Rating: 
Summary: A fantasy/sci fi novel of the first rank!
Review: Serious, subtle, atmospherically lush, psychologically austere, ingenious: this is my favorite novel in this genre. Four volumes (originally), it is long but not too long, such is the glamour of the distant-future world of seeming magic that Wolfe creates. Our protagonist, a tradesman, to wit, a torturer, encounters dozens of bizarre characters and circumstances. But there a couple of things whose full import is not know until the end that provide a subtle, unifying explanation: the 'Claw', and a substance that allows our simple torturer, against any desire of his, to become Autarch, ruler of the planet.
Rating: 
Summary: Starts great, sputters to an end
Review: I began this series with high hopes, the introduction of Severian and his life as a torturer was fascinating. Then things get really weird. Jumping from scene to scene, introducing new characters with no development, monsters with no purpose, locations with no point, the reader wanders along with Severian until he triumphs. Wolfe's writing is hypnotic and skilled, which rescues the meandering story which could have been 200 pages shorter.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best-written SF novels ever
Review: The scope and depth of Gene Wolfe's masterpiece tetralogy never ceases to amaze. However, casual readers--or SF grognards whose love of language has been atrophied by continuous and prolonged exposure to the breezy, pulpish stylings of most "hard" SF--should be prepared for a prolonged and difficult read. An unabridged OED certainly couldn't hurt with words like "fuligin," "hipparch," "monomachy," "exultant," or "chiliad" littering the text like baroque relics. (It's also a good idea to read the essays in CASTLE OF DAYS, where Wolfe explains and justifies many of the more outre scientific and philosophical underpinnings of his world.) The dedicated reader will be well rewarded, though, as Wolfe gleefully strews mad ideas, black humor, bizarre turns of phrase and deft plot twists across the pages. The adventure is luxuriant and decadent, slow and inexorable yet completely unpredictable, and utterly convincing to boot; one emerges from THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN with a feeling of having spent a lifetime on "Urth." Dive in, dear reader!
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book - But Too Self-Indulgent
Review: I just finished reading this book. It is the first Gene Wolfe novel I ever read. The plot is rather absorbing, the characters are diverse and interesting, and (for the most part) the writing is good. The novel is set on Earth in the far, far distant future. Humans once migrated to and from the stars; but those days are now only dim memory (to most). As in many other s-f novels, this provides the stage for a feudal society ruled by high-tech overloads (think twelfth century Europe with gravitic fliers, energy beam weapons, aliens, & genetically-altered plants and animal). The main character is an orphan reared by the guild of professional torturers & executioners (housed in a derelict star ship). Following an act of betrayal, our naive anti-hero is cast out of the guild, and sent on a Campbellian hero's journey of discovery. Overall, this is an excellent s-f novel. Now, a little criticism. Mr. Wolfe vitiated my reading experience (like rat droppings on a chocolate chip cookie) by excessive and pointless use obscure words. Here are just a few examples: abattoir, anacreontic, armiger, bosquets, caryatids, cataphracts, chiliad, eidolon, ephor, exarch, fiacre, flagoet, fulgurator, gamboge, glaives, gnomons, hierophants, kraters, lansquenets, leman, misericorde, omophagists, ophicleides, ostler, oubliette, pagne, pandour, pantocrators, peccary, pelagic, peltast, penetralia, pursuivant, quaestor, quercine, rebec, refulgent, renascent, thiasus, thurible, tribade, uhlan, verdure, vicuna. Also, his many allusions often fail to contribute to the story (or to my reading pleasure) in any meaningful way. I would accuse a lesser writer of being narcissistic and pretentious (an engineer with James-Joycian affectations?). Since Mr. Wolfe is not a lesser writer, I will accuse him of an equal crime: self-indulgence. I suspect that Mr. Wolfe wrote this novel for himself, not for us readers. At the very least, the publisher could have supplied us with an appendix of definitions to these dead words. (I think I hear an "Amen!" from several of you out there.) If you enjoy reading with an Oxford English Dictionary (non-compact version) at your side, then you will be tumescent with joy as you read this novel. I, for one, was so annoyed by the pretentious (whoops! I mean self-indulgent) vocabulary in this novel, I almost refused to read The Claw of the Conciliator. In truth, Claw is one fine speculative fiction novel (well-deserving of the Nebula Award). Even so, if your recreational reading time is as limited (and valuable) as mine, then you should save these novels for your retirement.
Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece of the Imagination.
