I will preface this review by warning potential readers that the works of Gene Wolfe are not for the faint of heart. I compare reading Wolfe to hiking the Grand Canyon; it can be a hard endeavor, but you’ll see wonders in a way you wouldn’t find by any other path.  I feel a bit as though I am introducing J.R.R. Tolkien to a completely new audience. Like Tolkien,  works are not a usual read in either style or in content. Wolfe uses unusual and often intensely archaic language at times in New Sun, which has the delightful effect of rendering familiar concepts and even items strange and new. Much like the mind-bending plots of Christopher Nolen, Gene Wolfe is also really fond of playing with the ideas of perception, memory, and time. New Sun in particular meanders across space and time, getting wilder as you go. On top of this, Wolfe (himself a Korean War veteran) deals directly with darker parts of human nature, with this series beginning with the unsubtle title of The Shadow of the Torturer. However, is not the writer trying to be edgy. The main character is a professional torturer and there is a lot of discussion of the subject, though thankfully not graphically so. This is not done just for thrills- the violence and sexuality in the books is not glorified but always has a point. Wolfe is a profoundly Catholic author, but his is not a demure faith. His works grapple with human nature like a fearless bullfighter. But, much like Tolkien, and Christopher Nolen, the effort is very much worth it in the end. That warning given, let’s get down to brass tacks. The Book of the New Sun consists of five books: The Shadow of the Torturer (1980), The Claw of the Concilitator (1981), The Sword of the Lictor (1982), The Citadel of the Autarch (1983), and the coda novella, The Urth of the New Sun (1987). I generally recommend you read them all through in one go, then reread them again with one of the many guides fans have created. The Rereading Wolfe podcast (here is their subreddit, you can find their show on any podcast platform) is really helpful for examining the depths and twists of New Sun on subsequent read-throughs. But do not make the mistake of thinking that you will find the same story on the second read through. Wolfe’s books are like a treasure hunt, with gems and revelations at every level.  At its core, New Sun is a bildungsroman, a coming-of-age tale that takes the protagonist from destitute youth to mighty throne. Our protagonist and narrator is Severian, the eponymous torturer of the first book’s title, writing from his position as Autarch, the imperial ruler of an interstellar humanity. Severian claims to have a perfect memory, though the truth of that is up to the reader. He is certainly not a good person. He was raised to be a government-sanctioned torturer from infancy, so he has a very warped view of violence from our perspective, though there may be some disturbing truths in it. He is a young man with a young man’s vices and follies. He’s hotheaded and very proud, prone to leaping before he looks. To say he wrestles with lust would be a mistake because it would imply he ever puts up much of a fight at all. His weakness for women leads him to many interesting places and into stranger encounters than he was expecting, however. So does his impulsive, youthful commitment to a rebellion he barely understands. Severian’s flaws carry him into higher places time and time again, transforming him from a violent wretched sinner into something more. Gene Wolfe himself has said that, although his main character is definitely not a Christ figure, Severian’s journey is an allegory of a Christian. In his flaws, struggles and quest, the reader begins to see himself in a manner sure to spark the virtue of humility in any reader..

The Urth Severian lives on is our Earth incalculably far removed from our own time. The Sun is red and dying, humanity has conquered an interstellar empire that is now decaying, and a near-feudal civilization sits in the ruins of its glory days, fighting a war with a country that is implied to be ruled by aliens. Some things have been forgotten, but plenty of strange and wonderful technology is in use. Alien, modified, or evolved organisms can be found all over. Severian spent much of his youth in social isolation within the confines of the Torturer’s Guild, so most of these things are as new to him as they are to us.  He is constantly on the move, as well, so nothing ever becomes familiar. Even his traveling companions routinely rotate, drawn in and then away by their own unique motives (or killed). Severian’s journey is a twisting speculative fiction version of Pilgrim’s Progress.

As Severian wanders, his purpose becomes clearer, though it is revealed only in bits and pieces: to restore the Sun in some way and with it the whole of humanity. How is not clear until The Urth of the New Sun, but there is something to Severian that brings new life from death since his earliest days in spite of his profession and personal choices. Wolfe set out to depict Severian as a Christlike-figure, but he is not meant to be Christ as Aslan is in Narnia. Rather, Wolfe explained in a 1992 interview that “I don’t think of Severian as being a Christ figure; I think of Severian as being a Christian figure. He is a man who has been born into a very perverse background, who is gradually trying to become better.” This is the crux of the story and the whole strange journey it takes you on.

The Book of New Sun is not a gentle saga. It isn’t easy to read and can be hard to understand. Unlike many modern epics, it can seem unfocused. Fans of the weirdness of Dune will delight in it. It is a story of an abject sinner being all-but-frogmarched into sainthood in a world where civilization is old and tired, having both learned and forgotten much. 

Gene Wolfe has given us a Christian epic for the modern age, speaking to the grinding pressure of our own times and the way it affects our souls in a way you won’t find anywhere else. If you opt to embark on this journey and you approach it as what it is- maybe with a little help from the many Wolfe resources out there- I think you will find it worth the effort.