The Shadow of the Torturer

The Book of the New Sun, Book 1

By: Gene Wolfe

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

The Shadow of the Torturer is the first volume in the four-volume epic, the tale of a young Severian, an apprentice to the Guild of Torturers on the world called Urth, exiled for committing the ultimate sin of his profession - showing mercy towards his victim.

Listen to more in the Book of the New Sun series.

©1980 Gene Wolfe (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The best science fiction novel of the last century." (Neil Gaiman)

• World Fantasy Award, Best Novel, 1981

• Favorite Audiobooks of 2010 (Fantasy Literature)

Simply incredible writing

If you are used to how science-fiction and fantasy are written today, then you are definitely in for a treat. Because this book is nothing like that. I am a writer for a living, and I can tell you that Gene Wolfe is a master of his craft. DO NOT MISS.

Being poetic is not enough for a good story

prose 8/10
atmosphere/world building 9/10
characters 4/10
dialogue 7/10
plot 6/10

** adding to this. The book's perspective on women worsened the further I listened. This guy has some warped views, even for his time. Hell I just finished reading a book that was 200 years older and the author is more respectful then wolfs. Some of the passages made me feely uncomfortable and queasy. I might supplement this review later with the passage to illustrate what I mean. I guess I'm also tired of every female characters breast being described along with some more disturbing passages.


I agree with a lot of what the reviewers say. The writing is haunting and there is a certain beauty to this novel.

however I don't agree with people calling this book a masterpiece. Perhaps my expectations were too high but I felt let down a little by the hype.

There is something reminiscent of Charles Dickens in the writing but unlike Dickens the characters fall flat. Many of the characters seem two dimensional, especially the female ones. The author falls in the same trap of many sci-fi and fantasy authors where the women are more a thing to be idolized than actually seen as complex humans. i forgive the book for this though, because many books of this time were similar.

the main character is a little flat too, I understand that his detached persona is likely due to being a torturer, but it would be nice to see a more of a peak into how he came to be the way he is. It needed to be expanded on a little. the protagonist seems severely emotionally stunted and I wish that was explored more, because he is too unrelatable.

The plot is a little plodding. Nothing compels me to keep reading.

I could see someone who really loves the setting and atmosphere this book creates. I see why some people enjoy this book, but I also wonder do we have an emperor has no clothes situation? Are people just saying they like it to go with the herd?

Super surreal

I’ve reread this several times, and each time I spend more time thinking about the implications of this book that actually reading it. Also, super entertaining.

Jonathan Davis: God-tier narration

Dune heads and Kim Stanley Robinson fans get in. Thoroughly enjoyed Wolfe’s unique fantasy/sci-fi world building.

Some examples of Wolfe's style—judge for yourself

There are plenty of helpful reviews here. I wanted to give the would-be listener a couple examples of Wolfe's writing style, which I chose nearly at random. The reason to read this book is for this style, which I found to be very lyrical and sharp, and not for plot or character. I thought the narrator was well-suited to this style, because he was slow and articulate--listen to the sample to see if you agree.

"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges. When soldiers take their oath they are given a coin, an asimi stamped with the profile of the Autarch. Their acceptance of that coin is their acceptance of the special duties and burdens of military life—they are soldiers from that moment, though they may know nothing of the management of arms. I did not know that then, but it is a profound mistake to believe that we must know of such things to be influenced by them, and in face to believe so is to believe in the most debased and superstitious kind of magic. The would-be sorcerer alone has faith in the efficacy of pure knowledge; rational people know that things act of themselves or not at all."

"I saw a caique, with high, sharp prow and stern, and a bellying sail, making south with the dark current; and against my will I followed it for a time—to the delta and the swamps, and at last to the flashing sea where that great beast Abaia, carried from the farther shores of the universe in anteglacial days, wallows until the moment comes for him and his kind to devour the continents."

Requires patience and an open mind...

