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snivets 's review for:
Shadow & Claw
by Gene Wolfe
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Pretty much everything I never knew I wanted in scifi and fantasy, this is epic stuff, dark and mysterious, and one of the first books I've read that actually benefits close reading - this is challenging stuff in the best way. I read along with "Shelved By Genre", a genre fiction podcast, and that was also fantastic and added to the experience.
Severian's relationship with female characters sure is some tragic stuff at times. So far in the series, it's not clear if that's a Papa Gene thing, or a flaw intentionally written into the character. That's the only thing detracting from a full 10/10 for me - it's gonna be hard to know where to go in scifi from here.
Also, I think a weakness for the heavy metal Catholic apocrypha really did me in here.
Severian's relationship with female characters sure is some tragic stuff at times. So far in the series, it's not clear if that's a Papa Gene thing, or a flaw intentionally written into the character. That's the only thing detracting from a full 10/10 for me - it's gonna be hard to know where to go in scifi from here.
Also, I think a weakness for the heavy metal Catholic apocrypha really did me in here.