I was shocked to realise I'd finished the whole thing in two weeks. I felt lost, enthralled, frustrated, and repulsed, often all at once. There is truth in all that has been said, but my experience as someone who hasn't read any Gene Wolfe - or much SF/F, for that matter - has been overwhelmingly positive. Fairly or otherwise, Wolfe has earned comparisons to Melville and Joyce. Characters are often described as one-dimensional and bewildering, and the plot, when it can be followed, as one of many straightforward instances of the hero's journey. The Book of the New Sun doesn't seem to be discussed much outside of a few enclaves of hardcore SF/F readers, probably due to its reputation of being dense, labyrinthine, and outright incomprehensible at times.
Right from the start, Severian claims to have a perfect memory, but does he really recall everything as they were? If not, is he lying to us? This is a sticking point for most readers, and, combined with some crazy warping of identity and time, makes for a marvellously disorienting and psychedelic experience. The story is about many things, but what I noticed most of all were compelling ideas about memory, truth, identity, and time. Totalling a little over 1000 pages, the books are written in the style of a memoir with a notoriously unreliable narration. It tells the story of Severian, an apprentice of the torturers' guild, who undertakes a long and undulating journey through the bizarre lands of Urth. Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun was published in four parts, as The Shadow of the Torturer, The Claw of the Conciliator, The Sword of the Lictor, and The Citadel of the Autarch.
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