Sword and Citadel picks up after the events of Shadow and Claw with Severian as the justice of the city of Thrax. Soon however, he is not capable of doing his job and becomes an outlaw. He heads North to the war front to set the stage for his final confrontation with the Autarch and his destiny.
I kept putting off this review, not because I didn’t think the book was good, but because I found it hard to articulate my thoughts on it. It’s very much like the first two books in the Book of the New Sun where Severian chronicles more of his journey toward his destiny. I didn’t have too much trouble figuring out the main plot elements of the story though I don’t fully understand what it all means.
Wolfe’s take on destiny in this story is certainly an interesting one. Someone noted to me how interesting it is that just about everything that happens in the story happens to Severian. The character is very passive and almost exclusively reacts to events rather than taking an active role himself. Frankly, I am uncertain if either the unreliability of the narrator or the cosmological angle revealed towards the end is intended to have any part in this or not. I guess I’ll have to read the sequel, The Urth of the New Sun.
It’s extremely hard for me to explain this book. It’s certainly a lot more cerebral than other science fiction and fantasy. It tries to make you think. I liked this well-written book, but I found I don’t enjoy it the same way as I would others. Recommended, but not for everyone.
Rating: 8/10.
Shadow and Claw is the first half of the Book of the New Sun series, featuring the books Shadow of the Torturer and Claw of the Conciliator. On the world of Urth, the boy Severian is raised in the ways of the Guild of Torturers. One day he makes the cardinal sin of his order by showing mercy to his victim. Severian is cast out into a fantastic world to discover his own destiny in a struggle as old as the world itself.
The Book of the New Sun was written in the early 1980s but it’s managed to age pretty well. Part of that is due to the fact that the series has elements of both science fiction and fantasy. Wolfe takes the old saying, “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” to heart and creates a “science fantasy” consisting of a society largely at the medieval level but with many of the trappings of technology. You get the impression that this world is extremely old. There are even hints in the world’s name.
The world building is quite impressive. Obviously, Wolfe has put a lot of thought into the culture, history, and technology. The first book was a little slow in places because he was exploring some aspects of his world at the expense of the plot, although the book is short enough that it wasn’t too much of a problem. Wolfe uses a lot of unique words, names, and phrases in the series that give it an interesting flavor even if it does make things a little confusing.
Fair warning: the names are not the only thing confusing about the books. My main complaint was the confusion surrounding the main character. Most of the time you get a fair idea of his thoughts and motivations, but other times he does things that make no sense because he doesn’t explain. Since the story is “written” by the character in the future it stands to reason that there is something of unreliability to the narrative. It doesn’t happen often enough that it’s annoying but I hope there’s a reason behind it. I don’t mind if there is some confusion or that not all questions are answered, however confusion for it’s own sake is not exactly my cup of tea. There’s certainly enough to keep me interested.
Recommended for fans in speculative fiction although may not be for everyone. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the books.
Rating: 7.5/10.
As a parish priest, Father Christopher has heard many confessions, yet his own tale is more amazing than anything heard in the confessional. Chris was once a pirate captain several hundred years ago. Fresh from the monastery, Chris is somehow transported back in time to the golden age of piracy. At first he resists becoming a pirate, but he eventually embraces the life, and he even falls for a charming senorita. Where the wind will blow him, or perhaps I should say blew him, only Father Chris knows.
I’ve only read two other Wolfe books, Soldier in the Mist and Soldier of Arete, but I would say that Pirate Freedom is close in quality to both. It is similar in style as well, though the similarity lies mainly in that the book reads more like historical fiction than fantasy. The book is written like a memoir, Chris recounting his experiences as a pirate from some time far down the road. It is extremely well researched and very accurate for the time period, that of early 16th Century Caribbean.
Like in the Soldier novels, the supernatural elements of the book are never explained, and frankly they don’t need to be. The strength lies in the immersing the reader into the story. Chris is the proverbial fish out of water, though it is never truly a setback for him since his future life had little resemblance to his life as a pirate. His knowledge in one life never really overlaps the other. Being from the future, Chris does not have any inherent advantages or disadvantages instead having to rely on his wits and intelligence. Perhaps that’s a weakness of the book, perhaps not.
It did seem that piracy was more widespread in the book than it was historically, but then it is set right during the time when Spain is still consolidating its hold on the Americas. Spain is the only real naval power at this time so such piracy is perhaps not as unlikely as it may first seems. Especially as some of the pirates were undoubtedly privateers, commissioned to be pirates on behalf of other governments.
If you love historical fiction, you can’t go wrong with Pirate Freedom. Recommended.
Rating: 8/10.
