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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-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
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Things I love about this book:
- you think you're reading a medieval fantasy, and then there's a description of a painting with a man wearing weird armour and you realize it's a man on the moon.
- eighteenth-century picaresque vibes. Oh, you thought you'd spend some time here? Sorry, on to the criminals who live in the woods!
- just enough of the grotesque (the alzabo!)
- the difficulty of translating "post-historical" events into English
- wtf moments - there's a play early on, and I thought I knew what was going on, and then at the end, I get to read the script, and...wtf?!
Things I don't love:
- the MC's obsession with women's high, firm, young breasts. Because of the first-person narration, I'm not sure I'm supposed to approach the misogyny of the character, the world, or (potentially) the book? I think it's self-aware...but I still don't like it.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
DNFed at 53% - Finished The Shadow of the Torturer and dropped The Claw of the Conciliator. Some parts of Wolfe's writing were honestly beautiful. But the rushed pacing and the way Severian thought of/treated women was . . . something else. He was already unlikable from the jump; I did not need all that misogyny thrown in also.
The introduction to the edition of Shadow and Claw that I read, written by Ada Palmer, was absolutely vital to my understanding of this beast (and also just an interesting read!). She makes the point that reading for worldbuilding is a specific skill that has to be honed and practiced over time, like any form of close reading, and that Wolfe makes it just about as hard as possible to succeed at that in this series/quartet. The experience reminded me of reading Mieville or, more distantly, Arkady Martine.
But! The misogyny in this book is incredible. Beyond what I think could be reasonably attributed to an in-universe character flaw, to the point where I was just sick of reading it by the end.
But! The misogyny in this book is incredible. Beyond what I think could be reasonably attributed to an in-universe character flaw, to the point where I was just sick of reading it by the end.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Took a long time to read. A long time. Started this nearly a year ago and put it on hold after ~100 pages. Had a reading gap and thought I would try it again as a put-me-to-sleep read (this is honestly why I paused the first time). Something clicked and I was totally engrossed. The combination of puttering around, incredibly detailed description and total faith to the fuckwit perspective of Severian originally turned me off but this time had me reaching for the book in my downtime this week. Looking forward to the next two parts
Content Warnings
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wtf did I just read?