Sword & Citadel

The Book of the New Sun is unanimously acclaimed as Gene Wolfe s most remarkable work, hailed as a masterpiece of science fantasy comparable in importance to the major works of Tolkien and Lewis by Publishers Weekly, and one of the most ambitious works of speculative fiction in the twentieth century by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction Sword Citadel brings together the final two books of the tetralogy in one volume The Sword of the Lictor is the third volume in Wolfe s remarkable epic, chronicling the odyssey of the wandering pilgrim called Severian, driven by a powerful and unfathomable destiny, as he carries out a dark mission far from his home The Citadel of the Autarch brings The Book of the New Sun to its harrowing conclusion, as Severian clashes in a final reckoning with the dread Autarch, fulfilling an ancient prophecy that will forever alter the realm known as Urth. Read Sword & Citadel – kino-fada.fr Sword of the Lictor Severian s stay in Thrax is short lived After helping a woman escape instead of strangling her, Severian flees Thrax to look for the Pelerines But can he find them before trouble finds him The plot of the Book of the New Sun progresses quite a bit in this volume I don t want to give too much away but Severian sure doesn t stay in Thrax very long I m still not precisely sure what the hell is going on but it s a pretty enjoyable read Wolfe s prose has to be savored, ...Hmmm, the only reason I m not giving this a 5, is that the fourth book in the series becomes almost too esoteric, even for me, a lover of esotericism, to digest.I haven t read the Urth of the New Sun, the 5th book that is supposed to clear everything up, yet I might revise my opinion once I ve done that, but let s just say my judgment has become a bit clouded by all the commentary I ve by now read on the series and the religious flavorings that such extraneous commentary lends to the work I Hmmm, the only reason I m not giving this a 5, is that the fourth book in the series becomes almost too esoteric, even for me, a lover of esotericism, to digest.I haven t read the Urth of the New Sun, the 5th book that is supposed to clear everything up, yet I might revise my opinion once I ve done that, but let s just say my judgment has become a bit clouded by all the commentary I ve by now read on the series and the religious flavorings that such extraneous commentary lends to the work I suppose that seeing The Lion Witch and Wardrobe series as being a Christian allegory now, didn t make me like that series any the less when I read it as a child so why should the New Sun saga be diminished by something similar I m not saying that it is thus diminished the work is certainly too rich, dense and sophisticated for it to be a mere attempt at proselytisation, and one can certainly enjoy the narrative at ma...This review is for the whole thing, The Book of the New Sun Volumes 1 4, including Shadow Claw, because, really, it is one big story.Now I realise that for many people this is not even close to being the most important consideration, but I have to address the question is it Fantasy or is it Science Fiction I m a sucker for classifying, categorising, and defining, so this is the kind of question I take great pleasure in If you don t, feel free to skip on down the paragraphs.I m nailing This review is for the whole thing, The Book of the New Sun Volumes 1 4, including Shadow Claw, because, really, it is one big story.Now I realise that for many people this is not even close to being the most important consideration, but I have to address the question is it Fantasy or is it Science Fiction I m a sucker for classifying, categorising, and defining, so this is the kind of question I take great pleasure in If you don t, feel free to skip on down the paragraphs.I m nailing my colours to the mast it s definitely fantasy.Now a lot of people say it s science fiction At first the story appears to be set in your typical fantasy cod m...Gene Wolfe, the poetically accented writer of intricate fantasy science fiction hybrids like this exquisite tetralogy, was inspired by that other pen wielding magician Jack Vance s Tales of the Dying Earth Wolfe s series also takes place on a radically altered Earth in the far, far future when the Sun s fuel is running dangerously low Amidst the wreckage of past civilizations lies the sprawling, endless city of Wolfe s protagonist torturer apprentice Severian ...Every long story, if it be told truly, will be found to contain all the elements that have contributed to the human drama since the first rude ship reached the strand of LuneThe world consists of one sedimented layer of apocalypse after another In this situation it is almost as hard to believe in one last definitive end to everything as it is to believe in salvation Book of the New Sun is one of the great Catholic novels, but its vision of faith is in fact muchsubtle than Brideshead Every long story, if it be told truly, will be found to contain all the elements that have contributed to the human drama since the first rude ship reached the strand of LuneThe world consists of one sedimented layer of apocalypse after another In this situation it is almost as hard to believe in one last definitive end to everything as it is to believe in salvation Book of the New Sun is one of the great Catholic novels, but its vision of faith is in fact muchsubtle than Brideshead Revisited or the End of the Affair Epic and endlessly baroque as it is, in the end it cannot but be a gesture towards some final miracle An orientation Apophantic science fiction While I m by no means an expert in the canon, I have to think this is the greatest work of sc...When I finished this book, I wrote I think I ve got to think about this book for a little bit I was liking it well enough Severian was even growing on me and thenNow I m moving on to something totally different.But really I was just lying to myself just like Severian does I proceeded to reread the first 100 pages of Shadow and Claw and then spent two hours googling various interpretations Finally, after a good long while of thinking and brow furrowing, I started reading something When I finished this book, I wrote I think I ve got to think about this book for a little bit I was liking it well enough Severian was even growing on me and thenNow I m moving on to something totally different.But really...Crucially awesome, though the climax might leave some feeling winded and literarily violated, for it bends all conventions of science fiction and fantasy in the best way ever.I d have to continue my hyperbole from volume one s review an...This volume picks up and concludes Gene Wolfe s Book of the New Sun quartet Most readers will be absolutely lost without reading the first two volumes.Re entering Wolfe s vision of the future, the tone is the same Severian is as preachy and detached as ever, though readers will be relieved to understand how he got this way, as revealed towards the end of the second book This does not excuse the needlessly somber and coldly overanalytical style of narration for the rest of these books, though, This volume picks up and concludes Gene Wolfe s Book of the New Sun quartet Most readers will be absolutely lost without reading the first two volumes.Re entering Wolfe s vision of the future, the tone is the same Severian is as preachy and detached as ever, though readers will be relieved to understand how he got this way, as revealed towards the end of the second book This does not excuse the needlessly somber and coldly overanalytical style of narration for the rest of these books, though, where it only serves to hinder the fluidity of storytelling Wolfe s narrator drops major events, like an important character s death, on the audience artlessly and moves on with unsatisfying speed Beyond a couple of paragraphs, many huge plot events see...This concludes one of the of the most fascinating and poetic fantasy series i have read I enjoyed the third and the fourth books a lotthan the first two There are a lot of stunning passages and moments Even though a lot of things do get resolved in the final book I m not really sure how much of the world that i really understand.The fairy tale that reminded me of the jungle book and the story of Romulus and Remus and the other stories later told in the Lazaret are some of my favourite This concludes one of the of the most fascinating and poetic fantasy series i have read I enjoyed the third and the fourth books a lotthan the first two There are a lot of stunning passages and moments Even though a lot of things do get resolved in the final book I m not really sure how much of the world that i really understand.The fairy tale that reminded me of the jungle book and the story of Romulus and R...This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers To view it, click here The Sword of the Lictor I still greatly enjoy the tale and the carefully constructed sentences, but in this, the Third Book, I found myself wading in places, wondering what the idea was with this or that scene The kind of wondering, mind you, that isn t good I wasn t exactly bored you can guess that from the rating but at tim...

• English
• 25 May 2018
Gene Wolfe
• Paperback
• 411 pages
• 0312890184
• Gene Wolfe
• Sword & Citadel