I haven’t posted for a while and decided I wanted to write a little more about Gene Wolfe’s books. I have finished Shadow & Claw, Sword & Citadel, and Urth of the New Sun. I really liked the series but have to admit that there was a lot of times in the story where I didn’t really understand what was going on. Because the books are written in the first person I actually think this whole feeling contributed to the story. There was a lot of times when Severian (the author) didn’t know what was going on and therefore I the reader didn’t either. By the end of Urth of the New Sun there were many ideas brought up that I only had a vague understanding of what was going on. I don’t really want to talk to much about those things here though because it would give away a lot to people who haven’t gotten a chance to either finish the books or read tham at all.

I would highly recommend these books and I plan on reading anything else by Wolfe that I can get my hands on. Currently though I want to get Lexicon Urthus. I bid for a copy of it on eBay the other day but it went for $131 dollars in the end. I can’t afford to spend that much at the moment. I get the impression from what others have said that the info that is compiled in it would be very helpful for the more obscure items in the New Sun cycle.

To find out more info on Gene Wolfe books and to read ideas from other fans you can subscribe to the Urth List. I subscribed when John Barach commented about it earlier. The list has been helpful in seeing that many other readers are trying to work out what is going on. It is good to read posts by others who have read the series a lot more and really do seem to understand what is going on.