The Shadow of the Torturer

The first and most important thing I have to say about this book: this is not a full book. Reading it is like reading chapters 1-5 of a 20 chapters novel. It is part one of four. However, if I were to consider this a tetralogy, as people say it is, I would give this a one star and call it horrible. A regular book has a beginning, middle and ending. This book is just the beginning, it does NOT end with a cliff hanger or in the middle of a mystery, in a classic “to be continued” fashion. No, it is just a regular story divided in four books. I don't consider it to be self-sufficient, so I'll give the author the benefit of the doubt and continue to read the next one at least.

I say this because the story is not interesting by itself, but the book as a whole does have some positive features. Most notedly the prose, that although at times it's too allusive (i.e., meaningless), it's often quite beautiful as well. The author does go overboard with his scene and character descriptions, but coupled with Jonathan Davis pleasant reading I found it bearable. Also, it is a very short book.

Besides the prose, I liked the main character's unique background: he is a torturer. Not only someone who has chosen to be a torturer in a world that needs that kind of service, but one who was born into it, raised from birth into the profession. The fictional world has many guilds, each representing a distinct craft. Their members are selected from a very early age according to some criteria, and are raised through their whole lives into the practice of their art.

The focus of the book is more on that aspect then the torture thing. How does it feel for a young man, going into the world having spent his whole life enclosed with the same people, learning basically only one thing? Knowing none other than your colleagues in trade, having never made any real friends. Obeying and respecting your masters, never knowing your parents. Listening only to their teachings, never considering other options, other career choices.

And when your whole life you only learned how to cause pain, is there room for other emotions? This premise is the one I most liked about the book, but it plays a secondary role in the convoluted story. The part about alternative realities mixing in with the world just made me shrug. I will therefore ignore that in this review as It made no sense and no difference to the plot whatsoever. I'm sure it will come into play in later books, sigh.

Anyway, the story is told in first person by the protagonist himself, young Severian, a torturer by birth. Still at a young age, he is forced to betray his guild lest he betrays himself, as he developed feelings of love for one that be should have tortured to death. He is casted away in shame, into a world that fears and hates him for the clothes he wears, the colors of his guild that reminds people that he is a bringer of pain and death.

On the way to his punishment, an assignment in a distant town to the north of the Citadel where he spent his whole life, he is challenged into a mortal duel by an unknown knight. Thinking he deserves death for being a traitor, he does not dwell much on and accepts his destiny to die by his hands at the appointed time.

The duel has some specific rules however, and young Agia volunteers herself to help him with the preparations. She is a young woman that for some reason seems to have an estrange fascination for him. During this “quest” he also meets Dorcas, a women that appears from nowhere, remembers nothing, but saves his life, and for no apparent reason, falls in love with him.

Along the way he also meets two other important characters, Dr. Talos, a somewhat con artist and street playwright/artist, an Baldanders, a huge, strong and dim-witted man that follows the doctor around. The doctor sees in Severian a possible candidate for his street plays, being him and outcast and associated with death on sight.

So, this is the whole plot of the book. There is some small hooks here and there that promises an interesting story for the next books, but they do not make this book alone worth of reading.

There is a small twist that was kind of well developed, but I hated how it was delivered. Basically:
- (Severian) Agia, that knight challenging me when I had just met you felt like a scam to me. Are you trying to trick me?- (Agia) No"A little later.- Agia, this mysterious letter I received says not trust you. Are you sure you're not deceiving me? It all felt so convenient, you deciding to help me, a stranger you just met, in the preparations for his own death.- (Agia) No, really. I'm not lying to you."And later is revealed she was indeed betraying him.

Anyway, if this was central to the story it would have pissed me off. It may have occupied a large portion of the book, but I still see it as a minor detail. This book is much more about the setting and the unique relation of the protagonist with the environment around him. The expectations and reactions he arouses in other people, and how he manages to discover himself in this world he never had a connection with.

Reading other people reviews, I found little I found relevant. Here is one thing I can agree with:

“The sense of ‘love' in The New Sun is even more unsettling. It descends on the characters suddenly and nonsensically, springing to life without build or motivation.”
J.G. Kelly

There are many critiques regarding how some of the characters are under developed. I took that to mean that they are just not as important as the protagonist, and the story could be told very well without going deeper into they're backgrouds so far.

