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Severian Of The Guild: Shadow of The Torturer;Claw of The Conciliator;Sword of The Lictor;Citadel of The Autarch: With Shadow of the Torturer AND Claw ... AND Citadel of the Autarch (Gollancz S.F.)
 
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Severian Of The Guild: Shadow of The Torturer;Claw of The Conciliator;Sword of The Lictor;Citadel of The Autarch: With Shadow of the Torturer AND Claw ... AND Citadel of the Autarch (Gollancz S.F.) (Paperback)

by Gene Wolfe (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
RRP: £14.99
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Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with The Earthsea Quartet: "A Wizard Of Earthsea"; "The Tombs of Atuan"; "The Farthest Shore"; "Tehanu" (Puffin Books) by Ursula Le Guin

Severian Of The Guild: Shadow of The Torturer;Claw of The Conciliator;Sword of The Lictor;Citadel of The Autarch: With Shadow of the Torturer AND Claw ... AND Citadel of the Autarch (Gollancz S.F.) + The Earthsea Quartet: "A Wizard Of Earthsea"; "The Tombs of Atuan"; "The Farthest Shore"; "Tehanu" (Puffin Books)
Price For Both: £17.59

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Product details

  • Paperback: 912 pages
  • Publisher: Gollancz (18 Oct 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0575081309
  • ISBN-13: 978-0575081307
  • Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15.2 x 4.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 65,779 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #5 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > W > Wolfe, Gene

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Product Description

Review

"There are some books you have to have read if you want to claim to know science fiction. This is one of them." (Liz Holliday SCI FI NOW )


Product Description

Severian is a torturer, born to the guild and with an exceptionally promising career ahead of him . . . until he falls in love with one of his victims, a beautiful young noblewoman. Out of love, Severian helps her commit suicide and escape her fate - no more unforgivable act for a torturer. He is exiled from the guild and his home city to the distant metropolis of Thrax with little more than Terminus Est, a fabled sword, to his name. Along the way he has to learn to survive in a wider world without the guild - a world in which he has already made both allies and enemies. And a strange gem is about to fall into his possession, which will make his enemies pursue him with ever more determination . . . Welcome to a world in which nothing is quite as it seems; to an unreliable narrator; to extraordinary, vivid and evocative writing; to one of the greatest genre classics of all time.
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Severian Of The Guild: Shadow of The Torturer;Claw of The Conciliator;Sword of The Lictor;Citadel of The Autarch: With Shadow of the Torturer AND Claw ... AND Citadel of the Autarch (Gollancz S.F.)
68% buy the item featured on this page:
Severian Of The Guild: Shadow of The Torturer;Claw of The Conciliator;Sword of The Lictor;Citadel of The Autarch: With Shadow of the Torturer AND Claw ... AND Citadel of the Autarch (Gollancz S.F.) 3.8 out of 5 stars (4)
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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars High Fantasy Compendium, 27 Nov 2007
By Gareth Wilson "drosdelnoch2" - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
Famed for his writing style and well known amongst a certain number of fans of the fantasy genre, Gene has been something of a badly kept secret with recommendations left right and centre. Now for the first time an omnibus of what some would think of as his greatest work has hit the book shops and I hope will allow those unsure of whether to buy a tale or two the pleasure of reading his work for the first time.
After all 1008 pages of reading pleasure for under a tenner. That's pretty damn good value for money and is probably something that will make Gene cringe when he thinks about how long he slaved over each manuscript contained within. High fantasy at its best with easy access for fans new and old and something that will make sure that a high time is had by the readers. Wonderful stuff.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Nicely packaged omnibus of one of the greatest novels of speculative fiction, 19 April 2008
By Craig Lam (Aberdeen, Scotland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Do you like Nabokov - did you meet the challenge of Pale Fire?
Do you like Borges - did you enter his labyrinths?

If the answer is yes, then you will like Wolfe, and hopefully you will spend some time on Urth!

It is difficult to summarise these books. On the surface they are a bildungsroman detailing young Severian's amazing adventures on a far future earth. So far in the future that - to paraphrase an expression of the late, great Arthur C. Clarke - technology is indistinguishable from magic. But delve deeper and you will find multitudes of puzzles, mysteries and profundities. It is a book that demands rereading: I have read the entirety of it maybe 7 times and I've discovered something new every time.

There are drawbacks to depth, however. Sometimes Wolfe's prose can be tiring, sometimes one may wonder where the plot is going, or be frustrated when interesting characters are not developed and fall by the wayside. Wolfe challenges us to read actively, to think, to pick up clues. The sheer length is daunting too, but if people can put up with thousands of pages of Terry Goodkind or Robert Jordan, then maybe they can try this as well.

I feel that if Wolfe had chosen to write "real" fiction instead of Fantasy or Science Fiction, he would be lauded as one of the best American novelists around.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Putting Down A Master, 6 Feb 2009
Severian is an apprentice torturer with a perfect memory who runs into trouble when he falls in love with one of his guild's 'clients', as they are euphemistically known.

The book is touted as a classic work of science fantasy in particular and speculative fiction in general. And it is well-written and has many subtle quirks. The worldbuilding is grand in scale and the ideas are intriguing. But, for me, examining a society where torturers have a guild and executioners seen as some kind of artists, is bait, not meat.

I found the jargon invented for the world alienating, rather than immersive. The plot twists and turns like an out of control snake and while all of these diversions may serve some higher purpose, perhaps thematic, it didn't hold my interest.

And the primary thing that I loved in "Memorare" is absent in "The Shadow of the Torturer". Gene Wolfe's characters and their interactions were so true-to-life and real in "Memorare" but in the book, it always felt like I was separated from them by a wall of water. I don't 'get' Severian or anyone else he interacts with. Possibly with the exception of Severian's initial infatuation with Thecla, I found the romantic interludes dull. Everything in the story felt unfamiliar.

And maybe that's the point and what other people love about the book. And I would take nothing away from Wolfe as a writer - his prose is incredible and he clearly is some people's cup-of-tea.

Putting down the book was a tough decision because of its reputation. But in the end I did it. This isn't my kind of book, or I think the kind of book for people who prefer a bit more plot and easy-to-relate-to characters. For speculative fiction readers more interested in world-building and ideas, it might work out better.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting in Parts - Nothing to Rave About
I bought this omnibus on the strength of reviews for the individual boks in the series, and after reading Gene Wolfe's short stories. The last I considered to be gripping. Read more
Published 4 months ago by bob

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