The Claw of the Conciliator

The Book of the New Sun, Book 2

By: Gene Wolfe

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

The Claw of the Conciliator continues the saga of Severian, banished from his home, as he undertakes a mythic quest to discover the awesome power of an ancient relic, and learn the truth about his hidden destiny.

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

©1982 Gene Wolfe (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Nebula Award, Best Novel, 1982

confusion is your friend

This is what would happen if David Lynch wrote warhammer 40k fanfiction with a thesaurus.

Prepare to be immersed

So much depth and detail. I couldn't help but feel at times that I was actually in this strange far off yet familiar world as described by the narrator. Gene Wolfe has written a masterpiece

"Where we are is Hell" and "There is only love"

If Gene Wolfe's The Shadow of the Torturer (1980) is Severian's bildingsroman, depicting his growth from a boy apprentice to a young journeyman of the guild of torturers and his exile into the world outside it, The Claw of the Conciliator (1981), the second novel in Wolfe's four-book science fiction classic The Urth of the New Sun, is his romance, relating his experiences--many involving women he loves--outside Nessus, the City Imperishable, as he attempts to travel north to become the lictor of Thrax. The novel also traces his growing awareness of the powers of the awesome jewel hidden in his sabertache, the Claw of the Conciliator.

The second novel is more difficult than the first, having less humor and more disturbing things, including a woman's graphic execution, excessive "cooing," narcotic cannibalism, algophiliac sex, an awful fate for an artificially beautiful woman, and a confusing climax (that isn't explained till the third book). The darker mood of the novel is reflected by a line Severian sees in the Book of Wonders of Urth and Sky: "Hell has no limits, nor is circumscribed, for where we are is Hell, and where Hell is, there we must be."

Moreover, the two longest chapters of the novel consist of a story that Severian reads aloud and of a transcription of play that Dr. Talos' company performs, and although the story and especially the play (a series of funny lines and outrageous scenes satirizing religion, politics, and humanity and reflecting a culture longing for a new sun) are interesting, they both seem to last too long. And despite Jonathan Davis' best efforts (marvelously reading the novel as a whole) it's often impossible to tell which character is speaking which lines in the play without referring to the text of the book.

All that said, there are many poignant and sublime points in the novel, which thrums with Wolfe's perfect prose, exotic vocabulary, philosophical asides, and vivid, dream-like descriptions. And there are many powerful moments, as when Severian hears an apocalyptic step in a deep mine, raises his "iron phallus" over Agia, enters Vodalus' forest headquarters atop an elephantine baluchither, looks in a man-sized mirror-paged book in the House Absolute, tosses a coin into the Vatic Fountain there, talks with Dorcas about the Conciliator, and sees and is seen by the mythic Apu-Punchau.

And another line in the novel beatifies the Hell vision: "In the final reckoning there is only love, only that divinity." Indeed, this novel is largely about love in many of its forms, among them Severian's sad and abiding first love for Thecla, his protective and companionable love for Dorcas, his self-destructive love for Agia, his resentful lust for Jolenta, his awed attraction for a gargantuan undine, his lost love for his mother, his warm friendship for Jonas, and his fly-captured-in-amber admiration for Vodalus. At one point Severian senses Thecla's mind inside his: "We were one, naked and happy and clean, and we knew that she was no more and that I still lived, and we struggled against neither of those things, but with woven hair read from a single book and talked and sang of other matters."

What is the Claw?

Would you consider the audio edition of The Claw of the Conciliator to be better than the print version?

I enjoyed the audio version more than the printed text because Davis so carefully brings out the subtle, deliberate, inconsistencies in the main character's first person recitation of events. He has a melodious voice which is easy to listen to for hours on end.

Confusing and too metaphorical

Would you try another book from Gene Wolfe and/or Jonathan Davis?

No not from this author, but I enjoyed the narrator.

Has The Claw of the Conciliator turned you off from other books in this genre?

No I still love sci-fi, but this was not a story that was easy to follow, nor one that rewarded the reader for doing so.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

This could never be made into a movie.

Any additional comments?

I know that people are saying things like the prose makes it worth while, but I beg to differ. What makes a story good is just that, the story. In this case the story really doesn't give the listener anything solid to go on. It's incredibly confusing and disconnected and there really isn't a point to the tale.

to go forward

though you may see through the mists of time and travel through gates to other worlds. be aware nothing is as it is, but the walls will declare your steps. the eyes of another will urge your passage and the touch of the wind will hold your breath. if all is to go as you will it then then there should be no other path. the new sun rises though it has been there always.

beautiful

the prose here is some of the best I've ever seen. yhis comes with the tradeoff that the flowery wording and, at times, baffling narrative structure can be hard to follow. there were times I would miss a sentence and all of the sudden we were in the middle of another framestory.

Best Dark Fantasy Read Series. Truely a Classic..

I truely envy those wh have not yet read thid rrvolutionary and engtodsing saga, so adroitly woven with thr language and delight of lucid dreaming...Enjoy!

Randomness

I love mythology. I love adventure. I love fantasy and Sci-fi. BUT I also love good storytelling, and this book doesn’t have it. The content is intriguing and deep on multiple levels, but its presentation is disjointed and intentionally, frustratingly enigmatic.

“You have to read it multiple times to get all the…”

I barely like it enough to read the first two books. Why would I read them multiple times if they’re not enjoyable?

Become a Seeker for Truth and Penitence

This is a review of the four volume THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN (TBNS) by Gene Wolfe; which traces the coming of age of Severian, once a member of The Order of the Seekers for Truth and Penitence.

In printed form the earlier works of Gene Wolfe can be quite challenging and this is the quintessential Wolfe novel. The esoteric language employed forces your eyes to slow down and read with great care. So many of the words, while supposedly all authentic English words, are unfamiliar that looking up at least a handful of them is necessary to understand the text. As a result, the reader’s mind has time to explore Severian’s world as the protagonist himself is doing. The printed books are heavy in the hand and the weight of the pages fore and aft serve as constant reminders of what has come before, and what is yet to be.

The most telling observation I can give about the audio book is that it transforms a massive tome into a much more personal narrative. As an audio book TBNS takes on a less intimidating, much more intimate and even more friendly character. The inexorable pacing of the narrator, Jonathan Davis, does not permit pauses for reflection, or speculation, the story plows on, without pausing to try to pronounce a word, without going back to regain the flow of the plot after a difficult flashback. And it is just fine.

Jonathan Davis is a most excellent narrator for TBNS. His voice has a deep calming quality that is well suited to recounting Severian’s story. He gives each character their own individual voice. He gives a fine performance ranking this among my favorite audio books. I can recommend all four of the volumes of TBNS here on Audible without reservation.

Note: The short afterwards that are part of each of the four volumes are not included in the audio versions. They should be read to get the full effect intended by the author Gene Wolfe.