The Sword of the Lictor

The Book of the New Sun, Book 3

By: Gene Wolfe

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

The Sword of the Lictor is the third volume in Wolfe's remarkable epic, chronicling the odyssey of the wandering pilgrim called Severian, driven by a powerful and unfathomable destiny, as he carries out a dark mission far from his home.

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

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

The boy can't help himself and so on the run again

Gene Wolfe's The Sword and the Lictor is the third installment in the Book of the New Sun. Severian has finally made it to Thrax and settles in only to encounter another woman that he takes pity upon and shirks his duty. This action forces him on the run where he encounters several interesting characters including Agia who keeps turning up like the bad penny she is. He also transiently adopts a young boy and reminisces about his youth. He meets a strange two headed individual and experiences a bit of the alien technology that Earth has lost. Finally, he reconnects with with Dr Talos and meets some aliens just as other events seem to be overtaking him.

Wolfe provides a few more clues about the alien relationship with a suggestion that Earth leadership is strictly under control. Severian remains an aimless wanderer without any clear direction or purpose as he interacts with a wide variety of people that reflect a disjointed human population that is largely uncontrolled where quite a bit have gone feral. Technology is firmly in the realm of magic with the aliens without clear objectives or purpose.

Davis continues his easy going rendition with excellent character distinction.

Amazing!

Not a book that is easy to get a grip on. It is instead a book that will grip you in its immense layers and depths.

Love the Performance.

After having failed to continue reading this series many times but still having the curiosity, I decided to try the audiobook version.

What a great choice that was. Thanks for the great narrator with his pleasant voice and performance, I listened to the end of the series and now finished the third book for the second time.

I usually cannot stand excessive voice acting - you know, like when the narrator makes hideous voice for villains, monsters, mean elderly people, obnoxious little children, hysteric housewives, pompous gentlemen and such. Some male narrators who try to do female voices for female characters make me dearly wish that they rather had not tried that, vice versa for female narrators with male characters.

But with Jonathan Davis, everything is near perfect. He does the voices but never make it weird or cranky. He never overdoes it to make the listeners cringe. Even for the female characters!

In the chapter 33, six characters have conversations. I was taken aback only afterwards, how smooth and natural the scene sounds, with the narrator giving each character distinctive voices that really fit for each of them.

In short, Jonathan Davis rocks!
I thank for his performance. He made the series far richer.

One of the best Series of Books

Severian’s dark journey is endlessly fascinating and profound… and disturbing. Johnathan Davis is the perfect voice for Severian. He sounds exactly like what you’d imagine the voice in Severian’s head, recounting all he remembers, sounds like.

thick and powerful

Would you consider the audio edition of The Sword of the Lictor to be better than the print version?

absolutely better than print...gene wolffe is a master of imagery and depth...listening ensure nothing is missed and everything makes sense.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Sword of the Lictor?

the sheer convoluted poetry and descriptive abundance

What about Jonathan Davis’s performance did you like?

a beautiful and long range voice

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

if only i had the time

Any additional comments?

get it now

Continuing the tale of the New Sun

Where does The Sword of the Lictor rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This book maintains the pace and feeling of awe established in the first two of the series

Have you listened to any of Jonathan Davis’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

As with the other New Sun books, Davis continues his superb performance bringing personality to all of the characters and highlighting the subtle nuances that Wolfe weaves into his story

well read performance and dream like narrative.

details just enough for one to fall into the fantastical dreamlike world allowing the listener (or reader) to vividly create the creatures, places and people behind the eyes or ears in the back of your brain scape.

This has the best section of all literature

You are on part three here of the book of the new sun if you are here. So you know whether this is for you or not. But I venture to say chapters 14 through 17 are among the best literature you will find; period. This stands above the greatest works.

Absolutely insane ride!

This book is much better than the previous two. So many amazing revelations, world building, and terrifying encounters. The characters are all super interesting as well.

Great creepy sci fantasy book

Fills in all the hole's from the first 2 in the series . starts out slow but ends up great.