This book is incredibly odd. I started it months ago and just finished the last few pages today, but what I remember of the book is this: the plot is terrible, but the writing is occasionally fantastic. There are some really interesting points throughout the book, most of which are a result of Severian's philosophical musings and conversations, and are a direct result of the personality Wolfe builds up for Severian. The story itself, however, is extremely mediocre to the point that reading the book is like trying to find literary gems in the rough. That being said, the gems are probably worth it, and if you're the type of person who likes reading what essentially amounts to surrealist literature, I'd recommend the book. It is also incredibly literary and dense, probably more so than any other science fiction I've ever read. ( )

Oh I did not like this. Plotless, meandering, boring. I truly do not understand why people hype this book. UGH ( )

Difficult to say what I think about this book. Lots of depth in imagery, language and narration. Reading other reviews, I understand that one needs to read all 4 books, to really appreciate. I'm determined to do so. ( )

DNF @78%, but will be returning to the text in the future


With a heavy heart, an autistic meltdown, and a disproportionate amount of grief and frustration with myself, I had to call this, regardless of how close I was to the end.

I just couldn't get beyond the misogyny to the apparent greatness here and know that Severe ADHD X audiobook didn't help. I'm not saying the book/ anyone who loves it is bad, and, like, the years of attempts and trying and failing it took me to *get* my beloved Dark Souls, which has led to probably over a thousand hours across various FromSoft games that have been an indescribable boon for my mental health, I will return to the text later. In the same way many read such meaning into The Book of the New Sun, Dark Souls and so many other things I enjoy are not free of their issues, and I would not deny or denigrate anyone's critical enjoyment of anything that is important to them. Hell, I had the same reaction as Willow to 1Q84 (https://tinyurl.com/2dkvex3w), but absolutely adore KDBook's joy and confusion and glorious chaos energy to it too (https://tinyurl.com/hvktj64y). Just as I appreciated Liene's perspective on The Book of the New Sun (https://tinyurl.com/2243x78h) and I am very intrigued by my own feelings on Babel when I get to it and how I relate to Willow and Liene's polar opposite (judging by thumbnails) views on it.

Books with problematic elements can still be works of art, even if that element isn't something a prospective member of that audience cannot get past. The Joys of Subjectivity. I am not attacking anyone or their favourite works and authors--I wish I didn't feel the need to make this explicitly clear when it should be implicit in everything else I have said, but I have seen the Murak-army and Wolfe Soldiers unleash their big-brained hate and denigration on anyone who doesn't agree with them, particularly any not cis male who takes umbrage with the misogyny, so yeah. Love the books, many people of all genders do and don't like them. It's OK to not like them, as it is to like them. It's just worth acknowledging the misogyny and male gaze for what they are.

Hopefully, I will have a better time next year. We shall see!

If you are still overly upset by this please remember I am an unreliable narrator.

I've been getting back into and reading more sci-fi these days and really enjoying it. I've heard a lot said about The Book of the New Sun series and what I heard was always "it's one of the best sci-fi series of all time that really sci-fi fans know about" and then "don't ask me anymore until you read the book". So the fans care about the reading experience and that says a lot. So my review will follow that similar pattern of no spoilers but a few tidbits of help that might help you in deciding to read it or in your reading.

The story is told from a first-person perspective from our main character, Severian. He is part of a guild of torturers (him in training) who are tasked not with the extraction of information but just carrying out torture and executions in this world. Wolfe also has this higher metanarrative concept from him that the autobiography of Severian is given to him through some sort of time travel means. While not actually central to the story this helps further build the lore of the book.

Just a straightforward reading of the book makes one believe that this is a typical fantasy setting and even most of the book artwork you see has that old-world feel to it. However, this book takes place far, far into the future where it does seem that adage, that almost is never true is true here, "technology looks like magic from some perspectives". So here is your hint, dear reader, to look for things that seem like they are out of place in a fantasy story are supposed to be there because you're in a sci-fi story. So there are maybe elements of aliens, robots, clones, and maybe other sorts of sci-fi elements there.

Another interesting concept that I haven't had much experience with is the possibility of Severian being an unreliable narrator. After watching some discussion videos on just this first book, I'm not sure if Wolfe is writing Severian as unreliable or just adding in aspects that we, ourselves, use in our everyday talk. "I have a perfect memory of this incident" and then later you say you didn't remember this one thing happening isn't necessarily a "liar revealed" trope. However, this is only the first book. Severian is telling the story from his position as leader of this world and that's another element I missed until I saw it come up again in the book later.

As for the story, the plot is there and it is interesting but it's the way Wolfe unfolds the world you're seeing and experiencing through Severian. Not everything is explained to you because Severian doesn't have your context to explain why "this picture" or "this structure" is the way that it is because of a) Severian limited experience based on his position of this Torturer and b) to Severian those items aren't of note in his world because they've been there or are just there. Wolfe does a great job of crafting this story and he does have two, almost three, different layers to this story. I get why hard sci-fi folks like this because to get a lot out of it you need to put in the effort of paying attention and asking questions of you to what you're reading. I gather re-reads of this book are common for fans and multiple reads still reveal new questions or observations.

This story stuck with me after finishing it almost a week ago now. That's usually how I know something that's a good slow burn is there to stay in my mind. Just now getting into a bigger world of sci-fi than I have before I'm kind of surprised I hadn't heard about this before. Whether this is post-modern sci-fi or hard sci-fi or fantasy with a veneer of sci-fi is up for discussion but the story is just plain good. I will continue this series and believe I'll go on enjoying it. Final Grade - A ( )