![]() ![]() ![]() Severian’s Urth is an ancient planet circling a sun that has grown old and fitful, an insular place where science has become a kind of magic. A coda, The Urth of the New Sun, is Severian’s account of his journey to be tested and, if successful, to redeem Urth. He begins a journey to the North, first on an assignment, then as what amounts to a fugitive, and eventually becomes the Autarch of the Confederation, in theory, at least, the ruler of the people of Urth (as it is called). In brief, the four volumes of The Book of the New Sun tell of the rise of Severian, whom we see first as an apprentice torturer, soon exiled from his guild for showing compassion toward a client. ![]() Gene Wolfe’s The Book of the New Sun is widely recognized as being one of these: a work that established a new paradigm for science fiction as a literary form and may rank as one of the great works of American literature in general. ![]() Science fiction, like any other genre, has its landmarks, those works that stand above their cohort and may, all else being equal, stand above most works from other genres as well (and I include so-called “mainstream” literature among genres). ![]()
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