Then it settled back down and was every bit the slog the first book was. At 300 pages, I fought my way through it and started the 300 page sequel, The Claw of the Conciliator (TCOTC) and was optimistic I’d enjoy it more based on the first few pages.
The Shadow of the Torturer was really boring, I hated the writing and thought every character in the book was poorly developed. In order to get the most out of the Award winner, I’ve been going back and reading the earlier books in a series before embarking on the recipient itself. As part of my ongoing goal of reading all the Hugo and Nebula Award winning novels, occasionally I come across a book that’s not the first book in a series. On the way he encounters such wonders as the apelike creatures with glowing, hairy bodies and human intelligence in their eyes, who fight Severian with an intensity and strength such that it seems they must surely slay him the bizarre cannibalistic ritual which infuses Severian with the memories and thoughts of his dead beloved Thecla the rooms of mirrorlike surfaces into which Jonas, Severian's not-quite-mortal companion, disappears and the dazzling Vatic Fountain, into which Severian tosses an offering to learn his destiny.Įvocative, profound, hypnotic, The Claw of the Conciliator is a novel of dreamlike beauties and awesome terrors, the second volume of a masterwork.Ugh, that was a struggle. Armed with his sword, Terminus Est, and the Claw, Severian continues his journey to Thrax, the city of his exile. In Volume Two, Severian is in possession of a gem considered to be "The Claw of the Conciliator," a powerful relic of the Master of Power, a legendary figure of mythic proportions. The Shadow of the Torturer introduced Severian, a torturer exiled for falling in love with one of his victims and allowing her to take her own life rather than be subjected to the highly refined methods of torture Severian has been so carefully trained in. The Book of the New Sun is set a million years in the future, on an Earth transformed in mysterious and wonderful ways, and in a time when our present culture is no longer even a memory. Le Guin called it "the first volume of a masterpiece." The Claw of the Conciliator is the second volume of this momentous work. Rarely has a science fiction/fantasy novel received the kind of critical acclaim that greeted Gene Wolfe's The Shadow of the Torturer, Volume One of The Book of the New Sun.
World Fantasy Award nominee 1982, Hugo Award Nominee 1982, Mythopoeic Fantasy Award nominee 1982. Nebula Award 1981, Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel 1982.
0 kommentar(er)
