Man I am SO excited to dive into this! Book of the New Sun is going to be my first foray back into fantasy after the hiatus I take when I finish Malazan!
I've read the series four times now, made videos about it and I'm sure the next time I'll read them I'll still find a lot of new things in these books. In that way it is very much like Malazan, it very much rewards rereading as you pick up on stuff that is obvious once you know the whole story but completely overlook on a first read. Gene Wolfe was a practicing catholic and a religious reading is definitely one way of understanding Book of the New Sun. I would not worry too much about understanding everything in the world or plot, just follow the story and Severian along for the adventure and things will slowly become clearer. Unreliable first person narrators are very much Wolfe's thing, here as well as in Wizard Knight and other novels so beware of what Severian tells you!
HELL YES, OWEN. Gonna keep these comments completely spoiler free haha. You and I shared a lot of similar thoughts and feelings but some differing ones as well. It also felt very gothic to me and I think Severian is extremely interesting, but for me, the gardens were one of my favourite parts of the book precisely because it made me feel like I was fucking dissociating lmao, and no other writer has ever given me that sensation before. Wolfe's prose is immaculate, immersive, and easily the most atmospheric that I've ever read. This and Malazan, while very different from eachother, do both invoke that similar alienating feeling of "I shouldn't be peering into this world. I'm not welcome here, nor do I belong here," and I love that. It feels way more engaging and immersive to me, personally (even more so after reading the appendix of book 1). These books made me realise that prose itself is a world building tool and an extremely effective one. Through the way it's written, Wolfe gives you a _feeling_ of the world better than any other writer I've read, and that's something I find incredibly fascinating. Hell, my own writing hasn't been the same since I read it. It's why, whilst LOTR has been ceaselessly aped, nothing else really compares to it because nobody has written like Tolkien before or since. I'm glad you like the book, man. Looking forward to the rest of your thoughts on the series. P. S. I'm a certified reader now. Worship me, mortals.
Book of the New Sun has been on my radar for a while now, but I probably wont get to it before finishing my TBR. Also, just uploaded my first youtube video. Props to you for inspiring me to get over the imposter syndrome and just do it
Consider it as 1/4 of a story (Shadow of the Torturer, Claw of the Conciliator, Sword of the Lictor and Citadel of the Autarch constitute the Book of the New Sun in the same way Fellowship of the Ring, Two Towers and Return of the King constitute the Lord of the Rings).
You talked about you liking "slice of life fantasy". Any books come to mind that are a bit like that? Even if it has a bigger plot later on, I love a good slice of life story.
Robin Hobb’s books have this feel for me! Farseer in particular but Liveship Trilogy as well. She really just lets you live with the characters and puts “plot” on the back burner for most of the series.
It’s so fun seeing you reading and enjoying the book of the month picks! However, I’m now convinced you’ll hate the book I recommend and idk if I can have that on my conscience 😂
Well, if you liked Shadow of the Torturer then I have great confidence you’ll have a good time with the rest of the tetralogy. I’ll take your challenge and throw you a title. I’ll say Galveston by Sean Stewart, which is criminally unknown but exceptional. Not dense like Wolfe, but truly impressive, with a remarkably precise and balanced writing style that’s elegant but reads lucidly. However, it’s out of print, so as a backup I’ll say Declare by Tim Powers. Both novels tied for the 2001 World Fantasy Award (Shadow of the Torturer won the same award in 1981). I just finished Declare and it shocked me with its intricacies and depth. If these elude you, then try Little, Big by John Crowley, the single most gorgeously written novel I’ve ever read.
Well Owen! I'll be honest, I've been very on the fence with BotNS, and leaning towards the "nope don't wanna read that" side of the fence. Don't remember all the details now, but I've heard plenty of people whose taste I respect (or aligns with mine well, whatever) say it's great but ALSO the specific way they talk about it just turns me off somehow. Like they think the confusion is a feature not a bug but in a worse way than Malazan (which I do love), and I guess I've felt some of that "if you don't like this it's cause you're not smart enough to get it" type attitude and it felt condescending and turned me off. Which is ironic because some Malazan haters accuse Malazan fans of having that attitude and I've honestly never seen it. So who freaking knows 😂 Say all that to say, your description has me more intrigued by most, and while I'm still on the fence, I think I'm shifting the other way. Will keep considering 😀 for now I'm neck deep in RoTE finally -- read Farseer and LOVED it. Just started Ship of Magic. Planning on running through the whole series, gimme a couple months!!
As a Malazan and BotNS fan I have definitely encountered this condescension in parts of the fandom for both series and it annoys me. As for BotNS, it is very different from Malazan in just about every way beyond not giving you a long introduction into the world and Steven Erikson and Gene Wolfe apparently got into a big fight at a convention panel in the early 2000s about some core thoughts on how to write fantasy. I think the best way to read BotNS is just to dive in, enjoy the trippy setting bits and cool adventure story that is Severian's journey and not worry too much about "understanding everything". Like Malazan it has some awesome things that are wildly different from standard fantasy and it's a lot of fun to just experience them and draw your own conclusions. There is no right way of reading this, much less a correct answer to the questions the book asks and leaves open so beware of anyone claiming they have "understood" Book of the New Sun.
Man I am SO excited to dive into this! Book of the New Sun is going to be my first foray back into fantasy after the hiatus I take when I finish Malazan!
