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The Shadow of the Torturer
- The Book of the New Sun, Book 1
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
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Story
On Blue's Waters is the start of a new work by Gene Wolfe which takes place in the years after Wolfe's four-volume Book of the Long Sun. Horn, the narrator of the earlier work, now tells his own story. Though life is hard on the newly settled planet of Blue, Horn and his family have made a decent life for themselves. But Horn is the only one who can locate the great leader Silk and convince him to return to Blue and lead them all to prosperity. So Horn sets sail in a small boat, on a long and difficult quest across the planet Blue in search of the now legendary Patera Silk.
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Getting the hang of Wolfe
- By Patrick DeWind on 09-20-24
By: Gene Wolfe
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Soldier of the Mist
- Latro, Book 1
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Gregory Connors
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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The first volume of Gene Wolfe's powerful story of Latro, a Roman mercenary who received a head injury that deprived him of his short-term memory. In return it gave him the ability to converse with supernatural creatures, gods, and goddesses who invisibly inhabit the ancient landscape.
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Read Gates of Fire first for context
- By Amazon Customer on 07-17-22
By: Gene Wolfe
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The Knight
- The Wizard Knight Series, Book One
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Dan Bittner
- Length: 16 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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A young man in his teens is transported from our world to a magical realm that contains seven levels of reality. Very quickly transformed by magic into a grown man of heroic proportions, he takes the name Able and sets out on a quest to find the sword that has been promised to him, a sword he will get from a dragon, the one very special blade that will help him fulfill his life ambition to become a knight and a true hero. Inside, however, Able remains a boy, and he must grow in every sense to survive the dangers and delights that lie ahead in encounters with giants, elves, and wizards.
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Confusing as hell.
- By Zachary on 09-26-18
By: Gene Wolfe
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The Dying Earth
- Tales of the Dying Earth, Book 1
- By: Jack Vance
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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The stories in The Dying Earth introduce dozens of seekers of wisom and beauty, lovely lost women, wizards of every shade of eccentricity with their runic amulets and spells. We meet the melancholy deodands, who feed on human flesh and the twk-men, who ride dragonflies and trade information for salt. There are monsters and demons. Each being is morally ambiguous: The evil are charming, the good are dangerous. All are at home.
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A Decadent and Hopeful Dying Earth
- By Jefferson on 06-27-10
By: Jack Vance
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The Wolfe at the Door
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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The circus comes to town . . . and a man gets to go to the stars. A young girl on a vacation at the sea meets the man of her dreams. Who just happens to be dead. And an immortal pirate. A swordfighter pens his memoirs . . . and finds his pen is in fact mightier than the sword. Welcome to Gene Wolfe's playground, a place where genres blend, and a genius's imagination straps you in for the ride of your life. The Wolfe at the Door is a brand-new collection from one of America's premiere literary giants, showcasing some material been seen before
By: Gene Wolfe
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Litany of the Long Sun
- Book of the Long Sun, Books 1 and 2
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Litany of the Long Sun contains the full texts of Nightside the Long Sun and Lake of the Long Sun that together make up the first half of The Book of the Long Sun. This great work is set on a huge generation starship in the same future as the classic Book of the New Sun (also available in two volumes from Orb).
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Utterly brilliant in it’s tedium
- By John on 04-14-22
By: Gene Wolfe
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On Blue’s Waters
- Book of the Short Sun, Book 1
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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On Blue's Waters is the start of a new work by Gene Wolfe which takes place in the years after Wolfe's four-volume Book of the Long Sun. Horn, the narrator of the earlier work, now tells his own story. Though life is hard on the newly settled planet of Blue, Horn and his family have made a decent life for themselves. But Horn is the only one who can locate the great leader Silk and convince him to return to Blue and lead them all to prosperity. So Horn sets sail in a small boat, on a long and difficult quest across the planet Blue in search of the now legendary Patera Silk.
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Getting the hang of Wolfe
- By Patrick DeWind on 09-20-24
By: Gene Wolfe
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Soldier of the Mist
- Latro, Book 1
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Gregory Connors
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The first volume of Gene Wolfe's powerful story of Latro, a Roman mercenary who received a head injury that deprived him of his short-term memory. In return it gave him the ability to converse with supernatural creatures, gods, and goddesses who invisibly inhabit the ancient landscape.
