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)

Good

Just never got interested in the characters. Very well written and very well narrated finished

Wow

Fantastic story well told. This is the tale that cause me to see out Gene Wolfe’s work. Highly recommend.

It's time to read it this epic!

The Shadow of the Torturer introduces Severian, an orphan who grew up in the torturer's guild. Severian is now sitting on a throne, but in this first installment of The Book of the New Sun, he tells us of key events in his boyhood and young adulthood. The knowledge that Severian will not only survive, but will become a ruler, doesn't at all detract from the suspense; it makes us even more curious about how he will get there and what he experiences on the way.

What makes Gene Wolfe's epic different from everything else on the SFF shelf is his unique, evocative storytelling style. The reader isn't given all of the history and religion lessons (etc.) that are often dumped on us at the beginning of a fantasy epic. Rather, Severian's story is episodic and seems like it's meandering lazily, taking regular scenic detours, as if there's nowhere to go and plenty of time to get there. Because the story isn't a straight narrative, we don't understand the purpose or meaning of everything Severian relates ??? we have to patch it together as we go. By the end of the book, we're still clueless about most of it and we're starting to realize that Severian is kind of clueless, too. Much of the power of this novel comes from the sense that there is world-building and symbolism on a massive scale here, but that explanations and revelations for the reader would just cheapen it and remove the pleasure that comes from the experience of discovery.

In addition to being unique in style, The Shadow of the Torturer is a gorgeous piece of work: passionate storytelling (heart-wrenching in places), fascinating insights into nature and the human condition, beautiful prose.

The Tortuered Reader

If you look at the ratings of this book you will see that people are all over the map on this book, as they are with this writer in general. GW has won high praises for this series, along with The Fifth Head of Cereberus and Seven American Nights.

It seems either you get him or you don't. I am afraid that I fall under the crowd that does not get him. Some have said it is the torture that turns people off to the book. No, it is the pretentious use of language that is the biggest problem for me. At times it seems that there is a good story here. A world where a guild of torturers is considered necessary. A young man who does not know his parents and knows nothing, but the life of torture. What a concept! Yet when you try to read it, the language is so annoying and unusual that your mind starts to wonder and you lose track of the story.

There where parts I liked. His compassion for the lady to be tortured, the dog he rescues, the tunnel under the city. There is an interesting plot twist involving a duel, only it is a duel with plants.

There are certain things that turn me off to a book, such as dream sequences like the one this book starts out with and the use of strange languages or made up language or sticking too many high fluent words together in one space, so that your mind gets lost. Some love this or pretend to love, so they don't seem stupid to others. I can admit I am stupid and say I don't enjoy such literature.

The narrator is rather slow and methodical and I found it helped to put the playback on fast.

Haunting

Years ago, I was initially put off by the theme of torture as the calling of the protagonist. Luckily, I gave it a second try, and found the subject given a philosophically deep and fascinating treatment that earns respect. This first book sets the story in a surprising and inspired world where the sun is fading and dim, but about to go nova. The details of the aged Urth are amazingly resonant in the imagination, and I have read the entire series many, many times. I have hoped for years that it would someday be available on Audible.

Breaks the Heart and Lifts it High

I've been a fan of The Book of the New Sun for 30 years, and was delighted that Audible took a chance and recorded it. Though its large and unfamiliar vocabulary may daunt listeners who have never read the text, those who persevere will know a world and a man unlike any other, and find them worth the knowing.

This was the first work of fantasy I read where such magic as it contained was the magic of Clarke's 3rd law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." There are no dragons, sorcerers or wands, and the only sword is a blunt ended executioner's tool. The magic is in Wolfe's imagination as he builds a story set on an Earth so far in the future that the sun is dying, men mine the ruins of abandoned cities and their middens for raw materials, and so much has happened to the human race that legend and history have become interchangeable.

In this world, Wolfe sends Severian, the Torturer, on a hero's journey. As must be so on such a journey, the hero never knows himself as hero. Instead we live with his perils, his self doubt, his cowardice and courage, the terrible brutality and emotional blankness with which he practices his "art," and the discovery and growth that slowly reveal a magnificent heart. Severian is as flawed as the gem called the Claw of the Conciliator, and as real as your highest aspirations. You will not forget him, nor the many characters he meets on his journey from boyhood to a seat of power that proves to be both vast and impotent.

No plot, great sci-fi, poor fantasy

What did you like best about The Shadow of the Torturer? What did you like least?

Gene Wolfe is a very good prose author and has an interesting dystopian future he wants to talks about.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

However, like so many sci-fi novels, it focus on the science and the society. Nothing really happens in book one. The book starts with the history of the main character's childhood but it serves merely to describe the future world. Once the main character is forced to leave the city, the book covers the events of basically 2-3 days of the encounters of the main character as he travels to the edge of the city. The book is entirely setup for the remaining books in the series.

What three words best describe Jonathan Davis’s voice?

The reader spoke clearly and was understandable, however the reader doesn't use character voices. Often you have no idea which character is speaking the dialog in the book as everything is read the same. It distracts from the story as you spend your time trying to determine who just said what.

Was The Shadow of the Torturer worth the listening time?

If you are a sci-fi fan then you will enjoy the story. You might like it better in book form as the dialog is less confusing that the single voice of the reader. If you are a fantasy reader, you will find this book frustrating as nothing really happens and characters aren't developed. Again I would probably read the book as you can skip over science and won't have the dialog issues.

Any additional comments?

I remember enjoy this series more when it first came out. in 1980. I am assuming that was the contents of the later books in the series, as the first audiobook left me feeling rather flat.

One interesting note, when we meet Dr. Talos and the giant, it reminds me of the Princess Bride. I wonder if Gene Wolfe read the Princess Bride back in the 70s and wanted similar characters in his book. Probably not but its fun to compare both.

Wonderful style, short on plot.

Much more fantasy and mood than sci-fi and action. Medieval with some tantalizing hints of farther horizons.

Beautifully Written

I must begin by saying that this is one of the most beautifully worded books that I’ve experienced in a long time.
However, as the book progressed I found myself getting bored by the meandering plot.

good words; bad story

this story reads as if an AI had been trained on the words used in science fiction and then tried to produce its own result. there is lots of fantasy in world building but none of it ever seems to connect in a fantastical way.

as for the narrator, I she was good at narrating the non dialogue parts but the individuals themselves always seem so refined and feminine, regardless of whether they were male or female highborn or not.