The Shadow of the Torturer

Books | Fiction / Science Fiction / Hard Science Fiction

(143)

Gene Wolfe

So begins one of the most celebrated stories in fantasy literature . . . packed full of mystery, deep themes and incredible prose, meet Severian the Torturer and follow him on his journey across the great world of UrthSeverian is a torturer, born to the guild and with an exceptionally promising career ahead of him . . . until he falls in love with one of his victims, a beautiful young noblewoman. Her excruciations are delayed for some months and, out of love, Severian helps her commit suicide and escape her fate. For a torturer, there is no more unforgivable act. In punishment he is exiled from the guild and his home city to the distant metropolis of Thrax with little more than Terminus Est, a fabled sword, to his name. Along the way he has to learn to survive in a wider world without the guild - a world in which he has already made both allies and enemies. And a strange gem is about to fall into his possession, which will only make his enemies pursue him with ever-more determination . . .Winner of the World Fantasy Award for best novel, 1981Winner of the BSFA Award for best novel, 1982Readers can't stop reading The Shadow of the Torturer:'Full of rich characters and great imagination' Mark Lawrence, author of Red Sister'A dark jewel . . . He has a mastery of language not often seen in fantasy writing . . . Couple this with an original and unique, highly imaginative and complex worldbuilding and the high praise is warranted' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'This is a picaresque fantasy with a difference, for our hero Severian is no wide-eyed country boy from the shire, but an apprentice torturer, thoroughly schooled in his trade' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'There are certain books that can be considered life-changing experiences. Gene Wolfe is an author who has written one of those for me' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'The Book of the New Sun Tetralogy is one of the great achievements in science fiction and is a MUST READ for fans of the genre. HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!!' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'In addition to being unique in style, The Shadow of the Torturer is a gorgeous piece of work: passionate storytelling (heart-wrenching in places), fascinating insights into nature and the human condition, beautiful prose' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'Genre fiction at its finest. Original, difficult and well-crafted, it is easy to see how Wolfe is regarded as a writer's writer' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

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More Details:

Author

Gene Wolfe

Pages

301

Publisher

Orion

Published Date

2011-09-29

ISBN

0575114150 9780575114159

Community ReviewsSee all

"The tale of young Severian, an apprentice in the Guild of Torturers on the world called Urth, exiled for committing the ultimate sin of his profession -- showing mercy toward his victim -- and follows his subsequent journey out of his home city of Nessus. <br/><br/>So this week may not have been the appropriate week to read this book. Like, by a long shot. This week may have even been one where I’d have had trouble digesting something simple and YAey since we had lots of family drama, which usually (and this time, too) leads me to indulge in weird daytime TV that mostly involves HGTV and little else. <br/><br/>SO. I read the first half of this pre-drama, enjoyed it but didn’t really look too closely at it, which I gather is not the way to read this book. Then drama happened, I took a day or two off from reading, and came back to it a bit lost. I gulped the second half of the book down today with the frequent periodic outbursts of a video gamer cursing at his game coming from my husband, and I totally did not understand the significance of anything that happened. Woo. From about where we met Dr. Talos, I felt like the whole story took a loop for the genuinely odd, and while I got the greater riffs of the story I don’t really see what was so significant about them or whether I should continue on. Sigh."