{
  "export": {
    "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/usenet/6",
    "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": "usenet",
  "thread": {
    "id": 6,
    "subject": "Wolfe\"s The Book of the New Sun",
    "messages": 1,
    "voices": 1,
    "first": "1982-12-13T01:12:01+00:00",
    "last": "1982-12-13T01:12:01+00:00"
  },
  "messages": [
    {
      "message_id": "<bnews.utah-gr.662>",
      "from": {
        "name": "utah-gr!thomas",
        "address": "utah-gr!thomas"
      },
      "date": "1982-12-13T01:12:01+00:00",
      "subject": "Re: Wolfe\"s The Book of the New Sun",
      "in_reply_to": null,
      "reply_link": null,
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "I'm not sure I'd call it a \"quest\" story.  It might be, in a sense, but\nSeverian really doesn't know what he's looking for (if anything).  Maybe\nhe's searching for the meaning of life, I'm not sure.\n\nAmong the things which make the series great for me are the language and\nthe wonderful description of a future/past world.  Wolfe manages to\nevoke wondefully clear images of the fantastic world in which Severian\nfinds himself.  You can feel the tremendous weight of the (mostly\nignored, but everpresent) immense past history pressing down upon the\npeople of his time.  Everything has been done, forgotten, rediscovered,\nand forgetten again.  The world is running down to an end (or, as he\nseems to hope, a new beginning).  This background, developed only\nimplicitly in places, provides a rich backdrop for the story.  The\nstoryline in the first book seems a little thin, but only because\nof the wealth of subplots it begins.  There are no extraneous incidents\nrecalled, no characters introduced as mere padding.  It is a difficult book \nto read, the motives of the characters are frequently hidden or inexplicable\nand the description of some events are unexpectedly cut short.  You have to\nread every word, or you risk missing something important.  But, then,\nreal life is often this way, also.  The \"Book of the New Sun\" is Severian's\nmemoirs, and, although he has perfect recall, he is still human, not\nomniscient, and can't know everything.\n\nI'm not sure I would classify it as \"sword and sorcery\", there is very\nlittle sorcery, and what \"sorcery\" there is is really forgotten science.\nSeverian certainly carries a sword, but members of the Autarch's guard\ncarry advanced energy weapons.  I'm not sure it's classifiable as anything\nexcept \"Speculative Fiction\", and only that because there is no\nother category which can hold it.  It is definitely not the escapism\nthat so much SF is - if you are to understand the book on more than a\nsuperficial level, you must think about it, be willing to ferret out \nthat which is not said directly.\n\nIf you're not sure you will like it, borrow a copy from a friend, or the\nlibrary.  The first book is not the whole story, it was only published\nas a multi-volume set because the publishing industry will not put out \na single book that long.  (Except for Michener, of course.)  By all means,\nthough, give it another chance.\n\n=Spencer"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}