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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Baffling, fun, bizarre, I wish I could understand more of Gene Wolfe's motivations and intentions. Writing this after having read through all four. The first two were far more fun, but of course so much less about the overall world and Severian's place in it is made clear. Not that anything much is made "clear" later on anyway.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Of the two books within I only read the first book, not caring to continue with the second.
I really wanted to like this more, the concept and prose were compelling but there were too many frustrations with the actual storytelling for me to enjoy it much. Fever dreams for a plot, a main character who falls in love with a new woman every three seconds but also randomly hits them?, nonsense words and titles with no explanation, large chunks of dialogue and philosophy that mean absolutely nothing to the story.
There was a glimmer of promise shining through but the author buried it with many of my personal pet peeves.
I really wanted to like this more, the concept and prose were compelling but there were too many frustrations with the actual storytelling for me to enjoy it much. Fever dreams for a plot, a main character who falls in love with a new woman every three seconds but also randomly hits them?, nonsense words and titles with no explanation, large chunks of dialogue and philosophy that mean absolutely nothing to the story.
There was a glimmer of promise shining through but the author buried it with many of my personal pet peeves.
Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
Shadow & Claw is the first half of the Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. Originally published in 1994, this reformat and re-release by Macmillan on their Tor Forge imprint was released 8th June 2021. This edition is part of the Tor Essentials collection. It's 512 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats.
I distinctly remember reading this at release almost 30 years ago. I found it, then and now, disturbing and unsettling (completely intentional on the author's part) as well as bluntly (but not at all simply) written. I agree with Wolfe's adherents, including Gaiman, who proclaim his genius long and loud. There certainly aren't many books in the genre which can be legitimately be compared to Book of the New Sun in scope or reach. The problem is that it's also been misread as a rallying cry in fandom, drawing the less savory fans who enjoy the torture porn layers of the book without considering what Wolfe was really trying to *say*. I've heard it attributed to Jonathan Swift, that readers had never read Gulliver's Travels because they read it too young. I believe that a similar mechanism occurs here as well. Readers who read through the text and interpret it as a dark tale of torture and retribution with well oiled swords (*snerk*), obscene systemic misogyny, and torture with a side order of more torture have missed the point.
This is a nuanced read and will repay close attention and contemplation during reading. At the same time, much of the book is graphically violent and difficult to read for anyone with any empathy whatsoever. Trigger warnings abound - suicide, body horror, torture, rape, degradation, physical violence and more.
Three and a half stars. Difficult to read. Impressive and perennial. It belongs with the classics of the genre but I cannot say I enjoyed reading it either time and I don't know that I'll be revisiting it.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Shadow & Claw is the first half of the Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. Originally published in 1994, this reformat and re-release by Macmillan on their Tor Forge imprint was released 8th June 2021. This edition is part of the Tor Essentials collection. It's 512 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats.
I distinctly remember reading this at release almost 30 years ago. I found it, then and now, disturbing and unsettling (completely intentional on the author's part) as well as bluntly (but not at all simply) written. I agree with Wolfe's adherents, including Gaiman, who proclaim his genius long and loud. There certainly aren't many books in the genre which can be legitimately be compared to Book of the New Sun in scope or reach. The problem is that it's also been misread as a rallying cry in fandom, drawing the less savory fans who enjoy the torture porn layers of the book without considering what Wolfe was really trying to *say*. I've heard it attributed to Jonathan Swift, that readers had never read Gulliver's Travels because they read it too young. I believe that a similar mechanism occurs here as well. Readers who read through the text and interpret it as a dark tale of torture and retribution with well oiled swords (*snerk*), obscene systemic misogyny, and torture with a side order of more torture have missed the point.
This is a nuanced read and will repay close attention and contemplation during reading. At the same time, much of the book is graphically violent and difficult to read for anyone with any empathy whatsoever. Trigger warnings abound - suicide, body horror, torture, rape, degradation, physical violence and more.
Three and a half stars. Difficult to read. Impressive and perennial. It belongs with the classics of the genre but I cannot say I enjoyed reading it either time and I don't know that I'll be revisiting it.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
So far, this is more my style than the Hobbs Farseer trilogy, another fantasy series about a dude growing up in a medieval society with a death-focused occupation, though this one's technically supposed to be in the future.
You follow the torturer Severian as he meanders towards the city where his new job is, since he's been kicked out of the giant citadel where he grew up because of an act of love for a person he was torturing. He thinks he might follow a leader of a political rebellion after a formative experience in a cemetery. The book makes a big point of how good his memory is, which works since he seems to be deeply lost in them most of the time. I liked it though, since the memories that come up usually seemed relevant. Highlights for me are the characters you can't really get a read on until you spend some time with them, the beasts he runs into, like murderous giants that get so big they can no longer support their weight on land and start living in the river, and the places he goes, like a botanic garden which seems huge because of optical illusions and holds the large poison-thorned flowers that are the required weapon for a duel he's challenged to. Love that Severian is always losing his sword, finding it, then oiling it to feel whole again.
At first I had a problem with the way the women were written, but thinking about it more, I realized the character I was most critical of has a lot to say and goes against a decent amount of gendered tropes, so it's probably just bias from the author's decision to name that character Dorcas. Of all the names, and all of the words he straight up created for this universe because they sounded cool, he chose Dorcas.
You follow the torturer Severian as he meanders towards the city where his new job is, since he's been kicked out of the giant citadel where he grew up because of an act of love for a person he was torturing. He thinks he might follow a leader of a political rebellion after a formative experience in a cemetery. The book makes a big point of how good his memory is, which works since he seems to be deeply lost in them most of the time. I liked it though, since the memories that come up usually seemed relevant. Highlights for me are the characters you can't really get a read on until you spend some time with them, the beasts he runs into, like murderous giants that get so big they can no longer support their weight on land and start living in the river, and the places he goes, like a botanic garden which seems huge because of optical illusions and holds the large poison-thorned flowers that are the required weapon for a duel he's challenged to. Love that Severian is always losing his sword, finding it, then oiling it to feel whole again.
At first I had a problem with the way the women were written, but thinking about it more, I realized the character I was most critical of has a lot to say and goes against a decent amount of gendered tropes, so it's probably just bias from the author's decision to name that character Dorcas. Of all the names, and all of the words he straight up created for this universe because they sounded cool, he chose Dorcas.
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
adventurous
challenging
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Medical content, Cannibalism, Toxic friendship
Minor: War