Subject: Torturer, Gene Wolfe, Sequels

From: Clay M Bond <bondc at iuvax.cs.indiana.edu>
Date: Wed, 04 Jan 1989 11:41:25 +0000

I have just recently discovered _The Shadow of the Torturer_ by Gene Wolfe,
and am quite frankly dazed; seldom do I encounter prose so well-written
that I reread sections not for the content, but to reexperience the
writing.  It's sophisticated stuff.

Has anyone else encountered, and read, these?  The only others I have been
able to find have been _Claw of the Conciliator_ and _Urth of the New Sun_,
and I have read neither.  Should I put _Shadow_ down after reading it, and
not read the sequels, or are they as well-written as the first?

Clay Bond
Indiana University Department Linguistics

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From: Jaworski <johnj at ihuxy.att.com>
Date: Thu, 05 Jan 1989 13:59:57 +0000

> I have just recently discovered _The Shadow of the Torturer_ by Gene
> Wolfe, and am quite frankly dazed; seldom do I encounter prose so
> well-written that I reread sections not for the content, but to
> reexperience the writing.  It's sophisticated stuff.
> 
> Has anyone else encountered, and read, these?  The only others I have
> been able to find have been _Claw of the Conciliator_ and _Urth of the
> New Sun_, and I have read neither.  Should I put _Shadow_ down after
> reading it, and not read the sequels, or are they as well-written as the
> first?

I've read this series, except for the latest one which is _Urth of the New
Sun_.  There are four books in that series, I'm not sure what the names of
all four are, but I think other than _The Shadow of the Torturer_, and
_Claw of the Conciliator, there is _Sword of the Lictor(sp?)_ and something
of the Antioch.  This is if I remember correctly.

The series is well written for the style it is in.  If you liked the first
book, you should read the next three.  The whole series ties in nicely.  I
can't say I really liked the books, but I am glad that I took the time to
read them.  I haven't read the latest one, _Urth of the New Sun_ but I
probably will get around to it as soon as I finish about 20 other books I
have to read first.

John Jaworski

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From: Fernando Gouvea <gouvea at walsh.harvard.edu>
Date: Thu, 05 Jan 1989 18:20:03 +0000

johnj at ihuxy.ATT.COM (Jaworski) writes:
>> Wolfe, and am quite frankly dazed; etc.
>> 
>> Has anyone else encountered, and read, these? 
>
>_Claw of the Conciliator, there is _Sword of the Lictor(sp?)_ and
>something of the Antioch.

The first four books, which comprise the "Book of the New Sun", are *The
Shadow of the Torturer*, *The Claw of the Conciliator*, *The Sword of the
Lictor*, and *The Citadel of the Autarch*.  There is a little booklet
*about* these called *The Castle of the Otter* (which is the title given in
LOCUS when the fourth book was about to come out).  More recently, Wolfe
added a "coda" to the series, *The Urth of the New Sun*.

To me, these are among the best books ever produced in the SF field, for
their style, for the story, and for the "frenzy of interpretation" Wolfe
induces in us as we try to catch his hints as to what is really happening.
These are books that should be read in order (*The Castle of the Otter* is
of course optional, but it's fun), and that are worth re-reading many
times.  In fact, that's probably true of all of Gene Wolfe's books.

Fernando Gouvea

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From: Steve Neighorn <qiclab!neighorn at ihf1.hf.intel.com>
Date: Sat, 07 Jan 1989 17:10:41 +0000

bondc at iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (Clay M Bond) writes:
>able to find have been _Claw of the Conciliator_ and _Urth of the New
>Sun_, and I have read neither.  Should I put _Shadow_ down after reading
>it, and not read the sequels, or are they as well-written as the first?

By all means read the other three volumes of _The Book of the New Sun_.
Volume three is _The Sword of the Lictor_, and book four is _The Citadel of
the Autarch_. This series absolutely blew me away. The _Castle of the
Otter_ is a collection of stories and tales and comments about _The Book of
the New Sun_. It is worth reading *after* you finish the series. I say you
must read the other three books because you simply have to see what happens
to Dorcas and Jolenta and Dr Talos and Baldanders, and of course, Severian.
Each book is a wonder on its own - together they weave a fascinating tale
of wonder. Every character is made real, and no one is lost. By the end of
_Citadel_ you will know and understand Severian and his world.

Another collection of Gene Wolfe short stories is called _The Island of
Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories_. Yes, one of the stories
is called "The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories."

Good luck finding the other books!

Steven C. Neighorn
Intel Corporation
Development Tools Operation      
80960 Language Group

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From: ELE <ele at psuvm.bitnet>
Date: Thu, 12 Jan 1989 15:00:58 +0000

The zine is subtitled "the newsletter on GW and his works" which may or may
not give you an idea as to what it's about.