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Read Gates of Fire first for context
- By Amazon Customer on 07-17-22
By: Gene Wolfe
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The Knight
- The Wizard Knight Series, Book One
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Dan Bittner
- Length: 16 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A young man in his teens is transported from our world to a magical realm that contains seven levels of reality. Very quickly transformed by magic into a grown man of heroic proportions, he takes the name Able and sets out on a quest to find the sword that has been promised to him, a sword he will get from a dragon, the one very special blade that will help him fulfill his life ambition to become a knight and a true hero. Inside, however, Able remains a boy, and he must grow in every sense to survive the dangers and delights that lie ahead in encounters with giants, elves, and wizards.
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Confusing as hell.
- By Zachary on 09-26-18
By: Gene Wolfe
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The Dying Earth
- Tales of the Dying Earth, Book 1
- By: Jack Vance
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The stories in The Dying Earth introduce dozens of seekers of wisom and beauty, lovely lost women, wizards of every shade of eccentricity with their runic amulets and spells. We meet the melancholy deodands, who feed on human flesh and the twk-men, who ride dragonflies and trade information for salt. There are monsters and demons. Each being is morally ambiguous: The evil are charming, the good are dangerous. All are at home.
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A Decadent and Hopeful Dying Earth
- By Jefferson on 06-27-10
By: Jack Vance
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The Wolfe at the Door
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The circus comes to town . . . and a man gets to go to the stars. A young girl on a vacation at the sea meets the man of her dreams. Who just happens to be dead. And an immortal pirate. A swordfighter pens his memoirs . . . and finds his pen is in fact mightier than the sword. Welcome to Gene Wolfe's playground, a place where genres blend, and a genius's imagination straps you in for the ride of your life. The Wolfe at the Door is a brand-new collection from one of America's premiere literary giants, showcasing some material been seen before
By: Gene Wolfe
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The Black Company
- Chronicles of The Black Company, Book 1
- By: Glen Cook
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Some feel the Lady, newly risen from centuries in thrall, stands between humankind and evil. Some feel she is evil itself. The hardbitten men of the Black Company take their pay and do what they must, burying their doubts with their dead - until the prophesy: The White Rose has been reborn, somewhere, to embody good once more. There must be a way for the Black Company to find her....
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Hard Boiled Morally Ambiguous Epic Fantasy
- By Jefferson on 03-18-11
By: Glen Cook
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A Borrowed Man
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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E. A. Smithe is a borrowed person. He is a clone who lives on a third-tier shelf in a public library, and his personality is an uploaded recording of a deceased mystery writer. Smithe is a piece of property, not a legal human. A wealthy patron, Colette Coldbrook, takes him from the library because he is the surviving personality of the author of Murder on Mars. A physical copy of that book was in the possession of her murdered father, and it contains an important secret, the key to immense family wealth.
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Great Gene Wolfe Concept, Distracting Narration
- By Alex Levine on 10-27-15
By: Gene Wolfe
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A Canticle for Leibowitz
- By: Walter M. Miller Jr.
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Winner of the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel and widely considered one of the most accomplished, powerful, and enduring classics of modern speculative fiction, Walter M. Miller’s A Canticle for Leibowitz is a true landmark of 20th-century literature—a chilling and still-provocative look at a postapocalyptic future.
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Introibo Ad Altare
- By richard on 03-20-13
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Nine Princes in Amber
- The Chronicles of Amber, Book 1
- By: Roger Zelazny
- Narrated by: Alessandro Juliani
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Amber is the one real world, of which all others including our own Earth are but Shadows. Amber burns in Corwin's blood. Exiled on Shadow Earth for centuries, the prince is about to return to Amber to make a mad and desperate rush upon the throne.
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Great book, lame deal!
- By Robert on 08-13-12
By: Roger Zelazny
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The Darkness That Comes Before
- The Prince of Nothing, Book One
- By: R. Scott Bakker
- Narrated by: David DeVries
- Length: 20 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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In a world scarred by an apocalyptic past, evoking a time both 2,000 years past and 2,000 years into the future, untold thousands gather for a crusade. Among them, two men and two women are ensnared by a mysterious traveler, Anasûrimbor Kellhus - part warrior, part philosopher, part sorcerous, charismatic presence - from lands long thought dead. The Darkness That Comes Before is a history of this great holy war, and like all histories, the survivors write its conclusion.
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Finally in audiobook!
- By Andy on 06-28-12
By: R. Scott Bakker
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Elric of Melniboné
- Volume 1: Elric of Melnibone, The Fortress of the Pearl, The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, and The Weird of the White Wolf
- By: Michael Moorcock, Neil Gaiman
- Narrated by: Samuel Roukin
- Length: 24 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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When Michael Moorcock began chronicling the adventures of the albino sorcerer Elric, last king of decadent Melniboné, and his sentient vampiric sword, Stormbringer, he set out to create a new kind of fantasy adventure, one that broke with tradition and reflected a more up-to-date sophistication of theme and style. The result was a bold and unique hero: a rock-and-roll antihero who would channel all the violent excesses of the '60s into one enduring archetype.
