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![]() | Shadow and Claw (1994) (A book in the Urth : Book of the New Sun series) An omnibus of novels by Gene Wolfe |
This is the first-person narrative of Severian the lowly apprentice torturer, blessed and cursed with a photographic memory, whose travels lead him through the marvels of far-future "Urth", and who--as revealed near the beginning--eventually becomes his land's sole ruler or Autarch. On the surface it's a colourful story with all the classic ingredients: growing up, adventure, sex, betrayal, murder, exile, battle, monsters and mysteries to be solved. (Only well into book two do we realise what saved Severian's life in chapter one.) For lovers of literary allusions, they're here in plenty: a Dickensian cemetery scene, a torture-engine from Kafka, a wonderful library out of Borges and familiar fables changed by aeons of retelling. Wolfe evokes a chilly sense of time's vastness, with an age-old, much restored painting of a golden-visored "knight" who is an astronaut standing on the Moon; an ancient citadel of metal towers which are grounded spacecraft. Even the Sun is senile and dying, and so Urth needs a New Sun.
The Book of the New Sun is almost heart-breakingly good, full of riches and subtleties that improve with each rereading. It is Gene Wolfe's masterpiece and strongly recommended. --David Langford
Genre: Fantasy
The Forever War (Forever War, book 1) Joe Haldeman | The Tales of the Dying Earth (Dying Earth) Jack Vance | His Dark Materials (His Dark Materials) Philip Pullman | Fool Moon (Dresden Files, book 2) Jim Butcher |
See all available used copies of this book at: Abebooks UK or Abebooks US
Paperback Editions
| Title: The Book Of The New Sun: Volume 1: Shadow and Claw (Fantasy Masterworks): Shadow and Claw Vol 1 Author(s):: Gene Wolfe ISBN: 1857989775 / 9781857989779 (UK edition) Publisher: Gollancz Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA |
| Title: Shadow & Claw: The First Half of 'The Book of the New Sun' Author(s):: Gene Wolfe ISBN: 0312890176 / 9780312890179 (USA edition) Publisher: Orb Books Availability: Amazon UK Amazon Amazon CA |
Kindle Editions
| Title: Shadow & Claw: The First Half of 'The Book of the New Sun' Author(s):: Gene Wolfe ISBN: B008S0E77Q Publisher: Orb Books Availability: Amazon |
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