Subject: Re:The shadow of the Torturer

From: Arturo Perez <art@mit-mc>
Date: Fri, 03 Jun 1983 10:37:00 +0000

I'm sorry folks but I have to agree with Mclure on the Gene Wolfe
novel.  I tend to read to the end anything I pick up but I could
not finish Torturer.  I think the writing style was very bad and
the story didn't seem to be headed anywhere.  It was a waste of my
time..

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From: tim <tim at unc.uucp>
Date: Sun, 05 Jun 1983 06:02:12 +0000

Gene Wolfe is one of the brightest new talents in speculative fiction.
His best work is the four-volume "Book of the New Sun", consisting of
The Shadow of the Torturer, The Claw of the Conciliator, The Sword
of the Lictor, and The Citadel of the Autarch.  The second volume
won the Nebula Award, and the third and fourth are likely candidates
for the same award.

The protagonist of the series is Severian, a young and quietly insane
journeyman of the despised Torturer's Guild (the Guild of Seekers
of Truth and Penitence).  The setting is a time so far in the future
that today is less than a memory, with even our legends forgotten.
Mankind has flourished and fallen over the millions of years.  The
setting is surrealistic medieval.  The influence of Vance's excellent
The Dying Earth is clear, but it would be a mistake to label Wolfe
as in any way derivative.

This is probably not a work for people who only read science fiction
or fantasy.  The literary and mythological allusions are thick, though
never really annoyingly so, and the style is far from the usual
matter-of-fact description of sf, full of ambiguity and unusual
metaphor.  If the books seem to drag, you're probably not paying
enough attention -- there is more on many pages than in entire
chapters of most fantasies.

I can't see how to give a useful plot synopsis without spoiling it
for you, so I can only recommend it highly.

Tim Maroney

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From: cfv <cfv at packet.uucp>
Date: Wed, 08 Jun 1983 17:25:36 +0000

I wouldn't exactly call Wolfe a 'new' talent. I was reading him in high
school a long time ago... He has just never made (or wanted) the spotlight
before New Sun came out.

Calling his work 'SF' or 'Fantasy' is invalid. He has written a major work
of literature that happens to use some of the settings of the genres. It is
in my mind the most important piece of literature I have seen published since
Tolkien, and I think that it is better than Tolkien (heresy?)

chuck

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From: tim <tim at unc.uucp>
Date: Sat, 11 Jun 1983 19:12:31 +0000

When I said that Wolfe was a new talent, I was not considering the
novella "The Fifth Head of Cerberus" or any of his fine earlier
work, but the new stuff really makes the old look sick.  Like you,
I read "Cerberus" in high school.

Wolfe seems far better than Tolkien to me.  I think Tolkien is
vastly overrated.

Tim Maroney