Shadow & Claw

Those familiar with me and my favorites will have been expecting, well…this entire list, but will most especially have been waiting for this series to make its appearance. A cult classic from the early 80s, Gene Wolfe’s masterpiece, The Book of the New Sun is far and away my favorite science fiction series, surpassing even Frank Herbert’s Dune, which held that title for most of my life. Gene Wolfe is, in my opinion, the finest writer our genre has ever produced. No less than Ursula K. LeGuin called him “our Melville,” and not without reason. These books are gorgeous,… show more.

Crafting a dark, mysterious, and mood-driven enigma, Wolfe paints on a future canvas that is a combination of horror and discovery. Instead of flashing back, the novel seems to flash forward and is impactful for that alone. The main character doesn’t seem particularly special but he inherits a world and grows with the knowledge he attains.

It’s a work that leaves the reader wondering what just happened and why. Who is Severian and why is he special? Is he a man or a god? Does reality shape him or vice versa? Questions draw the reader in. I learned that it’s… show more.

Shadow & Claw is a titan of a story. It is dense and delicious and requires a caffeinated state. In the far future, Earth has returned to a medieval-esque society, the sun is dying, and technology is mostly forgotten. In this dystopia, the Guild of Torturers exiles apprentice Severian for showing his victim mercy. From there, Severian embarks on a rich journey that is part quest, part prophecy, and part adventure as he searches for his destiny and the meaning behind an ancient relic. This book is madly ambitious and deserves a slow clap for all it accomplishes.