Subject: Re: Wolfe"s The Book of the New Sun

From: utah-gr!thomas <utah-gr!thomas>
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 1982 01:12:01 +0000

I'm not sure I'd call it a "quest" story.  It might be, in a sense, but
Severian really doesn't know what he's looking for (if anything).  Maybe
he's searching for the meaning of life, I'm not sure.

Among the things which make the series great for me are the language and
the wonderful description of a future/past world.  Wolfe manages to
evoke wondefully clear images of the fantastic world in which Severian
finds himself.  You can feel the tremendous weight of the (mostly
ignored, but everpresent) immense past history pressing down upon the
people of his time.  Everything has been done, forgotten, rediscovered,
and forgetten again.  The world is running down to an end (or, as he
seems to hope, a new beginning).  This background, developed only
implicitly in places, provides a rich backdrop for the story.  The
storyline in the first book seems a little thin, but only because
of the wealth of subplots it begins.  There are no extraneous incidents
recalled, no characters introduced as mere padding.  It is a difficult book 
to read, the motives of the characters are frequently hidden or inexplicable
and the description of some events are unexpectedly cut short.  You have to
read every word, or you risk missing something important.  But, then,
real life is often this way, also.  The "Book of the New Sun" is Severian's
memoirs, and, although he has perfect recall, he is still human, not
omniscient, and can't know everything.

I'm not sure I would classify it as "sword and sorcery", there is very
little sorcery, and what "sorcery" there is is really forgotten science.
Severian certainly carries a sword, but members of the Autarch's guard
carry advanced energy weapons.  I'm not sure it's classifiable as anything
except "Speculative Fiction", and only that because there is no
other category which can hold it.  It is definitely not the escapism
that so much SF is - if you are to understand the book on more than a
superficial level, you must think about it, be willing to ferret out 
that which is not said directly.

If you're not sure you will like it, borrow a copy from a friend, or the
library.  The first book is not the whole story, it was only published
as a multi-volume set because the publishing industry will not put out 
a single book that long.  (Except for Michener, of course.)  By all means,
though, give it another chance.

=Spencer