Review: The Book of The New Sun is simply the greatest science-fiction series ever written. Take the time to read it and you will not be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: A Weary Tale of Random Thoughts
Review: I have great respect for Gene Wolfe, who has written some truly excellent short stories, but I cannot say that the "Book of the New Sun" is a great work. Certainly he does dredge up a great many "almost dead" words from the dictionary and work them into the language of the story, but unless you enjoy looking up words in the dictionary you won't appreciate this for very long. We begin with the story of an apprentice torturer living in a distant future where poverty, banditry, warfare and government edicts have degraded civilization down to a near medieval level. What caused this great decline? Uh, well, we are never told exactly why, but the ongoing war, the fading of the sun, and the exhaustion of fossil fuels all seem like possible excuses. A sorry appreciation for modern warfare is a serious weakness in the background story as the author seems to feel laser cannons, spacecraft, and mounted cavalry make a good mix. Have they run out of ICBM's and U235? And why does Nessus have a wall around it? In the distant future have they forgotten that mere medieval trebuchets made such city walls obsolete? Sadly, in my opinion, the story itself does not truly satisfy. The tale begins in quite an original manner but then self-destructs in the course of a highly improbable detour through the tent of a nomadic religious order and then an ancient botanical garden. These two rather stupid adventures are made into the key pivotal events of the story, and lead up to a farcical fight to the death which seems straight out of Monty Python. Not only do we have a "shrubbery" contest but also a "Is he dead?" "No, he's getting better" scene as well as a quick "Run away! Run away!" Putting those behind us is not easy. The main character, who will kill and torture for fun and profit, does seem to have sex with every nubile woman he meets, and this brings us to the edge of comedy when at one point he seems ready to dive in with a gigantic sea-mermaid. Don't toy with her you foolish boy. There are some stark horrors to contrast with these lighter moments, and in fact most of the story is dark and bloody, but the horrors seem quite intentional while the comedy purely accidental. We have, in the end, a main character who learns to be an apologist for tyranny, and a bunch of baloney about running back and forth in time, underwater giants plotting with distant aliens, and the need for a new sun so that the tyranny, poverty and misery can continue. In conclusion, gentle reader, it is no easy read, and in the end you will probably only get a headache.
Rating:
Summary: Unworthy of so much Praise
Review: This is the first of Gene Wolfe's books that I have read and probably the last. I was hoping to find a new exciting story after reading many other science fiction and fantasy books, but rather I found this "masterpiece." The story starts out well enough, but rapidly goes downhill from there. There is so much imagery in the first book that there is little room for anything else, such as enjoyment. I found the writing in this book a little to heavy for me as well. I don't particularly like having to re-read every sentence again and again until I finally grasp the meaning. But maybe that's just me. While I was reading this book I felt like I was back in high school reading one of the boring literature pieces given by my professor. This book would have been much better if it were about 50 pages long. This isn't something I'll pick up again.
Rating:
Summary: It's as Complex as it is Compelling
Review: This was the first book by Wolfe I read (I've since bought thesequel), and I must admit I ordered it with some skepticism. I had areal tough time believing he was as good as the other reviewers made him out to be. Well, he's better. Buy the book. Whether you prefer science fiction or fantasy, this book is for you. It completely held my attention from beginning to end. The tale is simply spectacular -- Severian the Journeyman Torturer, the main character, has been crafted so masterfully that by the end of the book you'll know him as if he was real. And you'll love him, loathe him, and wish you were him all at the same time. One tip to prospective readers: Shadow & Claw isn't a "light read" like the Xanth novels or Battlefield Earth. His writing is incredibly complex, and his vocabulary limitless. I've always suffered from a tendency to unconsciously "skim" through certain descriptive sections of a book in an effort to get to the goods as quickly as possible. You can't (and shouldn't) do that with this book. Read every word, and read them carefully. And have a good dictionary at hand to which you can refer during breaks in the action. Things that seem meaningless in the beginning have incredible meaning by the end. You won't want to miss it.
Rating:
Summary: A collage of SF
Review: My favorite saga before this one was Elric of Melnibone', by Michael Moorcock. I think what drew me towards this book in the first place was the guild of torturers...born and bred to know how to inflict pain and to get answers. It reminded me of those times in Moorcock's books where you go into the dungeons of Melnibone' and see how they dealt with their captives. But then it goes way past that. Every fable that was relevant to you in your childhood is locked away in Shadow and Claw someplace. Every piece of imagery that you think is important is here, and is given a new meaning. The most brilliant aspect of this book is that it builds on the feelings that you've already acquired through other stories. This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. I can't wait to read it again!
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!
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