{ "export": { "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/sflovers/75", "note": "Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright in each message remains with the person who wrote it. Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact.", "addresses": "obscured as 'user at host'" }, "archive": "sflovers", "thread": { "id": 75, "subject": "Torturer, Gene Wolfe, Sequels", "messages": 5, "voices": 5, "first": "1989-01-04T11:41:25+00:00", "last": "1989-01-12T15:00:58+00:00" }, "messages": [ { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Clay M Bond", "address": "bondc at iuvax.cs.indiana.edu" }, "date": "1989-01-04T11:41:25+00:00", "subject": "Torturer, Gene Wolfe, Sequels", "in_reply_to": null, "reply_link": null, "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I have just recently discovered _The Shadow of the Torturer_ by Gene Wolfe,\nand am quite frankly dazed; seldom do I encounter prose so well-written\nthat I reread sections not for the content, but to reexperience the\nwriting. It's sophisticated stuff.\n\nHas anyone else encountered, and read, these? The only others I have been\nable to find have been _Claw of the Conciliator_ and _Urth of the New Sun_,\nand I have read neither. Should I put _Shadow_ down after reading it, and\nnot read the sequels, or are they as well-written as the first?\n\nClay Bond\nIndiana University Department Linguistics" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Jaworski", "address": "johnj at ihuxy.att.com" }, "date": "1989-01-05T13:59:57+00:00", "subject": "Re: Torturer, Gene Wolfe, Sequels", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "I have just recently discovered _The Shadow of the Torturer_ by Gene\nWolfe, and am quite frankly dazed; seldom do I encounter prose so\nwell-written that I reread sections not for the content, but to\nreexperience the writing. It's sophisticated stuff.\n\nHas anyone else encountered, and read, these? The only others I have\nbeen able to find have been _Claw of the Conciliator_ and _Urth of the\nNew Sun_, and I have read neither. Should I put _Shadow_ down after\nreading it, and not read the sequels, or are they as well-written as the\nfirst?" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I've read this series, except for the latest one which is _Urth of the New\nSun_. There are four books in that series, I'm not sure what the names of\nall four are, but I think other than _The Shadow of the Torturer_, and\n_Claw of the Conciliator, there is _Sword of the Lictor(sp?)_ and something\nof the Antioch. This is if I remember correctly.\n\nThe series is well written for the style it is in. If you liked the first\nbook, you should read the next three. The whole series ties in nicely. I\ncan't say I really liked the books, but I am glad that I took the time to\nread them. I haven't read the latest one, _Urth of the New Sun_ but I\nprobably will get around to it as soon as I finish about 20 other books I\nhave to read first.\n\nJohn Jaworski" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Fernando Gouvea", "address": "gouvea at walsh.harvard.edu" }, "date": "1989-01-05T18:20:03+00:00", "subject": "Re: Torturer, Gene Wolfe, Sequels", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "johnj at ihuxy.ATT.COM (Jaworski) writes:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "I have just recently discovered _The Shadow of the Torturer_ by Gene\nWolfe, and am quite frankly dazed; etc.\n\nHas anyone else encountered, and read, these? " }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "I've read this series, except for the latest one which is _Urth of the New\nSun_. There are four books in that series, I'm not sure what the names of\nall four are, but I think other than _The Shadow of the Torturer_, and\n_Claw of the Conciliator, there is _Sword of the Lictor(sp?)_ and\nsomething of the Antioch." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "The first four books, which comprise the \"Book of the New Sun\", are *The\nShadow of the Torturer*, *The Claw of the Conciliator*, *The Sword of the\nLictor*, and *The Citadel of the Autarch*. There is a little booklet\n*about* these called *The Castle of the Otter* (which is the title given in\nLOCUS when the fourth book was about to come out). More recently, Wolfe\nadded a \"coda\" to the series, *The Urth of the New Sun*.\n\nTo me, these are among the best books ever produced in the SF field, for\ntheir style, for the story, and for the \"frenzy of interpretation\" Wolfe\ninduces in us as we try to catch his hints as to what is really happening.\nThese are books that should be read in order (*The Castle of the Otter* is\nof course optional, but it's fun), and that are worth re-reading many\ntimes. In fact, that's probably true of all of Gene Wolfe's books.\n\nFernando Gouvea" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Steve Neighorn", "address": "qiclab!neighorn at ihf1.hf.intel.com" }, "date": "1989-01-07T17:10:41+00:00", "subject": "Re: Torturer, Gene Wolfe, Sequels", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "bondc at iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (Clay M Bond) writes:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Has anyone else encountered, and read, these? The only others I have been\nable to find have been _Claw of the Conciliator_ and _Urth of the New\nSun_, and I have read neither. Should I put _Shadow_ down after reading\nit, and not read the sequels, or are they as well-written as the first?" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "By all means read the other three volumes of _The Book of the New Sun_.\nVolume three is _The Sword of the Lictor_, and book four is _The Citadel of\nthe Autarch_. This series absolutely blew me away. The _Castle of the\nOtter_ is a collection of stories and tales and comments about _The Book of\nthe New Sun_. It is worth reading *after* you finish the series. I say you\nmust read the other three books because you simply have to see what happens\nto Dorcas and Jolenta and Dr Talos and Baldanders, and of course, Severian.\nEach book is a wonder on its own - together they weave a fascinating tale\nof wonder. Every character is made real, and no one is lost. By the end of\n_Citadel_ you will know and understand Severian and his world.\n\nAnother collection of Gene Wolfe short stories is called _The Island of\nDoctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories_. Yes, one of the stories\nis called \"The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories.\"\n\nGood luck finding the other books!\n\nSteven C. Neighorn\nIntel Corporation\nDevelopment Tools Operation \n80960 Language Group" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "ELE", "address": "ele at psuvm.bitnet" }, "date": "1989-01-12T15:00:58+00:00", "subject": "Re: Torturer, Gene Wolfe, Sequels", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "The zine is subtitled \"the newsletter on GW and his works\" which may or may\nnot give you an idea as to what it's about." } ] } ] }