Review: Shadow & Claw by Gene Wolfe
Blurb:
THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN is unanimously acclaimed as Wolfe’s most remarkable work, hailed as “a masterpiece of science fantasy comparable in importance to the major works of Tolkien and Lewis” by Publishers Weekly and “one of the most ambitious works of speculative fiction in the twentieth century” by the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
The Shadow of the Torturer is the first volume in this four-volume epic, the tale of young Severian, an apprentice to the Guild of Torturers on the world called Urth, exiled for committing the ultimate sin of his profession- showing mercy toward his victim.
Review:
I’m undeniably a slut for “backwards narratives” or “framed stories”. Books like Rothfuss’ Name of the Wind, Ryan’s Covenant of Steel, Hayes’ The War Eternal, Swan’s Empire of the Wolf and so on, books where the main events have already happened and now we’re left with the main character playing narrator and describing the events from their perspective. Love ‘em, can’t get enough of ‘em, and Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun is not only a classic in regards to that niche, it’s a classic in all of Sci-Fi and Fantasy.
“Time turns our lies into truth”
Shadow & Claw is comprised of the first two novels of the series, Shadow of the Torturer & Claw of the Conciliator. For the purpose of this review, I’ll be going over both and referring to Shadow & Claw as a singular book, even though it is comprised of two.
The premise of the book is somewhat straightforward: a man raised by a guild of torturers shows mercy to one of the prisoners and is exiled for his crime of compassion. This man grows up to become a force upon the world, and he tells us his story. Details and worldbuilding complicate the story, adding an almost Malazan-esque edge of lack of understanding.
The book is narrated by the character Severian, our compassionate torturer, and a man who claims to have perfect memory and to have been at the forefront of many events on a dying earth. The interesting thing about the novel, however, is that Severian is full of shit. It takes a little while to figure out, but when you do, it adds yet another layer onto an already complex, layered novel. There’s very little exposition, and set on an Earth where civilizations have risen, fallen, risen, and fallen again (resulting in a sci-fantasy setting where technology is essentially indistinguishable from magic), this is a nuanced book that probably needs a re-read to be fully understood.
Wolfe is an absolute master at language and wordsmithing. He wields the most extensive vocabulary I’ve ever read, but he does it in such a way where, as a reader, I never felt lost. He pulls these words that appeared once in a pulp novel from 1854 but when he uses them, you know exactly what he means.
Our narrator, who I’ve mentioned is frequently a liar, is an interesting, complex guy, just like the novel itself. At times merciful, at times cruel, at times foolish, at times has an insight only matched by Professor X and Gojo. He’s ultimately a flawed human being, something I greatly appreciated. The side characters, while at times one-dimensional, are rather remarkable and interesting as well. They reminded me of classic novels like Monte Cristo and Dorian Gray in the sense that, while they may not be the most nuanced characters, they are characters who jump off the page.
“If we could have our way, no man would have to go roving or draw blood. But women did not make the world. All of you are torturers, one way or another.”
While the novel is a classic in the genre and very much so worth reading, it does have aspects that people may hate. The first thing that jumps to mind is it meanders. It’s intentional, but if you’re a reader who hated the side plots in Rothfuss’ Kingkiller Chronicles and just wanted to stick to the main story, I don’t think you’ll like this book. Severian lurches from one plot point to the next aimlessly, and while it’s a fun read, I must reiterate the fact the book meanders.
Another aspect is the way the book treats women. I want to be clear that I don’t think Gene Wolfe is someone who should be on Reddit’s “Men Writing Women”, rather, Wolfe is essentially a man writing a man writing women. The character narrating the book has an overflowing amount of breast and nipple descriptions, so much so that every women in the book is breasting boobily all over the country. While it’s an important distinction that it’s the character describing these women instead of the author actually seeing women this way, the content is still splattered throughout the book consistently.
In short, if you’re looking for a nuanced, backwards narrative with little explanation, lots of depth, an interesting narrator, and gorgeous language, it’s a great fit. Wolfe’s book is an undeniable classic, one with essays and essays of analysis and dissection, and one that lived up to the hype.