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Skip the first chapter, it's not Moorcock.
- By Ted C. on 02-17-22
By: Michael Moorcock, and others
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The Night Land
- By: William Hope Hodgson
- Narrated by: Harry Shaw
- Length: 18 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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In the distant future, the sun has burned out, plunging the world into perpetual twilight. All of the remaining humanity has dwindled to a single, eight-mile-high pyramid called The Last Redoubt. Horrific creatures have evolved that lurk in the darkness. After a second dying Lesser Redoubt is discovered, one man is determined to rescue its last surviving inhabitant, but that means traversing the unknown and terrifying Night Land.
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Hyperion
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor, Allyson Johnson, Kevin Pariseau, and others
- Length: 20 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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On the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all.
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The Shrike Awaits. Enter The Time Tombs...
- By Michael on 10-13-12
By: Dan Simmons
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Gunmetal Gods
- Gunmetal Gods, Book 1
- By: Zamil Akhtar
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Fifty thousand gun-toting paladins march behind him, all baptized in angel blood, thirsty to burn unbelievers. Only the janissaries can stand against them. Their living legend, Kevah, once beheaded a magus amid a hail of ice daggers. But ever since his wife disappeared, he spends his days in a haze of hashish and poetry. To save the kingdom, Kevah must conquer his grief and become the legend he once was. But Micah writes his own legend in blood, and his righteous conquest will stop at nothing. When the gods choose sides, a legend will be etched upon the stars.
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Great Narrator, Great Book
- By KYLE LOCKHAVEN on 10-28-21
By: Zamil Akhtar
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The Tyranny of the Night
- The Instrumentalities of the Night, Book 1
- By: Glen Cook
- Narrated by: Erik Synnestvedt
- Length: 20 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Welcome to the world of the Instrumentalities of the Night, where imps, demons, and dark gods rule in the spaces surrounding upstart humanity. At the edges of the world stand walls of ice which push slowly forward to reclaim the land for the night. And at the world's center, in the Holy Land where two great religions were born, are the Wells of Ihrain, the source of the greatest magics.
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Great Author, Terrible Narrator
- By Ryan on 05-02-12
By: Glen Cook
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Consider Phlebas: Booktrack Edition
- By: Iain M. Banks
- Narrated by: Peter Kenny
- Length: 16 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Consider Phlebas: Booktrack Edition adds an immersive musical soundtrack to your audiobook listening experience! The first audiobook in Iain M. Banks's seminal science fiction series, The Culture. Consider Phlebas introduces listeners to a utopian conglomeration of human and alien races that explores the nature of war, morality, and the limitless bounds of mankind's imagination.
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Music is super distracting and constant
- By Anonymous1234 on 06-17-20
By: Iain M. Banks
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The Iron Heel
- By: Jack London
- Narrated by: Jacques Richey
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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The Iron Heel by Jack London is a dystopian novel first published in 1908. The narrative is unusual in being a first-person narrative of a woman protagonist written by a man. Predicting future changes in society and politics, it chronicles the rise of an oligarchic tyranny in the United States. The main narrative covers the years 1912 - 1932, in which the Iron Heel oligarchy arose in the United States. Canada, Mexico, and Cuba formed their own oligarchies and were aligned with the U.S. while in Asia, Japan created an empire in Asia, and Europe became socialist.
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Dystopian history of class warfare
- By Bill on 03-21-24
By: Jack London
What listeners say about The Shadow of the Torturer
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Guy Generic
- 03-09-16
Give It a Second Try with Podcast
I revisited this series based on recommendation. At first I bounced off a few times and was very confused by the writing, etc.
What really helped was listening to a podcast discussing both the book/series and Gene Wolfe's work. Alzabo Soup was the podcast with Phil and Metz. They go chapter by chapter is breaking down and discussing what is happening. It's incredible. I have a huge appreciation for their work and Gene Wolfe after taking this approach.
