The Shadow of the Torturer

Set in the far future of Earth (or Urth as it is known in these books), this is the tale of Severian, of the Guild of Torturers and his travels across a world changed out of all recognition from the one we know.

This is no ordinary fantasy tale. Episodic in nature, with a large cast of characters (many of whom disappear only to reappear much later on in the tale) the story unfolds at a stately pace and is told as if written by Severian himself.

Cast out from the Guild that has been his home since he was a small boy for falling in love with one of the prisoners, Severian is told to travel to the distant city of Thrax, there to take up the post of Carnifex, dispatching ‘justice' to those poor unfortunate souls who come before him and his sword, Terminus Est. But the journey is no easy one. Indeed, he has only just reached the gates of the vast city of Nessus, home of the Guild, as book one draws to a close.

Book two takes up the tale some time later and we follow Severian to the House Absolute, home of the Autarch, and beyond to the very edge of the Northern Mountains.

Wolfe's imagination is wondrous to behold and his descriptions of the city of Nessus and the House Absolute are strange and unsettling, conjuring up a world both in decay and stasis. It is known that Mankind has fallen from the peaks of the past, when he traversed the stars, and now lives beneath the baleful glare of the red sun of this dying earth.

Severian seems bound to a destiny over which he has no control. Each adventure brings him a step closer to that destiny, the outcome of which is stated quite early on, so we know the conclusion of the tale in advnace. The pleasure comes in how the story unfolds and the course of events that will bring him to that destiny.

If you prefer swashbuckling, elves and broad strokes of the pen, then maybe this isn't the book for you. If however you enjoy a tale well told of memory and truth and the nature of power, then give this a go. I'll certainly be reading the next volume.