Beginning The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe - The Shadow of the Torturer No Spoiler Book Review 

This video increased my credit score by 10 points and reunited me with a long lost relative 🙏

Great Review! I wish some of these modern fantasy authors would study writers like Gene Wolfe, Ursula Le Guin, Jack Vance, and Michael Moorcock so that they can learn how to write more impactful novels at a fraction of the page count.

After finishing The Second Apocalypse series this was the only thing that managed to scratch that "itch" Completely different setting and story, but the way this series deals with perception, subjetive/objective reality, interesting blend of ScienceFantasy and the constant recontextualizations of previous info that keeps you constantly guessing what is happening, or if anything happened at all. Severian is a great character, and you never really know what he is thinking about or what he is capable of doing, and there are a lot of other great and tragic secondary characters. This series is made to be eternally re-read since you will find and focus on new and different things depending on how much info about the story you have, an amazing onion with tons and tons of layers.

The comparison between Gene Wolfe and Drake was absolutely amazing 😄

I just finished the sequel Urth Of the New Sun a few weeks ago. Loved the whole series. Spent lots of time confused but it was time well spent. Incredible imagery through out all the books.

What a fascinating review! You're the first reviewer I watch that gives us so much details about Wolfe's world-building and characterization, which I'm very grateful for. I'll make sure to add it to my list and get to it when I'm in the mood for something more complex and philosophical. ☺️👏

I loved this series including the stuff I was too dumb to get. Moid's videos with the Alzabo guys are pretty good after each book as well

Fantastic review, Jimmy. You did the book justice. I've never had a reading experience like BotNS, not even Malazan or 2nd Apocalypse could prepare me (i mention these because I often see Malazan and BotNS mentioned together; i honestly don't think they're that comparable tbh). The literary equivalent of an acid trip while navigating a maze and you can hear some of your friends scattered here and there calling to you. I had to read Shadow twice before I was confident enough to continue and I'm glad I did. Not my favourite Sci-Fi I've ever read, but its the best Sci-Fi I've ever read. Imo at least. From my experience, the more i read the less Fantasy it became (without losing a fantastical quality, if that any makes sense) and more and more Sci-Fi. Then again, this is coming from a man that doesn't see why Red Rising or Sun Eater is called Sci-Fantasy. So I'm clearly not a reliable person to ask that question .

It’s my absolute favorite series of all time. Glad to see you enjoyed!

Another one for the TBR. 🥳 Great review!!!

The Wolfe/Drake comparison was absolutely amazing Jimmy. I can't wait to get to this series but I'm knee deep in Mieville at the moment. Hope you had an amazing summer my man.

Just watched your video with dr Sadler and I remember you saying how tough it is to get good at doing spoiler free reviews, I think you’ve gotten so good at them this one was great I’m so pumped to read this series second apocalypse, and malazan r my favs right now I’m working through Hobbs realm of the elderlings I think I’ll read this after :)

The level of complexity this book brings to bear and how efficient it is always amazes me and I'm glad you talk about it. Could have been a seven book series with how much Wolfe packs into it. There's so much going on beneath the surface and I've read it multiple times with increasing pleasure. Its self-references feel as dense as a black hole sometimes. Wolfe takes the unreliability to the next level (the descriptions even take in Severian's emotional state to determine what details to include and what to exclude. Keep an eye out on Saltus' surroundings) and it gets even weirder but the funny thing is the endgame of the book is given to us much earlier in the book. I can say this confidently knowing that I haven't spoiled anything. It's that tricky. I hope to see what you think about Claw and the subsequent books. And it seems Wolfe is getting a little renaissance which brings me joy. Won all the awards and still not as popular as he deserves. Terra Ignota(Too Like the Lightning) is incredible and Ada acknowledges Wolfe as an influence and it shows. These two series ruined first person narratives for me because they make me intensely aware of character beyond the details on the page, always considering their motives behind any piece of narration. The feeling of grappling with these narrators will stay with me until I die.

I’ve also started to read BOTNS this year. Just finished Claw of the Conciliator and can’t stop. Hopefully I’ll finish everything in the next weeks.

I've officially added this series of novels to my 2024 TBR. Thanks Jimmy.

Great review, Jimmy. I reckon you'd love M John Harrison's Viriconium series, another Dying Earth sci-fantasy series that completely subverts the genre. Over the course of Viriconium, Harrison completely interrogates the entire concept of "worldbuilding" in a way nobody else has done since.

LETS GOOOOO !!🔥 can't wait to get to this book hopefully at some point this year or early next year

Enjoyed the review - I finished Shadow of the Torturer a while back and liked it a lot, even if I really didnt understand what was happening especially towards the end. Your review is motivating me to reread it again soon and push on to claw of the conciliator.

