Finally have gotten around to finishing that final half of the Book of the New Sun series with "Sword & Citadel", and another in the Tor Essentials line of books!
The second volume has the final two books of the series "The Sword of the Lictor" and "The Citadel of the Autarch", which continues the journey of the torturer Severian, as he is still driven by his own destiny and carries on a dark mission that will eventually lead to the Autarch, and the fulfilling of a prophecy that will change the world.
It was really great to be back reading this series, and this time to the very end! Severian is still every bit as enigmatic as he always is. And the stories, like in the last, are still immersive as ever, complete with beautiful and even frightening imagery and world building.
And those very hallucinatory moments? Well they're still there, still adding some extra color to everything.
But is this still the end? Now, there's still the coda to it, "The Urth of the New Sun", that I haven't read. It continues Severian's story after the end of the original series. That one I will probably read next.
And the next two series, "The Book of the Long Sun" and "The Book of the Short Sun", will also be next, as they are set in the same universe. Don't know if those will be just as good as Book of the New Sun, but I'll certainly give them a try!
If I still want to continue exploring more of Wolfe's books there are always some other series and stand alone novels that could also be worth checking out, and also his short story collections too. But that will likely have to wait for now, for there's a Philip K. Dick novel that is calling my name!
by i-the-muso-1968