Ted Naifeh

I tried to read this about two years ago and didn’t make it past the first few chapters. I picked it up again recently and couldn’t put it down. Because of that, I feel almost obligated to add a warning that as much as I find this to be an incredible book now, I would only recommend it to a very specific branch of readers; those that value the writing itself above everything, and the plot, or romance, or whatever else existing only to provide the means for the author to write more.

With show more that out of the way, this is a masterpiece. The plot meandered, and this is stylistically something that won’t resonate with many different types of readers, but I found it quite possibly one of the—if not the—greatest book I’ve yet read. The world you’re thrown into is unexplained and intrinsically odd, with the reader being left to pick out meaning from terms and cultural expressions that almost align with a futuristic parallel of some humanities future (take “Urth” in place of Earth). I loved that, and therefore loved this book, but can see how polarizing and unapproachable that may be to a casual reader. This is something that should live on any fantasy reader’s shelf, in perfect reach for when the right moment and right mood align, even if that’s years from when it’s originally purchased. show less

When this book first appeared back in the early 1980s, I disregarded it, as fantasy wasn't my thing and this definitely looked like fantasy. But then a number of people whose opinions I respected said that it was worth reading, and so I relented. And of course, it isn't fantasy, but a story set in a distant future when the sun is dying and human civilizations have lost all sense of time. We don't find this out immediately, but Wolfe's world-building is so clever that he gradually gives us show more clues as to where we are, both in space and time. Humanity has been to the stars and come back, and mainly forgotten what it did out there. So despite what looks like a classic fantasy setting, despite there being figures with swords and archaic speech, the reader has to keep alert, because references to 'pistols' almost certainly mean energy weapons, and 'ship' may refer to a vessel on the water or one travelling to distant suns.

The first time I read it, I seem to remember not really grasping the objective of the book, and the power and achievement of the author only sank in as I progressed through its sequels in the series making up 'The Book of the New Sun'. But that was more than 35 years ago. Recently, I was browsing some back issues of an academic journal and came across a series of papers on Gene Wolfe and his novels; and I thought perhaps I'd better revisit these books, and catch up with what else he'd written in the same universe later, whilst I still had time. Think of this as a bucket list read, then.

So what do we have here? On the face of it, a simple story. Severian is an apprentice torturer, of the Guild of Torturers in the great Citadel in the city of Nessus, which may be somewhere in South America or possibly South Africa. He may be destined for high office in the Guild, until the day he betrays the Guild and allows one of those committed to them to be subjected to excruciations to take her own life and thus escape her fate. For this, he is expelled from the Guild; but it is politically convenient for him to be sent to the distant city of Thrax, where he would take up his duties as their resident torturer and so expiate his guilt to the Guild. This first book tells Severian's story up to the point where he reaches the gate in the city wall of Nessus.

You will gather from that description that we are not looking at a high-powered, thrill-a-minute adventure story. Neither are we talking about a novel of horror, despite the title, though there are accounts of Severian's trade which discuss the calling of torturer with some degree of professional detachment. Rather, we are shown the society of the city of Nessus, its inhabitants, and get an insight into what living in such a society might be like. Along the way, we have the benefit of Severian's inner musings; he is telling his tale in hindsight, reflecting on his history. Severian is not a cruel man - indeed, if he were, he would not have been allowed to become a torturer, for torturers are not allowed to take pleasure in their work - but he gives clues that he may be an unreliable witness.

But if there is little action (though the story does advance in terms of the people Severian meets and the situations he gets into - fighting a duel, falling in love, carrying out an execution and starring in a play), the description of the setting is memorable. The city seems huge to Severian and its ways strange, he having been sequestered in the Citadel for most of his life; so he is something of an innocent abroad, and everything is new to him. And above all that, the dying sun casts its feeble light. The descriptions of the scenes and settings are reminiscent of Mervyn Peake's 'Gormenghast', but this is a sombre setting, its colours and shadows reminiscent of the English painter Joseph Wright, renowned for his canvasses of contrast between light and shade.

I enjoyed this start to my re-read, and am looking forward to the next volume in the series, 'The Claw of the Conciliator'. show less

The Shadow of the Torturer is a masterpiece of fantasy, a dark and lyrical journey of honor and betrayal. Severian is an apprentice torturer in the Citadel, a boy being inculcated into the mysteries of his guild and the service due their "clients" when he falls in love with the nobly born Thelca. Just after his ascension to the rank of Journeyman, the young Severian makes a key decision, forclosing the torture due his love by handing her a knife. Dishonored, he is sent out into the world show more with the legendary sword Terminus Est to make his way to the far city of Thrax where he will take up the profession of headsman. He meets strange and dangerous people along the way, falls in love, fights, is betrayed, and so on.

Proper fantasy seems defined by a certain sense of unreality, the idea that "so above so below", and Wolfe's language captures the dreamlike sense that the story is a psychological mirror of his protagonist, while also maintaining the dense detritus of the post-apocalyptic, high-tech, dying Earth setting. There's a particularly gripping moment where Severian finds himself facing a picture of a man wearing a golden helm, a gray desert reflecting in it, and you realize this is a photo from the Apollo program, reduced to nothing more than myth. It's beautiful, and strange, and terrifying. show less

More clever artwork and interesting storytelling from Naifeh, this time with a more coherent storyline than the previous volume (which was more episodic). Somehow, though, while Courtney's powers are growing and she is becoming more self-realized, she actually seems to be less likable. Naifeh's heroine is already brusque and sometimes less-than-lovable, but now the creator seems to be making Courtney less empathetic and more distant, rather than familiar and likable even in spite of her show more flaws. Courtney's actions at the end come off as more judgmental and self-righteous than heroic and impassioned. show less