3.5

Easily the best so far. Still pretty glacial and meandering, but the prose has improved, the characters slightly better developed and the world and excursions much more engrossing. This felt less like a vague 300 page trot round the corner, and more like an engaging fantasy trek (The Alzabo is a particularly cool and creepy encounter). There's a lot of neat world building, and by the end it feels like the 4th book might actually lead us somewhere?? (one would hope)

Still, while I get that this is apparently "designed" to be read for the second time, and that every flaw is supposedly intentionally woven in by the author for a reason... that's not really good enough for me. A book should work the first time round before it demands your attention a second time (life is too short). I'm refraining full judgement until the end of the next (and last) book, but this has been a frustratingly inconsistent journey. I'm getting pretty tired of Severian's perception of women too. ( )

I enjoyed this a bit better than the previous two entries, because the science fiction element is finally brought forward a bit. Severian meets a remnant of Urth's past, meets some aliens, and learns more about the giant Baldanders and Dr Talos. On the downside, all this does introduce a pulp feeling to the latter half of the book. And yet again, of the three new women Severian meets, he sleeps with two of them, including disturbingly a slave woman still in chains. All consensual, but I'm finding that part tiresome.

Carping aside, still recommended. ( )

Severian has arrived at the city of Thrax and taken up his duties as Lictor. He plays his part, he makes appearances when required to show the fist inside the not-so-velvet glove of Thrax's Archon, and he carries out his duties as torturer as required, But he is not happy; and neither is Dorcas, his travelling companion and paramour. They soon part ways, and Severian begins a journey to the north, to find his destiny.

The Gormenghastly detail of Wolfe's Urth is still there; but up until now, Severian was merely journeying, meeting with various people and having adventures interrupt his progress. But now he has struck out into the world on his own and he runs into extraordinary meetings on his way. There is more action in this volume than we have seen up to now; by the end of the book, Severian has encountered some old faces, he has embraced responsibilities, and suffered losses that will change his course.

This is possibly the most science fictional volume of the story so far; but Severian is only encountering the reality and the deep age of Urth. Once again, I found this an engaging read and I am looking forward to moving on to the final volume in the first part of Wolfe's Solar Cycle, The Citadel of the Autarch. ( )

This was a good book but it did not capture me to the same extent as the first two volumes in The Book Of The New Sun. I found The Shadow Of The Torturer to be a fascinating introduction to this future culture and Severians place in it. The Claw Of The Conciliator also drew me in as Severian's relationships became more complicated and the world of The Urth became more expansive. In contrast, The Sword Of The Lictor is more of a single person Odyssey when Severian escapes the city of Thrax and travels mostly alone in his attempt to elude the city's soldiers. There are fascinating situations but their relationship to Urth and Severian are incredibly difficult to follow! But this does not detract from the narrative - it only makes the mystery deeper. So, it is a good book, but I miss the relationships and culture that Wolfe developed in the first two volumes. Having said that, the last section of the book with the lake people and Talos, Baldanders and the cacogens leaps forward very quickly. That part of the book is incredibly engaging.

So should you read it? Yes, it is well worth reading. Wolfe's prose is always enjoyable to read if rather dense. But I do feel like I am just barely glimpsing what is really going on. And I suspect that Wolfe wrote that way on person so that we were experiencing the same thing that Severian is experiencing not always understanding what is happening to him, what is going on around him, and the reasons for people's actions. of course I am going to read the the last volume, The Citadel of the Autarch! I gotta find out how this ends and what kind of person Severian really is. Is he a messiah? Is he a pawn? Is he good? Is he evil? Or is he all of these things at the same time? I suspect it is the latter. ( )

This is a 5500 word essay on a reread of the full TBotNS, focusing on the narrative trap Wolfe has set, and my theory that his literary sleight of hand serves a religious/mystical goal, much more than it is the supposed puzzle for the reader to unravel. There’s also a short section on free will, and it ends with my overall appraisal of the book’s enduring appeal.

(...)

Even though Wright might be right in spirit, Aramini’s law still holds: “One of the most fascinating aspects of the critical discourse surrounding Wolfe involves how infrequently any two people will agree with each other.” That is because Wolfe has indeed set a trap – but his trap isn’t there to catch readers unwilling to question their assumptions in a post-structuralist way… The trap is there to catch post-structuralists and puzzle-solvers altogether. To understand that, I’ll have to turn to the Spiritual.

(...)

Full review on Weighing A Pig Doesn't Fatten It ( )