I wish I knew then what I know now.

To really enjoy Wolfe's genius you need to read The Book of the New Sun at least twice.
It is one book in four / five parts, don't wait between reading the different sections as I usually do with series, you'll forget some of the hints you've actually managed to figure out.

I enjoyed the writing, I loved spending time with Severian, I loved Jonathan Davis's narration. Stretching the concept of sufficiently advanced technology as indistinguishable from magic, miracle and prophecy to biblical proportions was interesting and kept me on my tows for clues.

But I found the ending unsatisfying, so much so that after finishing the Citadel of the Autarch, I immediately bought The Urth of the new Sun, in search of a meaningful resolution. (It was a better book, with a better resolution, but still left me hanging).

I simply don't have time to reread the whole thing, it is long, slow and meandering. Perhaps when I was younger I would have taken the time to unravel this puzzle.