Mini Review: The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun #1)

In the past I've made no secret of my appreciation of the wilted beauty of Dark Souls: a video game portrait of high fantasy that has come to ruin; regal, majestic worlds that have met with slow, inevitable decay.

It seems grim -- to want to see magical kingdoms hurtling through their end times -- but ultimately the death of an imaginary realm fits into the greater story that we like to hear: the promise of rebirth. We like to anticipate something wonderful beyond the spectre of destruction. I will be writing more on that topic later on, but for now understand that this is the context in which I approached Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun (which I discovered during my search for more fiction like Dark Souls).

Taking place on "Urth", a world under a dying sun, the series tells of Severian. He is taken in as a baby by the Guild of Torturers, in an alternative version of Buenos Aires known as Nessus. Throughout the first book, there are hints that there will be a "New Sun", signifying the end of Urth and the beginning of something else. I will leave the rest of the details of the plot, as -- much like Dark Souls -- part of the fun for many fans is figuring out what is actually going on. Reading the setup for the rest of the series spoiled me on several big plot reveals to come, and I don't wish to propagate that.

As to this book, The Shadow of the Torturer is an intriguing first step into the greater journey Severian undertakes, written in a lyrical style that is (believe me) far too difficult to replicate. Gene Wolfe must be commended for presenting just the right amount of information about the world, the events of the plot, the backstory, and even the apparent intelligence of the protagonist in tantalisingly vague terms. Each discovery only grows the mystery as you learn more about the world, with the reader's mind filling in the blanks.

Unfortunately, this vagueness also makes the book a difficult read at best. With only the promise of further ornate mystery to come, there isn't much to hook the reader except for Wolfe's style of prose. Fans of Dark Souls are probably the best prepared for this solemn doling out of story breadcrumbs, especially as the characters also act and think in a very alien manner. Readers seeking high-octane action or quality drama will be disappointed.

I enjoyed The Shadow of the Torturer as literary example of wilted beauty, and will be continuing through the series. However, I am wary that the narrative's opacity might begin to drag, because just like in movies, I come to a story for the characters and the plot, not just aesthetics and feelings.

I listened to the book on audio. The performance was good enough to elevate the book from 3 / 5 up to 4 / 5 stars.