This sounds fascinating. Loved the Drake reference! 😄

Excellent super stoked that you are reading this !!!!

I picked up Shadow of the Torturer last month after finishing Ada Palmer's Terra Ignota series last year and hearing she was inspired by Gene Wolfe and I've been pleasantly surprised to see a bunch of booktubers I follow have been posting book of the new sun content. This definitely seems like a book worthy of discussion so I'm looking forward to any content you make about it! There are a lot of things I haven't made up my mind about in shadow of the torturer so far, but like you I'm really enjoying the worldbuilding and prose and am just intrigued by the overall project so far. I was also skeptical of Terra Ignota at first but ended up loving it so I'm excited to see if I feel the same way about book of the new sun.

I am fairly certain that this is not going to be a series for me, at least not where I am currently at in my reading journey, but I loved hearing your thoughts and I am so happy to hear that it was such a hit for you! Great discussion on unreliable narrators as well, I have never thought of that trope as lazy, I actually love the ambiguity and intrigue it brings!

Fantastic review my man. Jimmy Nutts successfully adding highly anticipated books to my TBR for going on 3 years now 😂

I remember being interested in reading Book of the New Sun a few years back, as epic fantasy/science fiction greatly appeals to me. I held off doing so though as I was looking at reviews on sites like Amazon and Goodreads where some were very favourable, others not so much. After watching your review, I’m definitely going to give these books a shot once I’ve finished with Michael Moorcock’s works. I know I shouldn’t let negative reviews of well received books that I’m interested in sway my decision in buying them as not every book will appeal to everyone and that’s ok!

I've missed your videos Jimmy, glad to see you back in action. I read one of Wolfe's novels The Land Across a few years ago, and I didn't really like it much. Perhaps I may try this at some point since you're so enthusiastic about it.

The Drake comparison made me lol (but also it’s totally apt). I’m on book 3 right now. Def sci-fantasy. Gripping, messy, complex stuff. A bit emotionally sterile at times, but Severian is SO interesting and the mysteries pull you all the deeper into the story.

I was unsure, but the second you said This inspired Christopher Rauchio, I was in. Another book on my never ending TBR lol😭

I just bought this at B&N and it was in the fantasy section. I hope I'm able to catch up with you sometime. Great review!

At last, your single book review is back! This book reminds me of the movie Inception when you mention it's a story within a story.

Great review! Love the points about unreliable narrators and about how shorter != smaller

An excellent review, Jimmy. One of my favourite series ever. The rest of the Book of the New Sun is just as great and Urth of the New Sun should really be read too as a fifth part of the series. Jack Vance's Dying Earth, I hope you return to it to read The Eyes of the Overworld and Cugel's Saga, which are two of the funniest fantasy novels I have ever read. Ada Palmer's Terra Ignota series, starting with Too Like the Lightning, is clearly inspired by Wolfe but tonally different, just like Wolfe is tonally different from Vance. But Palmer's series is perhaps the best SF series of the century so far truly different and groundbreaking from everything else written today.

Yes, please cover Terra Ignota. It's one of the most underappreciated books of this millennium IMO. It wears the Wolfe influences on it's sleeve and it's beautiful and intelligent.

Great timing, I'm finishing up The Dark Tower and reading some horror through October, but Book of the New Sun is what I'm reading in November! It'll be cool to see your thoughts on the series going into it!

Wild timing, just finished this book yesterday. It didn't resonate with me so I didn't love it but I have a lot of respect for Gene Wolfe's ability to craft such an interesting world in a unique format.

Picked this up a while back and DNF'd it, but this vid motivated me to give it another shot

When reading I found myself switching between following the story and analyzing the writing but it didnt pull me out of the story. The prose itself almost becomes another character. But definitely on a reread list since all four are about the same length as a modern novel. I would also bet Mark Lawrence is a big fan of Wolfe.

In a letter Wolfe wrote to his editor, he’d sold the story as a trilogy, but he’d just finished the story and the third book was the same length as the first two combined and so he pitched the idea of splitting the third in two so they’d have four volumes of fairly equal length. I agree about the sophistication of Severian as an unreliable narrator - right up there with the genius work Faulkner managed in As I Lay Dying. If you haven’t previously read the short stories of Jorge Luis Borges, I think you’d like his work and several of his stories greatly influenced Wolfe (mainly “Library of Babel,” “Garden of Forking Paths,” and “Funes, His Memory”, though others are relevant). I adore what I’ve read by Wolfe and I’m super excited to see other people reading Book of the New Sun!

