The book delights in shrouding its events, characters, history, and even locations in a thick layer of ambiguity. As the seemingly disconnected characters and episodes gradually reveal their importance to the overall plot, the story takes on overtones of High Fantasy, or perhaps a strange Deconstruction juxtaposed with increasingly surreal scifi elements and religious philosophy. The earliest chapters, in particular have a Low Fantasy feel as Severian largely wanders from place to place. Along the way he meets many strange people and experiences many life-altering events. After falling in love with one of his charges, Severian is exiled from the guild and sent to a distant city as its appointed executioner. Severian, an apprentice of the Torturer's Guild, narrates his story. The story takes place in a feudal society a million years in the future. Wolfe, and this novel in particular, have a cult following for its deceptively engaging Worldbuilding couched in Science Fiction trappings that take the form of the narrator's memoirs. The Book of the New Sun is a lengthy Science Fantasy novel by Gene Wolfe, originally published as four spearate books.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |