in the far future.

Rating:
Summary: A great story in here somewhere, but runs out of steam
Review: Gene Wolfe's acclaimed sci-fi/fantasy epic, The Book of the New Sun, is, despite the rave reviews it has received, a disappointment.

Throughout the pages of the first book, I wanted to be drawn in. There were engaging elements, some well crafted characters, and a fairly intriguing storyline (initially, that is). It was well-written and moved quickly. However, there are far too many aspects that detracted from my overall enjoyment of the book and, in the end, left me feeling empty.

Severian, the main character, feels the need to spout witty, insightful aphorisms every few paragraphs. All to often these reflections come across as disjointed and horribly inappropriate. Perhaps Wolfe meant for them to flesh out Severian's character, but these soliloquies do little except detract from the plot. They flatten Severian's character entirely. I'm sure the literary pundits enjoyed them, though.

The majority of the characters are ridiculously cardboard. Even Severian, who is intriguing at first, becomes banal and trite by the second book. We want to care about Severian, but in the end we fail to empathize with him because we don't care about any of the other characters he interacts with, or the story which he is the center of. The dialogue is ridiculously pedantic, and none of the characters ever seem to actually do anything of significance.

Incredibly archaic words are thrown around with no explanation whatsoever. Words such as 'thaumaturge' and 'deodand' might have lent an elegant touch to the story had Wolfe bothered to elaborate on them. He doesn't, of course, which leads to a trip to the dictionary every three minutes. Not a good way to read a story.

The back story of this future-Earth is only alluded to. It seems interesting, and most likely would have made a better story than the one Wolfe weaves. Instead, the story behind the world is shunted off to the background and left largely unexplained--lending to the disjointed feel. My unsatisfied interest in the background was always more powerful than my interest in Severian's farcical plot.

To top it all off, the plot goes nowhere. Nowhere at all. And the situations that arise are incredibly unbelievable. Random encounters and innane actions by characters serve to move the plot along at a ponderous pace. There are a multitude of inconsistencies and quirky moments that took me right out of the story.

So add one-dimensional characters to a mundane plot, mix in a fairly pedantic writing style and a confusing, disjointed atmosphere, and the story (which at first seems wonderfully engaging and interesting) becomes bogged down in its own machinations. The first half of the first book really is amazing. Well-written, well crafted, and the characters have not had time to grow boring and stagnant. But after that, things snowball quickly into a quagmire of circumlocutions and mindless characterization. I had to force myself to finish the four books.

If you want to read something akin to what New Sun could have been (fresh characters, innovative plotting and environment, insightful and intriguing writing) try some Jack Vance or George R. R. Martin.

Rating:
Summary: If you like stories ...
Review: Gene Wolfe makes you work. He writes part of the story; you're supposed to tell the rest. Sometimes you don't realize that Wolfe is just constructing for you some components you're supposed to work together into your own story. You can get carried away by his prose and his narrative master-craftsmanship.

But before too long he'll switch to another piece, and you'll realize suddenly that you actually have no idea what was going on in what you just read, and you'll go back and re-read and realize how much was not said, and how important were the things which were said. Eventually, after going back & forth, back & forth over the whole book or series of books, you will have stitched things together with stuff you've made up into your own story, and you'll realize with amazement what a great teller of tales you are.

Along the way he scavenges shamelessly (gleefully?) amongst the legends and myths of our cultures for images, characters, tropes and themes; never simply retelling a story but taking an image from one, a character from another, a stanza from somewhere else and putting them together into an exquisite fragment of story-stuff in which facets of the originals remain visible but subordinate to a new conception.

As he does, so he wants you to do also, with the pieces he provides.

The Book of the New Sun is, I believe, his most popular work, probably because the pieces he gives you are shinier & more beguiling at first sight than is the case in some of his later books. You don't have to work quite so hard to have fun; but IMO the trade-off is that the you don't receive in return quite the same feeling of, well ... awe that the later Long Sun and Short Sun deliver when you burrow deeply into their stories.

You can perhaps read New Sun as a straight narrative, but I am sure you will be upset constantly by the seemingly random actions of the characters form time to time. If you enjoy it enough to keep going, you'll probably find yourself asking, "Why did he or she do that?"; and, "Why didn't he or she do the expected thing?". Which is what Wolfe wants you to do, and the start of building your own story from the story stuff he provides.



