The Shadow of the Torturer

Year: 1980

Abstract:
Severian, an apprentice to torturers, saves the life of a mysterious man. He meets a beautiful woman, who is a friend of the man he saved. However, she is to be tortured. He saves her from the horrors of torture by allowing her to kill herself. For this, he is exiled from the Torturers Guild. He meets other people, teams up with them, and gets in lots of trouble.

Advanced Mind
Exploration/Quest
Military/Fighting
Horror
Magic
Advanced Technology
Time Travel/Alternate History
Science
Aliens/Beasties
Contemporality

Other books in this series: Book of the New Sun
The Claw of the Conciliator [1981]
The Sword of the Lictor [1981]
The Citadel of the Autarch [1982]
The Urth of the New Sun [1987]

Spectre's Review
Sorry for the lame abstract. There wasn't much to the story. This one was hard to get into. I don't really find myself wanting to continue the story too much, but I probably will. Wolfe's vocabulary is very expansive, and even I had to look up a couple of terms here and there. You won't find them in a dictionary, you have to go to an unabridged resource. I like the character of Severian, and some of the lesser characters as well. There is no discernable message as of yet, it really does seem to be just a recounting of events. I have no idea what, if any, plot exists. Does life have a plot? Hmm. Something to think about.

Spectre's Rating
It's an introduction to a longer series.

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