Thoughts on SWORD AND CITADEL | The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe Review

[@tasosalexiadis7748]

Book of the New Sun is my favorite work of speculative fiction, it is literature with capital L. I suggest completing the full Solar Cycle. Long Sun is different but it is still great, I am not sure if I can call that a masterpiece too but it is near one. Though its tone is that of a comedy, not the the gothic haunting tone of New Sun. Book of the Short Sun though is a masterpiece too, through and through.

[@iSamwise]

I can’t wait! I fully plan on reading Long Sun early next year! How difficult did you find Long Sun and Short Sun vs New Sun? I’ve heard conflicting reports.

[@tasosalexiadis7748]

@@iSamwise Long Sun is really straightforward. There are some deep mysteries in the background of course but they are easier than New Sun's, and in contrast to New Sun you can follow most of the story without understanding them. Short Sun is harder. It is a different kind of hard than New Sun though. Its main difficulty is following multiple narrative timelines and let's say the "magic" (I don't want to give spoilers).

[@iSamwise]

@ I can’t wait!!! Thanks!

[@OrlandoOrtiz570]

My favorite part in Sword of the Lictor is seeing The Tale of the Student and His Son again. When Pia introduced me to him, he embraced me as fathers do their sons, something no one had ever done to me previously. I thought of the Claw, which the hetman had taken from me and sent to the castle, and I said, "The land people obey the master of the castle. Perhaps if you made peace with him, he would stop them from attacking you." "Once, when I was a young man these quarrels took two or three lives in a year. Then the builder of the castle came. Do you know the tale?" I shook my head.

[@iSamwise]

All the connections with the stories within stories are still something that alludes me and I need to look for on future reads.

[@akiyrjana6558]

Good video, this. For me, the thing after reading Wolfe is that I loathe it when writers hold your hand to explain stuff. Wolfe's dialogue is suberb when perplexing, then leaves you reeling to re-enact the situation at hand in your head. It is a good execise for the imagination. Like, take two later day luminaries, Pierce Brown or Christopher Ruocchio, good writers, but boy, are their powers to wrench your brain dwarved by the wily wolf. (Not that I don't recognize some overwrought literary cunning in Wolfe too, at times.)

[@iSamwise]

He definitely has a huge amount of skill in his writing. There are so many layers of meaning packed into a short amount of words.

[@gazhvys9543]

Can you recommend an author or book easier to read than Gene Wolfe? But same genre?

[@iSamwise]

So if you’re looking for something easier but playing with some adjacent ideas, The Sun Eater series by Christopher Ruocchio is excellent. If you want something more in the bleak dying earth genre, I enjoyed Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence.