The Claw of the Conciliator (1981)

This is the second volume in Wolfe's tetralogy "Book of the New Sun". In the first volume, lead character Severian starts out as an apprentice torturer and it's not a spoiler to say he ends up as the ruler of a continent (the Autarch) in the final volume. These books are his memoirs, written from the seat of power.

The setting is our world of perhaps thousands of years hence. Space travel had once been common, as had contact with extraterrestrial races. Now there is no more space travel, and we're stranded on "Urth", along with the remnants of alien races we've brought here, which have in some cases been genetically spliced with humans. The world under the dying sun is by turns beautiful and harsh.

But to describe this series in terms of run-of-the-mill science fiction does it a great disservice. This is high literature. It's multilayered and is susceptible to different interpretations and meanings. Severian is an unreliable narrator, and often it seems there is more mystery in the tale than revelation. Speaking of Revelation, one way to look at it is as a Christian allegory. There are stories within stories. Wheels within wheels.

It's the kind of book that affects your dreams. I can't praise it highly enough. ( )

This is going to be the kind of series that’s difficult to review, because the books are much the same as each other – indeed, I’m not sure why Wolfe even bothered to split one very large books into four smaller ones. The Claw of the Conciliator picks up shortly after The Shadow of the Torturer, with Severian having left the city of Nessus but been separated from his travelling companions.

The tone of the series continues to be used to enhance the sense of memoir, and grant a sense of arcane wonder to Severian’s mysterious world, but it comes at a price to plot and character. As with the first book, things seem to merely happen, with very little indication of a developing narrative – or, on Severian’s part, any form of motive or free will. It reminds me in that sense of a classic play, or some other form of high literature, in which the events of the story are somewhat less than clear. Nonetheless, Wolfe’s future Earth is intriguing enough to keep me reading, and I was consistently impressed at the way futuristic technology – ranging from teleportation to robots to the terraforming of the moon – is reinterpreted by Severian’s people as something bordering on magic. Much of the context is hidden below baroque language, allusion and implications, and although the story can be difficult to follow, these are books that reward careful reading. Next up is The Sword of the Lichtor. ( )

Disappointing: the allegory of an emerging Self is there, but by analysis not by force of narrative or imagery. The story itself emphasizes those aspects of the first volume I liked the least: the blend of a fantasy quest in a slowly-revealed space opera setting. It's written as well as Shadow, and probably plotted as well. I simply don't like the setting or atmosphere as much. Would have been a better fit during my period of intense reading in the genre, presently it doesn't depart genre convention enough to capture my attention.

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My favourite theme was continued but very much sidelighted: the parallels drawn between the Guild of Torturers and common social institutions. Suspect it continues through the series, but again: not strongly enough to continue with the next book.

Read in an omnibus edition of the first two installments, I'll review each novel in a separate entry. ( )

I didn't enjoy The Shadow of the Torturer much and this sequel again failed to impress me. I can't see any reason to continue on with this series after two so uninspiring books.

My main problem with this book is the utterly aimless feel of it. Very rarely did I feel like I knew what I was supposed to be excited about - I couldn't see any sort of climatic endpoint that I ought to be expecting and looking forward to. It simply made for a very dull, unexciting read. I know from Severian's narration where he ends up but I fail to see, given the slow pace of these books, how that can be achieved in the next two novels, short of a massive time leap or incredulous plotting.

Regardless, I don't really care anyway. The story is extremely thin, the world dull and the characters barely interesting. The book isn't actively bad and I managed to finish it fine but there's very little in the pages that I can say was good and be enthused about. ( )