Edit after finishing main 4 books: Oh boy... I was so wrong... I will not be changing my review nor my rating for my own posterity as I find it hilarious right now. Rating may not actually change because I really did struggle with some of the book's parts but my opinion has changed very much. There is nothing comparable to this. This series is a masterpiece but you have to think and even search the Internet for some stuff. Similar to Malazan but oh so different. Even though I rated 3 out of 4 books with four stars and only Sword with five I find this series a masterpiece of fiction when put together. There is so much hiding within in the second, third, fifth, eighth, thirteenth layer!

This book pleasantly surprised me at first, I was ready to sing praise for it. I loved the first half! And then Severian met Agia and it became a filler for the entire rest of The Shadow. Don't expect much plot, entire book is full of worldbuilding and atmosphere which isn't my issue. Agia is. And how nonsensical the entire subplot was with plotholes that I doubt will ever be explained because they're logical ones.

It's sort of a mix of Malazan and The Witcher. Which is more than great set up as far as I'm concerned. Torturer shunned by everyone traveling alone, getting mixed up with politics and other people even if he doesn't want to. And it's written like Malazan where nothing is outright explained and there are words, things, animals we don't understand because it's happening hundreds of thousands of years in the future, after “Urth” fell. I loved some of the descriptions too. Like “sun has set” is described as the “west was lifted to cover the Sun”.

I see now that this is actually one novel split into four parts and were it to be released today it would have 1000+ pages and from what I can tell most of the latter half of The Shadow would be crossed out. I guess Wolfe needed to fill up the space somehow. It picks back up after the entire Agia debacle but abruptly ends in medias res. No wonder that books are bundled into two volumes. This wouldn't fly at all today and I have no idea how it could back in the 80's either.

I was promised a lot of foreshadowing and hidden things in the book that will be revealed on re-read. But if by that people mean Agia's subplot no thank you. I'm sure there will be something about Thecla and Dorcas and Vodalus of course. Which reminds how weird Severian's thoughts about women were, how easily he fell in love on first sight. I understand he grew up in what could be considered monastery but even then. He's too easy.

Un livre difficile d'accès, qui nécessite du temps pour vraiment entrer dedans. Si les critiques n'étaient pas aussi bonnes, je n'aurais peut-être pas eu la motivation de poursuivre jusqu'au bout. La fin de ce premier tome est meilleure que le début, mais j'attends tout de même mieux des prochains volumes, au vu des critiques dithyrambiques que j'ai lues ici concernant cette saga.

I didn't realize this was NOT a stand alone, so when I was almost to the end of the book, with the story no where nearing any sort of resolution, I was pretty pissed off. Even beyond that, I was already annoyed with the ridiculous meanderings in the story, like the in depth recounting of dreams.

On the other hand, I appreciated the stupid way the boy “fell in love” with each and every female that caught his eye. It felt real to me, like the way I was stupid about “falling in love” every two minutes as a young teen. And once I realized what had happened in the water (or, at least, I -think- I know what happened), I became excited to find out where the story would end up...

Which is when I got pissed because I realized there wasn't enough book left to finish the tale. Heh.

This is runaway bonkers stuff. Set in a far distant future (millions of years) as the sun is starting its heat death process. The culture is medieval with swords, witches, guards that close the city gates at night, hand pulled wagons etc. The protagonist grows up in a strange monastic community that lives in a tower, but as the first book progresses there are hints that it's actually the remains of an ancient space ship standing on its end. Severian is being trained to be a torturer / executioner and the whole monastic thing is at odds with the hints of space ships etc.

The book is written as a memoir by the aged Severian and there are references of things to come that sometimes demand a bit of back tracking to sort out context etc.

Wolfe's terminology for weapons etc is often ancient and cryptic. You have been warned.

It's the first of four books (or five if we count the explanatory sequel) that are generally sold in pairs, Books 1 & 2, and then 3 & 4.

An excellent narrative told with some of the sharpest prose I have ever read and an impressive, total commitment to the first-person perspective which pays dividends investing the reader in solving a literary puzzle which will take the following three main books to even attempt at piecing together. Wolfe was a truly exceptional sort of wordsmith and I eagerly await my eventual second reading of this great work which will no doubt grow in my estimation over time.