2.5

Not just the least entertaining, but the slowest and clunkiest of the lot. Not exactly what you'd expect from something that closes off a quadrilogy.

You could divide this book into three parts:

Part 1: Canterbury Tales
Part 2: Military Excursions
Part 3: Convoluted Exposition Dumps

So this is meant to be read for the second time... I believe it. What I don't believe is that it deserves to, nor do I think that it needs to be read twice through because of the author's genius. This thing is convoluted and badly woven. In no way is there any excuse for the amount of information dumped on the reader towards the end of the book, which is a mixture of "yeah... I worked that out for myself" and "How the hell do you expect me to take this in?".

Thank the Autarch it's over. ( )

Great writing, but very strange ( )

The conclusion to the Book of the New Sun, though many more things are revealed in the sequel The Urth of the New Sun.

While I certainly recommend the series -- really one story in four long acts -- I still don't get the masterpiece aspect of it, the unreliable narrator aspect, or that there's something very different happening than what's on the surface. I feel like a kid listening to grownups having a conversation about something going in the family who understands all the words and names but not what it all means. Both Severian, the narrator, and many reviewers say you have to re-read the entire sequence for many things to be revealed, but I saw nothing in a long Reddit Q&A that significantly changed what I thought had happened. There are some major revelations but they seemed pretty normal for a series with time travel.

Definitely recommended. It's very accessible and enjoyable on the surface. If, like me, you either miss the depths or do see them but don't find them that intriguing, you'll still have enjoyed the journey. ( )

In what was touted as the closing volume of Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun, the by now former torturer Severian has survived the fight at the castle of Baldanders, met aliens, had his great executioner's sword Terminus Est shattered, and the mystical gem, the Claw of the Conciliator, likewise broken into a million pieces, leaving Severian with an actual claw, which may or may not retain healing properties.

Now he journeys north to the war between the Ascians and the forces of the Autarch. He falls in with various soldiers of both sides; and eventually with the Autarch himself, who reveals that Severian has had a destiny all along...

Read on one level, this is a coming-of-age novel; at one point, Severian returns to the Citadel of the Torturers in Nessus, and his Guild classmates are still there; and we realise that for all his life-changing adventures, Severian is still a young man, though he has acquired more maturity than his contemporaries. But the story is not only about Severian; we see more of the world of Urth and the deep future it represents for us. We also begin to understand the nature of the catastrophe that is overcoming the Sun, and we hear for the first time about the White Fountain that might bring about the New Sun that has been in the background of everyone's thoughts throughout all four books.

So many of Severian's strands are brought to an end here; Dorcas, Vodalus, Dr.Talos and Agia all make their final appearances. Other mysteries remain unresolved - for instance, were Severian's healing powers a consequence of his possession of the Claw, or something he possessed subconsciously all the time? Wolfe's wordplay provides us with clues.

This whole sequence of books provides rich pickings for those who like to concentrate on details; others will revel in the whole rich tapestry of time spread out for us to reflect upon. Our entire span of recorded history so far is just a blink of an eye compared to the ages that have passed between our time and Severian's; we should not expect every aspect of life on Urth to be immediately clear to us.

Although this book is the end of The Book of the New Sun, Wolfe then continued with a coda novel, The Urth of the New Sun, as well as two further series set in the same universe. There is still much to explore here. ( )

This was a good read, but not a must read for me. I felt it held together a bit better than the previous 3rd volume but I found the ending a little bit of a let down. The entire 4 volumes of the Book of the New Sun really is about the journey rather than the destination. What makes this series of book so pleasurable to read is Wolfe’s prose and the wonderings he poses via Severian’s thought processes. I still don’t understand why Severian was chosen to be Autarch. I still don’t understand why he has unreliable powers of resurrection and healing. I still don’t understand the role of the Undines and the cacogenes (aliens). It feels to me as if humanity is a pawn in a much larger game to which Severian is finally admitted to the table to play at the end of the book. Clearly there is time travel occurring throughout the entire 4 volumes of this book. Is this why humanity stopped travelling to the stars? Because they figured out how to traverse time? So many questions that I still wonder about. Is Severian/The Autarch a good person or simply someone who is carrying out their role in the game? The first two volumes in this series ended up being my favourites because they introduced the world and also seemed to develop relationships to a better extent between Severian and his travelling companions (Shadow of the Torturer; Claw of the Conciliator). In the last two volumes, relationships seem to be tossed aside too wantonly for a variety of reasons but typically because they simply die. So there is little chance to become invested in the characters that Severian meets (Sword of the Lictor; Citadel of the Autarch). Despite these criticisms, I am still very happy I read this book. It is interesting but not fully satisfying. ( )