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mariahaskins 's review for:

Shadow & Claw by Gene Wolfe
5.0

What an utterly insane and brilliant book this is. I read Wolfe's 'Soldier of the Mist' last year, and this was a different, but equally unsettling and enthralling reading experience. Wolfe pitches you headfirst into the story, into this strange and alien, yet at times hauntingly familiar, ancient future-Urth, without explaining or describing things from without, only allowing the reader to see the world from within, through Severian's eyes.

It's not always an easy read - at times I had to let it rest because the prose is so rich it gets almost overwhelming - but it's also a book that crept beneath my skin, into my thoughts, and into my dreams. Haunting, would be the word I'd pick if I only picked one to describe 'Shadow & Claw'.

I can't wait to read the rest of the books in this series.