Perhaps my taste in science fiction is a bit puerile, but I found this book to be only somewhat enjoyable. Very often, the "author" Severian will go on extremely lengthy and esoteric digressions about Wolfe knows what. As the book progressed, I grew to expect these frustrating breaks from what tend to be interesting and (also) esoteric characters. The lore is a mystery, the world is a mystery, the characters are a mystery. Very little is fleshed out in this book, and as confused as you are when it starts, you will be doubly so by the end when even more names, religions, and legends are introduced. I continue the series as a loyal Jonathan Davis listener (Snow Crash is a masterpiece), and to see if any of my multitude of questions are answered. If you have the patience to try and absorb the wash of information (largely unexplained) that will be thrown your way, I would give this a try. If nothing else, the imagery is always vivid and intense, even if you have no idea what the deuce is going on.

Languid, lush, dark speculative fiction

This is a highly literary work of dark fantasy, or properly speaking, dark science fiction, as the world of Urth slowly unveiled to us, with its dying red sun and distant, populated stars from which have been brought back alien creatures and plants, is a possible vision of our own world in the far future.

Severian is a young apprentice in the guild of torturers. As sinister as that sounds, Severian, who has grown up with his guild, accepts it as a matter of course, thinking of his job as being no different from any other. The torturers are just working professionals going about their job of punishment and interrogation in the name of the law. This changes for Severian when he forms an attachment to a beautiful woman brought in for "indefinite detainment." It turns out that her sister is connected to a rebel named Vodalus, a rogue whom Severian had a secret encounter with earlier.

After the prisoner is subjected to a horrible, soul-destroying device, Severian gives her the means to end her own torment rather than dying slowly. This act of mercy is both unprofessional and a complete betrayal of his guild, but for political reasons, they cannot simply kill him. Thus, Severian is sent as "Carnifex," or executioner, to a distant village named Thrax.

The rest of the book is taken up by the beginning of Severian's journey to Thrax - though in fact he never actually makes it out of the vast, future-gothic city where he started. Along the way, he acquires a magic sword and a magic ring (not really "magic," but thematically, same difference), he runs into a brother-sister pair of shopkeepers, falls in love with the sister, finds a crazy girl who falls in love with him, and is challenged to a duel to the death with razor-sharp alien flowers as the weapons.

It's a slightly bizarre setting with clues as to its nature dropped abruptly in the middle of long stretches of descriptive prose. Gene Wolf's lush, languid writing is quite a nice treat compared to the turgid prose of less skilled writers in this genre trying to accomplish the same effect, but it demands patience and you have to pay attention or you'll miss something. This isn't a fast-paced book; the infrequent action scenes seem to move no more quickly than the philosophical dialog or the exposition.

It's enjoyable for those who like their sci-fi with a side of literary, but if you want answers, or resolution, you're going to have delve into the next book in the series, because this is only the start of Severian's journey to the throne (a fact he tells us nearly at the outset), and ends thus:


Here I pause, having carried you, reader, from gate to gate. From the locked and fog-shrouded gate of our necropolis to this gate, with its curling wisps of smoke. This gate, which is perhaps the largest in existence, perhaps the largest ever to exist. It was by entering that first gate that I set my feet upon the road that brought me to this second gate. And surely when I entered this second gate, I began to walk a new road. From that great gate forward, for a long time, it was to lie outside the City Imperishable, and among the forests and grasslands, mountains and jungles of the north. Here, I pause. If you wish to walk no farther with me, reader, I cannot blame you. It is no easy road.

Excellent intro

This was my introduction to Gene Wolfe and this series. The writing was fantastic and esoteric in the best way. I'm excited to keep reading and listening to this series and the performance by Jonathan Davis was engaging and understated.

A must-read series read well

Very well done. Davis's voice quality and characterization are excellent and make it easy to forgive the occasional flat line reading. Also had the ebook so I could keep it all together and enjoy the vocabulary more. I recommend this easily, especially since all four volumes cost only about ten dollars.

weird story wonderfully written

challenging to follow, but there are many sections that are astonishing to listen to.

it's hard to overstate the pure command for language displayed by the author.

however, the story seems absurd, and I'm not sure it's trying to be absurd. All of this may tie together eventually but at this point I'm not confident the story has a deliberate direction.

I'm going to give the next book a chance to see if the story develops or flounders. Retrospection may elevate this book or ... not.