Details Containing Books The Book of the New Sun (The Book of the New Sun #1-4)
Title | : | The Book of the New Sun (The Book of the New Sun #1-4) |
Author | : | Gene Wolfe |
Book Format | : | Hardcover |
Book Edition | : | 1st Science Fiction Book Club Edition |
Pages | : | Pages: 950 pages |
Published | : | June 1st 1998 by SFBC (first published 1983) |
Categories | : | Fantasy. Science Fiction. Fiction |
Gene Wolfe
Hardcover | Pages: 950 pages Rating: 4.19 | 3383 Users | 155 Reviews
Relation In Pursuance Of Books The Book of the New Sun (The Book of the New Sun #1-4)
Recently voted the greatest fantasy of all time, after The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun is an extraordinary epic, set a million years in the future, on an Earth transformed in mysterious and wondrous ways, in a time when our present culture is no longer even a memory. Severian, the central character, is a torturer, exiled from his guild after falling in love with one of his victims, and journeying to the distant city of Thrax, armed with his ancient executioner's sword, Terminus Est. This edition contains the first four volumes of the series.Define Books In Favor Of The Book of the New Sun (The Book of the New Sun #1-4)
Original Title: | The Book of the New Sun |
ISBN: | 1568658079 (ISBN13: 9781568658070) |
Edition Language: | English URL http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze2tmhh/wolfe.html |
Series: | The Book of the New Sun #1-4, Solar Cycle #1-4 omnibus |
Characters: | Severian |
Rating Containing Books The Book of the New Sun (The Book of the New Sun #1-4)
Ratings: 4.19 From 3383 Users | 155 ReviewsWeigh Up Containing Books The Book of the New Sun (The Book of the New Sun #1-4)
Like many readers, my second instinct after hearing about a seminal work of fiction is to get the gist of what it is (the first being to jot down its title/author). Just a smidgeon. A crumb of datum to warn me what I'm in for.The thing that surprised me about The Book of the New Sun is that it's impervious to this approach. From reviews I found hyperboles. Blurbs about its sci-fi and fantasy trappings, its layers, its unreliable narration, its imaginative scope and allusions to everything fromDid I lucid-dream these books? Quite possibly.
I finished this 4-volume set a couple weeks ago.Since that time, I've been thinking about it and reading about it and I even listened to a podcast that analyzed each chapter of book 1.The story takes place a million years in Earth's future. The sun is dying. The Earth - now called "Urth" - has resorted to a medieval society, but it still retains remnants of its forgotten technology. For example, man no longer can travel between the stars, but old spaceships are repurposed as buildings and alien
Where do I start with this?This is probably the most intellectually stimulating work of fantasy (or science fantasy, whatever you call it) I've read. Wolfe doesn't pull his punches, he expects his readers to catch all the little hints and references he drops, and then he starts playing around with it to amuse both himself and the reader. This book has its (often humoristic) meta. It has intertextuality. It has an unreliable narrator, approaches science fiction under so many angles, and a puts up
Sixth read. Still amazing.
This is compared to LotR in scope and epicness and also I guess in meandering plotlines.Lord of the Rings at least HAD a plot.This book has a fairly bland main character, no "MacGuffin" even 20 percent in, as far as I can tell, and women who parade around with their dresses ripped and boobs hanging out for no reason other than to provide something pretty for the main character to look at.Eowyn she ain't.This is a nope, nope, nope.
It is a mildly interesting retelling of the experiences of an unusual and likable man, but it is also a meandering, directionless story appearing (along the way) to follow no plan and make no point. I suppose this is the issue with fantasy epics: made up stories about made up situations. But surely if you are making everything up, you can try to make a point, eh? I don't know. I'll bet that was the knock on LOTR until people started to get into it. Then they found an interesting world filled
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