Book of the New Sun: Difference between revisions

The tetralogy consists of ''The Shadow of the Torturer'', ''The Claw of the Conciliator'', ''The Sword of the Lictor'' and ''The Citadel of the Autarch'', plus a coda, ''The Urth of the New Sun'', which was written some time later and clears up a number of points from the series proper. It's a work of staggering complexity, with [[Viewers Are Geniuses|very little explained outright]]. The [[Wild Mass Guessing]] alone would be longer than most pages on this wiki (and [http://www.urth.net/urth/ here's] proof).

 

 

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{{tropelist}}

* [[Affably Evil]] - {{spoiler|Dr. Talos.}}

** Also our hero, who is a trained torturer and executioner, and often defends those occupations as necessary parts of society.

*** {{spoiler|Though one of his first acts as Autarch is to lock up the members of his guild in the oubliette for a while to see how they like it, and then to issue an order banning torture and dissolving the guild. "By our mercy we will grant even the foulest a quick death. Not because we pity them, but because it is intolerable that good men should spend a lifetime dispensing pain."}}

* [[All There in the Manual]] - The rare supplementary books ''Lexicon Urthus'' by Michael Andre-Driussi (which explains some of the more oblique aspects of ''The Book of the New Sun'', as well as the archaic terminology) and ''The Castle of the Otter'' (a collection of essays by Wolfe himself about various aspects of the series).

* [[Animated Armor]]: Sidero in ''Urth of the New Sun''. He is not happy when Severian wears him.

* [[Artificial Human]]: {{spoiler|Jonas}}. Also, {{spoiler|Dr. Talos}} turns out to be {{spoiler|Baldanders'}} homunculus. {{spoiler|Master Malrubius}} in his post-death appearances is this as well.

* [[Cold-Blooded Torture]]: The Torturer's Guild tortures people as punishment, not interrogation and has no interest in the innocence, guilt, or any attributes of their victims.

* [[Cool Sword]] - ''Terminus Est''.

* [[Crapsack World]]

* [[Crystal Dragon Jesus]]: In a very [[Future Imperfect]] way, religious orders exist that are remnants of Christianity but have become really odd. The Torturer's Guild seems to be a warped version of the Catholic priesthood, as they still think about Saint Catherine in terms of a patron saint and torture is thought of as a messed up version of Confession. Even their formal name, "The Order for the Seekers of Truth and Penitence" equally describes torturers and Catholic clergy. There are the Pelerines who are like nuns but with some Eastern religion thrown in. Finally, there is the ritual of the Alzabo wherein you can gain someone's memories by eating their body along with this alien creature, which has echoes of the Eucharist.

[[Category:Book of the New Sun]]

[[Category:Literature]]