Shadow & Claw

The First Half of The Book of the New Sun

by Gene Wolfe

Hardcover, 528 pages

Published June 8, 2021 by Tor Books.

ISBN:: 978-1-250-82704-3

(9 reviews)

Shadow and Claw is an omnibus of the first two books of Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. It chronicles the life and adventures of journeyman torturer Severian.

7 editions

Zivan reviewed The shadow of the torturer; The claw of the conciliator by Gene Wolfe (Book of the new sun / Wolfe, Gene -- v. 1-2)

Review of 'The shadow of the torturer; The claw of the conciliator' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I enjoyed the mix of sci-fi and fantasy, the medieval setting on a far future earth where some tech remains but isn't understood by the protagonist.

The psychopathy of the torturers was horrifying but interesting. As life in the guild completely normalizes the torture as just a job that needs to be done.

This novel does date itself with the women that keep throwing themselves at the Severian.

Zéro Janvier reviewed The shadow of the torturer; The claw of the conciliator by Gene Wolfe (Book of the new sun / Wolfe, Gene -- v. 1-2)

Review of 'The shadow of the torturer; The claw of the conciliator' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Un livre difficile d'accès, qui nécessite du temps pour vraiment entrer dedans. Si les critiques n'étaient pas aussi bonnes, je n'aurais peut-être pas eu la motivation de poursuivre jusqu'au bout. La fin de ce premier tome est meilleure que le début, mais j'attends tout de même mieux des prochains volumes, au vu des critiques dithyrambiques que j'ai lues ici concernant cette saga.