The Sword of the Lictor (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

The novel continues the story of Severian and leads him through new adventures which confront him with new perspectives and thoughts. This book is more than just a Sci fi novel, since it offers a critical view of the forces in the portrayed society and so different and similar at the same time from maybe ours. Among the themes dealt with by Severian are life, humanity etc. It is definately worth reading if you don't only look for a sequence of action events and a little more food for thought.

Gene Wolfe's The Sword of the Lictor essentially contains no plot, but it's the best plotless book I've ever read. It's one of the best books I've ever read, period. I loved every moment of it! (I read this on audio; Audible Frontiers' audio version, read by Jonathan Davis, is exceptional.)

This third installment of The Book of the New Sun continues Severian's journey from apprentice in the torturers' guild to Autarch. He doesn't seem to be getting any closer to his exalted position (if anything, I'd say farther) and we're no closer to understanding how he's going to get there. But that's totally fine. Unburdened by a need to be anywhere or to achieve any goals or deadlines, Severian wanders the earth almost aimlessly, and it's this wandering that's so fascinating.

For a reader who's only anxious for action and story progression, The Sword of the Lictor is not likely to work and, indeed, I usually get annoyed with authors who take too long to tell their stories. However, when I'm reading Gene Wolfe, it not only works -- it is pure delight. For Wolfe's old earth, set in a far future when the sun is dying (similar to Jack Vance's Dying Earth), is full of wonder and amazement and he tells us all about it in his simple but elegant style:

"... authors are so anxious to move their stories forward (however wooden they may be, advancing like market carts with squeaking wheels that are never still, though they go only to dusty villages where the charm of the country is lost and the pleasures of the city will never be found)... The assassin who holds a dagger to his victim's neck is eager to discuss the whole matter, and at any length the victim or the author may wish. The passionate pair in love's embrace are at least equally willing to postpone the stabbing, if not more so... In life it is not the same..."

I wish I could be there with Severian as he climbs down the steep cliff overhung with a waterfall and embedded with the fossils of earth's lost architecture, and explores the round metal building that we recognize (but he doesn't) as a spaceship... I'd love to tell you more and to discuss what it all means (there's so much symbolism here), but then you'd miss the jaw-dropping, eye-widening, brain-expanding experience for yourself. I'll just say that what Severian experiences on his journey perfectly captures the essence of excellent speculative fiction -- it's the reason I love SFF.

Nobody creates such a sense of wonder and amazement, such truly unique and bizarre ideas, and relates them in such a beautiful way as Gene Wolfe does. I want to spend a lot more time exploring his world.

This is the 3rd in Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. I think it is the most complete and dramatic of all. I have read it about 5 times. It contains so many dramatic moments and confrontations. The latest read I made found myself enjoying the moments between these incredible set pieces where attention to a the little things, the dialogue with lesser characters and restful moments like with little Severian beside the creek, a delectable feast of words. On previous reads I was not as observant of the less action packed scenes. This is what Wolfe aims for: to get benefit from re-reads.

I love the first lines of the novel because they are made by Dorcas a character who is vulnerable and yet strong.
"It was in my hair, Severian."

and I like how the novel ends, Severian is alone after all that has gone before, much like life:
"That state endured all that day and a large part of the next, by which time I was already deep into the hills".

In between are so many awesome moments. A film would be hard pressed to do it justice, though doubtless many filmmakers have borrowed from Wolfe in part without acknowledging it.

*****
The Alzabo, what an amazing part of the story, I love the part how it is introduced:

"The house was dark now except for the ruddy light of the fire. I looked around for candles or lanterns, but there were none in sight; later I learned that the few the family owned had been carried to the loft. Lightning flashed outside, outlining the edges of the shutters and making a broken line of stark light at the bottom of the door-it was a moment before I realized that it had been a broken line, when it should have been a continuous one. "There's someone outside", I said. "Standing on the step."
*****

If I had to name one fiction book that was less than 300 pages to take with me to the exclusion of all others, this would be it.
Wolfe has a writing style which has a flow and power I find calming and fulfilling like a feast for the mind. His character Severian is an archetypal hero of the warrior and we are able to come to know this character intimately. Terminus Est, Severian's giant sword is brought to the fore in this novel and its is a powerful story arc in this novel.

*****

The sorcerers, alone worthy of a story, this "side quest" could very well have been Severian's undoing. Wearing his mask, reminiscent of the duel with Agilus, Severian brings his archetype to bear:
"There could be little doubt of what he was saying. I squared my shoulders and walked into the firelight. "I am not there," I said. "I am here." There was an inrush of many breaths, and though I knew I might soon die, it was good to hear."
*****

Typhon, a character which appears later and...earlier and in another series by Wolfe in another form.
Such an imposing character as the ancient autarch whose body is carved into the mountain.
*****

Baldanders, the thoughtful would-be hero, frustrated by the enigmatic cacogens.
*****

A great read, and a great re-read.