Sword & Citadel: The Second Half of 'The Book of the New Sun' (Paperback)

by Gene Wolfe (Author) "It was in my hair, Severian," Dorcas said..." (more)
Key Phrases: hundred strides, steel coach, second suitor, House Absolute, Terminus Est, Master Palaemon (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Outstanding...A major work of twentieth-century American literature." --The New York Times Book Review

"Wonderfully vivid and inventive...the most extraordinary hero in the history of the heroic epic." --Washington Post Book World

"Brilliant...terrific...a fantasy so epic it beggars the mind. An extraordinary work of art!" --Philadelphia Inquirer
-- Review

Review

"Outstanding...A major work of twentieth-century American literature." --The New York Times Book Review

"Wonderfully vivid and inventive...the most extraordinary hero in the history of the heroic epic." --Washington Post Book World

"Brilliant...terrific...a fantasy so epic it beggars the mind. An extraordinary work of art!" --Philadelphia Inquirer

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Orb Books; 1st edition (October 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312890184
• ISBN-13: 978-0312890186
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #33,939 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 3 in The Book of the New Sun Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Novel of Its Kind Ever Written, May 18, 2000

By	Jacob G Corbin (Prairie Village, Kansas United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What Frank Herbert attempted and only partially succeeded at in the DUNE series--a tale of theosophy and apotheosis that keeps its head in the heavens and its feet down to Earth (or Urth)--Gene Wolfe does with the apparent effortlessness of a true master. I consider myself well-read in general, but THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN is easily one of the two or three most difficult texts I've ever encountered...it's the ULYSSES of science fiction.

Wolfe presents us with a cosmogony staggering in its scope and detail and challenges us, along with his narrator Severian the torturer, to puzzle out its secrets. He poses questions to us that, until we stumble across the answers, we weren't even aware were asked. The story is filled to the brim with Biblical allusions, rich metaphor, high adventure, and--at the last--revelations and insight that feel authentic rather than contrived or exaggerated. THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN makes you work for your entertainment, but what you come away with really sticks to your ribs.

Information about Mr. Wolfe is depressingly hard to come by, so I can only marvel at the kind of mind that could have produced something this compelling, truthful, and--let's not forget--entertaining.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Justifies the Existence of Science-Fiction, May 25, 2000

By	Alex D. Groce (Pasadena, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If Gene Wolfe's BOOK OF THE NEW SUN stood alone, towering over a vast field of L. Ron Hubbard "blockbusters" and the latter works of Piers Anthony, surrounded by the worst of the Star Trek and Star Wars novels, the existence of science-ficton would be justified, and its glory established forever. Wolfe's four-volume work is, of course, one novel. It is also one of the finest works of 20th century literature. As usual, Wolfe brings the powers of a Dickens, a Proust, a Kafka, (in other words, a unique genius like and yet unlike every other unique genius) to bear on his subject matter, and here the subject matter is memory, space, time, sin and redemption, God and Man. This is the Book of Gold, and its beauty and strength is great. It is worthwhile to note the high praise given to Wolfe's work even (perhaps especially?) by critics who profoundly disagree with his moral and metaphysical aims--Ian Watson, roughly, said that Wolfe has re-written the New Testament, only with better prose and a nicer sense of structure. I disagree--but imagine the kind of book that can bring forth such claims when ideological sympathy is not a contributing factor. Read Wolfe!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Science Fiction's Greatest Contribution to Literature, December 1, 1999

By	Jason Voegele (Dublin, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

If science fiction will ever gain any sort of critical respect from the literary canon, this is the type of book that would do it. Although many have compared this book to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, I think it's a poor comparison. Sure, it can be compared to Tolkien on the shallowest level, but it is much more akin to Dickens, Joyce, Proust, Chesterton, and (especially) Borges. Not that I dislike Tolkien, but he is overused as a comparison to provide any meaningful context in which to judge a book.

This book could be read for countless lifetimes without exhausting its wealth. On the surface its another stable boy becomes emporer sort of story (although a neat twist is that the "stable boy" is actually--by profession--a torturer), but wow...if any story can validate an entire genre, here it is. The imagery is also decidedly beautiful. The story is set in an unspecified, but EXTREMELY distant future...the moon has been made verdant and now shines green in the sky...the Sun is dying due to "a worm" at its center...the sands on the beach are full of colors because the sand is not really sand, but the glass and stone from our buildings of today ground into a fine powder...all the mountains have been carved to the shape of former "autarchs"...the city in which the action starts is actually a former spaceport and the towers of the city are spaceships....

I could go on and on. Most of these things are not explained directly in the book. They are hinted at and must be pieced together from the clues strewn about, and this makes the imagery that much more powerful. I cannot say enough about this book. If you aren't convinced, read what John Clute has to say about Wolfe, both in his books of essays, and in "The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction", which rightly calls Wolfe the most important writer of science fiction in the world today.