I've read the series four times now, made videos about it and I'm sure the next time I'll read them I'll still find a lot of new things in these books. In that way it is very much like Malazan, it very much rewards rereading as you pick up on stuff that is obvious once you know the whole story but completely overlook on a first read. Gene Wolfe was a practicing catholic and a religious reading is definitely one way of understanding Book of the New Sun. I would not worry too much about understanding everything in the world or plot, just follow the story and Severian along for the adventure and things will slowly become clearer. Unreliable first person narrators are very much Wolfe's thing, here as well as in Wizard Knight and other novels so beware of what Severian tells you!
Glad you read this!! The next few books are WILD! My personal favorite is Sword of the Lictor. Hope you continue on the journey!
HELL YES, OWEN. Gonna keep these comments completely spoiler free haha.
You and I shared a lot of similar thoughts and feelings but some differing ones as well. It also felt very gothic to me and I think Severian is extremely interesting, but for me, the gardens were one of my favourite parts of the book precisely because it made me feel like I was fucking dissociating lmao, and no other writer has ever given me that sensation before. Wolfe's prose is immaculate, immersive, and easily the most atmospheric that I've ever read. This and Malazan, while very different from eachother, do both invoke that similar alienating feeling of "I shouldn't be peering into this world. I'm not welcome here, nor do I belong here," and I love that. It feels way more engaging and immersive to me, personally (even more so after reading the appendix of book 1). These books made me realise that prose itself is a world building tool and an extremely effective one. Through the way it's written, Wolfe gives you a _feeling_ of the world better than any other writer I've read, and that's something I find incredibly fascinating. Hell, my own writing hasn't been the same since I read it. It's why, whilst LOTR has been ceaselessly aped, nothing else really compares to it because nobody has written like Tolkien before or since. I'm glad you like the book, man. Looking forward to the rest of your thoughts on the series.
P. S. I'm a certified reader now. Worship me, mortals.
Book of the New Sun has been on my radar for a while now, but I probably wont get to it before finishing my TBR. Also, just uploaded my first youtube video. Props to you for inspiring me to get over the imposter syndrome and just do it
Did you know Wolfe corresponded with JRR Tolkien! Oh man I love trivia!
Consider it as 1/4 of a story (Shadow of the Torturer, Claw of the Conciliator, Sword of the Lictor and Citadel of the Autarch constitute the Book of the New Sun in the same way Fellowship of the Ring, Two Towers and Return of the King constitute the Lord of the Rings).
You talked about you liking "slice of life fantasy". Any books come to mind that are a bit like that? Even if it has a bigger plot later on, I love a good slice of life story.
Robin Hobb’s books have this feel for me! Farseer in particular but Liveship Trilogy as well. She really just lets you live with the characters and puts “plot” on the back burner for most of the series.
It’s so fun seeing you reading and enjoying the book of the month picks! However, I’m now convinced you’ll hate the book I recommend and idk if I can have that on my conscience 😂
You’ll be fine!!
Well, if you liked Shadow of the Torturer then I have great confidence you’ll have a good time with the rest of the tetralogy.
I’ll take your challenge and throw you a title. I’ll say Galveston by Sean Stewart, which is criminally unknown but exceptional. Not dense like Wolfe, but truly impressive, with a remarkably precise and balanced writing style that’s elegant but reads lucidly.
However, it’s out of print, so as a backup I’ll say Declare by Tim Powers. Both novels tied for the 2001 World Fantasy Award (Shadow of the Torturer won the same award in 1981). I just finished Declare and it shocked me with its intricacies and depth.
If these elude you, then try Little, Big by John Crowley, the single most gorgeously written novel I’ve ever read.
Well Owen! I'll be honest, I've been very on the fence with BotNS, and leaning towards the "nope don't wanna read that" side of the fence. Don't remember all the details now, but I've heard plenty of people whose taste I respect (or aligns with mine well, whatever) say it's great but ALSO the specific way they talk about it just turns me off somehow. Like they think the confusion is a feature not a bug but in a worse way than Malazan (which I do love), and I guess I've felt some of that "if you don't like this it's cause you're not smart enough to get it" type attitude and it felt condescending and turned me off. Which is ironic because some Malazan haters accuse Malazan fans of having that attitude and I've honestly never seen it. So who freaking knows 😂
Say all that to say, your description has me more intrigued by most, and while I'm still on the fence, I think I'm shifting the other way. Will keep considering 😀 for now I'm neck deep in RoTE finally -- read Farseer and LOVED it. Just started Ship of Magic. Planning on running through the whole series, gimme a couple months!!
As a Malazan and BotNS fan I have definitely encountered this condescension in parts of the fandom for both series and it annoys me. As for BotNS, it is very different from Malazan in just about every way beyond not giving you a long introduction into the world and Steven Erikson and Gene Wolfe apparently got into a big fight at a convention panel in the early 2000s about some core thoughts on how to write fantasy. I think the best way to read BotNS is just to dive in, enjoy the trippy setting bits and cool adventure story that is Severian's journey and not worry too much about "understanding everything". Like Malazan it has some awesome things that are wildly different from standard fantasy and it's a lot of fun to just experience them and draw your own conclusions. There is no right way of reading this, much less a correct answer to the questions the book asks and leaves open so beware of anyone claiming they have "understood" Book of the New Sun.
@@RafBlutaxt ha thanks for the input!! Very much appreciated 💗
In that way I feel lucky I knew nothing about this series going into it, because I have no idea what this fanbase is like haha
You are correct that this is myth making.