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2 people found this helpful
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- 9 Devils
- 04-10-12
One of best sci fi/fantasy of all time
One of the best books I've ever read. I'd recommend reading, or at least having a copy, as well as listening, because Wolfe's plots are always so complex you need to be able to go back and check things in order to follow. But the recording is high quality, narrator is growing on me, and if you've already read the book then the recording is a great way to experience it again. Just be wary of listening for the first time--at least have a copy of the book to check back on plot points. May seem like a of effort, but it's worth it.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Devon
- 02-06-22
Brilliant but difficult
Like all of Gene Wolfes work I've read this book is very good but also difficult. It's difficult to keep track of what's happening in his stories and when reading them I've found I've had to reread portions to comprehend events. Unfortunately this is more difficult with an audiobook. I really wish wolfe had included more exposition and description in his stories as I feel they would be more enjoyable and less difficult to digest.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Teddy
- 09-28-20
A Great Read For Those Ready For Fantasy
I fell in love with the story almost as soon as I had begun my listen, but continually fell upon the same issue. The speed with which the book progresses along it's narrative arc varies from slow, deliberate descriptive prose to what feels to be huge jumps in the story's arc. This same issue has plagued me through many books, however, and may simply be a side effect of the written word translated as a spoken narrative.
All that being said, this is an excellent and genre defining piece of fantasy that will not disappoint, and an excellent place to start your journey into the world laid out before you by Wolfe.
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- Nick
- 05-25-23
Interesting story, bad audio quality.
I thought the story was interesting when I could hear it, however the narration tended to be very quiet.
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- DrEHarris
- 12-14-23
Great prose
Feels a little dated now but a super original story with nods to all sorts of authors and mythos. Great pacing and many odd characters and situations
Completely unique
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- Joshua Dehler
- 09-06-24
Truly the dark souls of novels
Find the lore through item descriptions. Go read it now please you gotta it’s so goooood
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Overall
- Ryan
- 03-20-10
great writing, won't appeal to everyone
There was a time when the fantasy genre didn't just exist to entertain, but sometimes aspired to a higher level of artfulness. The Shadow of the Torturer is such a book. Set in a far distant future, when Earth's sun is fading and human society has lost much of its technological aptitude, Wolfe's novel has a haunting, elegiac quality. It's written in a voice reminiscent of 19th century writers like Poe or Dickens, which adds to the melancholy beauty. Fortunately for the squeamish, though torture is part of the story, it's not described in much detail.
In terms of plot, The Shadow of the Torturer isn't a complex novel. The protagonist grows up under the protection of a strange, cloistered society, learns a few things about the outside world, betrays his guardians, and is thrown out to seek his own fortune -- familiar fantasy stuff. But what sets the book apart from standard swords-and-sorcery fare is the richness of its language and the great imagination in its details; the difference is like comparing a fine oil painting to a crude computer graphic rendering. It has subtlety that forces the reader to pay attention. Wolfe messes with time and space, contemplates philosophical ideas, writes long exchanges whose import isn't immediately clear, and relies on the audience to make sense of the strange, slightly dreamlike events that unfold in the story, rather than spelling out how they're connected.
Without a doubt, this is a book that will absorb some readers and alienate others. Wolfe's ornate, college-level English, though not difficult, is not for everyone. Nor will everyone relate to the protagonist's detached, clinical voice. Basically, if you're looking for a light, Harry Potter-style book with instantly charismatic characters, you're better off going elsewhere. But, for readers who appreciate sophisticated writing and atmospheric, textured imaginary worlds, this is a great read.
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168 people found this helpful
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- David S. Mathew
- 11-15-16
Seeking Truth and Penitence
This is the first in Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun series. It's a grim science fiction at its finest, yet framed more in the spirit of fantasy novels with heroic quests. This is the autobiography of Severian, apprentice member of the Torturer's Guild in a future world where the Earth is in decline and the Sun is going out. Past that I can't say much more because this novel has quite a few twists and turns that I wouldn't dare spoil for you.
Also, Jonathan Davis' performance is outstanding. I hadn't previously liked his work very much, but here he is flawless. He perfectly captures the lyrical, philosophical, yet deeply grim atmosphere of Severian's narration and Wolfe's world of the New Sun. I highly recommend this novel.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Bruce Rosen
- 08-03-16
Deep dark and dank
Where does The Shadow of the Torturer rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
This was the first audiobook I listened to. As it's the first it was by far the best audiobook I've listened to thus far. I will listen to more and rank them accordingly.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Shadow of the Torturer?
Spoiler: When Severian gives Shadlowling Thecla(sp?) the knife. Assisted suicide is a pretty controversial topic, but it made it relatable given her tormented state.
What does Jonathan Davis bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
A great sense of intention. He is able to channel the characters clearly while being able to quickly switch between them.
Any additional comments?
A great first book to start my journey into the audiobooks world. I'm going to be listening to rest of this series as well as the Wheel of Time series. Be back after the next one is done.
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2 people found this helpful