I'm a short way into Claw as well. Gene Wolfe is definitely a slow read! I've been debating changing from e-book to physical. Seems more appropriate.

I like your use of the word “slippery” to describe the writing. Hang on! It only gets moreso as you read further.

For sure "sci-fantasy" :). I love your word choice when describing some of the writing style.. "slippery." It's an excellent way to describe it. I see this upload is from 3 months ago, so unsure if you've read it all yet, but it sounds like you'd been given some info about the series that you wouldn't know just having read this one book. I'll check your uploads for any other content on it!

I’ve been eyeing this series for a long time-I’m going to get to it some time after reading The Dying Earth by Jack Vance.

This book is so sick. I'm on Claw as well and it seems like a story that has no weaknesses. The prose is more beautiful than challenging, though it is that. It could live off its world building. Green moon? Red sun? ❤

"I don't know if I've ever told you this, but I'm blessed with a perfect memory" - Severian My favorite quote.

No rush, cause Wolfe is best consumed slowly but any eta on when a claw video is coming out

Todd here. I've seen this series for sale at my local bookstore, and I've heard a lot about it recently. It's supposed to be classic fantasy I might pick it up one day.

This pleases me.

Amazing books!!! I've reviewed them all

When I bought this book I didn’t know what I was getting into. The unreliable narrator thing, the style, structure, etc. I was used to stuff like Asoiaf and Lotr so it took me for a loop. My memory of this book is vague, and it’s the only book in the series(?) I read. However, I can say that the beginning has stuck with me. Severian in his schoolhouse or whatever. There was one chapter where he thinks he sees an old master or something… don’t know why but that scene just stuck with me. I may return to it at some point now that I’m older and more well read. We’ll see. I read the three body trilogy in a week, and while I think that’s my favorite scifi series of all time, I’d say that it felt more predictive than fictional (which scares me). This book is def more sci-fantasy (in my opinion).

YOOO LETS GOOOOOOO

Your first time reading Book of the New Sun! Oh my, how I envy you! Fingers crossed you love it -

Have you caught the Moon Landing photo in the library? When I first time heard about it being there I laughed out loud. 😀 I'm now slowly getting through Alzebo Soup podcast instead of a re-read.

Currently mid-way through Malazan. I keep debating on whether to read Bakker or Wolfe after. Any recommendation?

Probably the best book I read this year, and I plan on revisiting it soon. Structurally, it’s almost purely epic fantasy. But the world is solidly sci-fi, always keeping in mind the old saw that any sufficiently advanced technology will always seem like magic to more primitive people (like us).

It's science fantasy like Lord of Light

What was the book to read mentioned around 15.25? Nifthalene? I can't find the book when googling it

Morning shite hasnt been this good in a minute

So I haven't been reading. Just working and gaming. Then on twitter someone said elden ring reminded them of this book. So I'm in.

It's a quadrilogy. But there are five books. Except there are twelve, actually.

In case you are unware, Gene Wolfe was mentor to GRRM and GRRM has on numerous occasions praised Gene Wolfe.

Was there anything at all about The Shadow of the Torturer that made you feel it was dated? (Not saying it should have, I haven't read it, just listening to your review makes me feel like it has stood the test of time particularly well?)

Gene Woof!!!

Considering trying this Gene Woof 🐶

This series is a loooot. There's basically no canon to it, as every scene can be interpreted in many ways, but that's a lot of the fun of the series. Enjoy the ride!

I was cooking breakfast and I heard “Lil Yachty” and I swear I thought a new video was playing 😂😂

So how do I read the series?😅

It seems Booktube is on this one

man never made it out of Nessus lol

Drake just ripped off Miles Davis then 🤣

Wolfe, Melville, Shakespeare, all men of the same mind. Layered stories, allusions, Christian perception of reality. Short Sun is Gene at his best FYI, but you have to read New Sun and Long Sun first

I tried but after seeing this, that was enough for me. Sick. "When I had time, I visited the Bear Tower and struck up such friendships as I could with the beast handlers there. They have their own guild, and though it is a lesser guild than ours, it has much strange lore. To a degree that astonished me, I found it to be the same lore, though I did not, of course, penetrate to their arcanum. In the elevation of their masters, the candidate stands under a metal grate trod by a bleeding bull; at some point in life each brother takes a lioness or bear-sow in marriage, after which he shuns human women."

ahhh you read Shadow! so glad you enjoyed it, it's definitely a book that has so much to unpack that twenty rereads would still have you noticing new things

the two female characters being constantly inexplicably naked is my only problem really

I loved this series including the stuff I was too dumb to get. Moid's videos with the Alzabo guys are pretty good after each book as well