Rating:
Summary: A story that will stay with you for a lifetime
Review: I am a big fan of Gene Wolfe's other work and this is a masterpiece. Set in a decaying Earth with a faded Sun in the distant future, it documents the wanderings of a disgraced torturer who was banished for showing mercy to one of his subjects.

Reminiscent of David Lindsay's 'A Voyage to Arcturus', we are taken through a surreal landscape where the torturer has a series of unsettling encounters. Wolfe has a talent for writing scenes and characters which are close enough to the norm to make us comfortable with them, and then surprise us with a surreal twist, forcing us to question our initial evaluation.

Read slowly and enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: You will remember these books forever
Review: On the surface, it's a completely original fantasy/sci-fi story, utterly atmospheric and convincing. Read it that way, if you like. It's about an earth (Urth) so old, it resembles the past. The sun is cold and red, and the world is dying, with all the baggage that comes with those centuries. Young Severian, born orphaned into the Torturers' Guild, commits an unspeakable crime (well, to torturers, anyway) and sets out across the world as a journeyman. His several past identities come full circle in the subsequent two novels, and the coda called "The Urth of the New Sun."

Better yet, try to figure out what's really happening in this story. It's a challenge, like all Wolfe's novels.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Greatest Stories ever written!
Review: If you are looking for a story that challenges you and plays with your emotions, read this book. I found Severian to be the most intriguing character I've ever read about. Wolfe's writing is also very beautiful and I found myself keeping a notepad near to write down quotes. I consider this to be one of the classics - not only in sci-fi but in all literature.

Rating:
Summary: One of the All-time Greats
Review: The book has already had incalculable impact on the academic community that is already predisposed to ignore works of speculative fiction. Certainly it has had profound influence on authors as well as it has on those people who have managed to read the book. Received with almost universal accolades from the critical community, it has not sold well. It has recently been reprinted in omnibus edition and perhaps will enjoy a resurrection of its own.

WHO SHOUDLD READ THIS:

You cannot go on with your life claiming some affiliation with the community of science fiction and not have read New Sun. It is that important. Do not expect any tropes from prior novels to exist here... you are completely unprepared from your prior reading experience. For any enthusiast of Leo Tolstoy, Herman Melville, or other authors deeply concerned with the perception of the human mind-its capabilities, its subtleties, its place as an individual in vast community of minds-you will be enlightened by this book. 

WHO SHOULD AVOID:

New Sun is a challenge. For fully the first fifth of the book, the reader will often look up and wonder if we and other people who adore this book are in fact quite insane. The reader will ask to himself about Severian, "Who is this?" with the same bewildered disgust they reserve for inscrutable Saturday Night Live sketches. Gene Wolfe will stretch your mental faculties to their limit and require careful concentration at the most innocuous moments. If you cannot persevere-if you are not looking for works of literary merit in speculative fiction-then seek your pleasure at the altar of Robert Jordan, Orson Scott Card, and the other bestselling sell-outs of the genre.

READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW AT INCHOATUS.COM

Rating:
Summary: Are you kidding
Review: Save your money and don't buy this book. Charmin is cheaper, less pretentious, and doesn't chafe nearly as much.

Rating:
Summary: Worth the Trip...
Review: I bought this book on the strength of the number of five start ratings and the praises from worthy names in the SF/Fantasy field. Man, it was a difficult read... this isnt a book for children. (not to mention the main character is in fact a torturer and there is some rather violent descriptions and allusions...
The style is for seasoned readers only... That being said, this book is well written, but, for all the literary allusions and subtleties of plot, I sometimes found it difficult sustain interest in Severian. [or maybe i was just confused] Characters, though well drawn, just seem to pop up in the most bizarre situations and then leave, whilst the stoic Severian continues on his almost aimless wanderings. The book often heads off on philosophical tangents, or spends inordinate time on the most trivial detail. I do not know how this can be compared to Tolkien's Ring trilogy, or the Song of Ice and Fire,but it is worth the read... I found these first two books very heavy going, but rewarding so I will to finish the saga in the hope that Severian redeems himself.