Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of those books to cherish... and reread often., 26 Jan 2001
By A Customer
I've just finished reading this book, and i'm still feeling this kind of fever that seems to come when i read books so fantastically crafted that even when i finish reading them, it's as if i was still inside the world that was created, and living again some part of it in my mind, so i can't stop thinking about them even when i'm on the surface thinking of something else.I think to try to tell here too much of the story would be to spoil the books to any who read them, and so i'll try not to. The book, which contains the last two from the tetralogy "The Book of the Sun", that begun with "Shadow and Claw", tells the story of Severian, a boy raised on earth in a future so distant from us that the sun is but a dying star, all resources have been exausted ages ago, and our age is remembered by nothing but almost forgotten myths. The books are written as an autobiography, in which Severian tells us his adventures from a humble beginning in the long decaying Citadel of Nessus and his Guild, commonly known as the Torturers, and a future so strange he would never have imagined it. Along the way we get to discover the world in which he lives at the same pace he does, and to discover new mysteries faster than answers to them (as is usual). This is one (or the best) books i've ever read, and i'm an ardent reader of science fiction and fantasy. I'm tempted to commit an heresy, and quite plainly state that i did enjoyed this book far more than i did The Lord of The Rings, although i love all Tolkien's books and have read most of them. Perhaps that was because i felt i could relate more with this story than his, because although it has elements one could call simply fantasy, it deals with a possible future, and despite all the cryptic changes in the fabric of society, culture and religion, people within still have the same yearnings and desires, so that even in that almost alien world one feels that might happen. I think i've wrote too long a review already, but you're just searching for the bottom line, i'll give it now: If you like science fiction, fantasy, or if you just like books that are true works of art, read this. It won't let you down. Just make sure you have ample time to read... you won't be able to put it down until the end! ;^)
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A mesmerising science fantasy tour de force, 20 April 2000
By A Customer
At one time it was common to see some run of the mill fantasy author lauded as the "the new Tolkien", either in magazine reviews or, modestly, on his or her own book jacket. Almost invariably, however, the novels themselves were disappointing parodies or imitations of Tolkien and a few other good fantasy and SF authors, lacking in originality, literary flare and, perhaps most importantly, any sense of place and atmosphere in the worlds they imagined.Where all these writers failed Gene Wolfe, in his four part "Book of the New Sun" succeeded majestically. Although the book is in some senses clearly derivative of other SF works, most notably Jack Vance's "Dying Earth Series, Wolfe draws largely on classical history to and mythology to create and boundlessly vast world that is all the more mysterious and fascinating for the fact that it is almost as strange and new to Wolfe's hero, Severian, as it is to the reader. Expelled from his place amongst the Guild of the Seekers for Truth and Penitence (commonly "The Torturers") Severian is obliged to travel on foot to his place of exile. The journey is his first time away from the citadel at the centre of the colossal but decaying metropolis Nessus (Rome, Contantinople?). The reader, therefore, has the chance to discover the world (Earth many millennia in the future) with the books protagonist. The result is a layering of reality not unlike that achieved by Ridley Scott in his early films, most notably Blade Runner. The universe of the story is not composed of a few truths and verities that are presented to reader as cast in stone. As in our own world room is left for varying shade of opinion and perception, distortion, half truths and half remembered truths. Reading the book Severian's world and its inner logic seems to the reader to become more tangible than his or her own. It is precisely here that Wolfe suceeds were so many other fantasy and science fantasy authors have failed. In creating a world that is nothing like Tolkien's but has a firm basis in layers of history, mythology and in Wolfe's own imagination, the writer comes closer than any other author (certainly any author I've read) in crafting a novel comparable to Tolkien's precisely because of it is nothing like anything that Tolkien wrote, except in the quality of Wolfe's writing, the breadth of his sources and the sweep of his imagination. If you like good fantasy read this book. Even if you don't normally like fantasy but are enjoy history, myth or simply captivatingly good writing, read this book. In general, just read this book!
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Torturously brilliant, 25 Oct 2002
I read this book after a succession of heroic style fantasies and knew I had to give New Sun a try given its immense popularity. At first I didn't know where I was at; our protaganist Severian wasn't all that heroic and it took me till the 2nd reading to realise that this character is so complex that you actually have to make the simple jump of relating to him like a normal, corruptable, human-being who often tries to do right but often ends up giving in to himself. The dying world in which Severian lives is beautifully crafted by Wolfe and one which filled me with wonder at things Severian took for granted and often neglects to mention till far into the story, making you say 'ah! so thats why such and such is like that! It all makes sense now' (though you'd be lying if you said it all made sense)Often the reader is left wondering where the story is going; if it wasn't for the fact that Severian mentions from the outset of his tale that he is the Autarch and ruler of Nesuss then you really would be left in the dark. One reviewer complains of the disjointed nature of the story which in fact become many shorter interconnecting tales but this is the beauty of the telling, through Severian you are privaliged to see an aged and dying Earth that is rich in life and legend Gene Wolfe's writing is second to none, his imagination runs deep, but be warned that this is a book for those who really want see the true potential of the fantasy genre played out!
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