Review – Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe

Like many of you (I guess), I decided to read this book after the author had died. The book was written forty-odd years ago, and it definitely looks an epic fantasy from the 70s or 80s. Take that as you will, but there is some stuff to like for you modern GRRM types. Here’s a random rundown of my thoughts on it – with bullet points!

• Was this an attempt at early “dark” fantasy? The main character (Severian) is a member of the Torturers’ Guild, but he doesn’t really get his hands dirty until late in the book. Also, he was brought up in the guild, so it’s not like he made a conscious decision to sign up and hurt people. Throughout the novel he seems exactly like some happy-go-lucky farm boy off on his big adventure. Sound kind of familiar?
• The language is terrific. From the banter to the wonderful descriptions, the words just roll smoothly off the page, putting a big old smile on this reader’s face. They sure don’t write ‘em like this any more. That being said, I must say I prefer the gritty humour and gothic settings of more modern works
• The world, Urth – I guess the future of our own – is very interesting, but as the story is told from a first person standpoint, we don’t get to see as much as we like. We get to learn a lot about the Guild and the Botanical Guardians (yeah, seriously), but everything else is like peering through frosted glass. Granted this was written as part of a greater series, so we should expect a lot more to come, but the writing of book one doesn’t really suggest some grand reveal
• The timeline is kinda’ weird. Early on the book is a jump from from adventure to adventure, but once he becomes a journeyman proper in the Guild, it starts to become a little more ordered. My big beef is once he leaves the Guild and enters the city. While the events of this time period take course over a day or two, it feels much longer, but perhaps that’s just my puny human brain
• Finally, I can’t help but get this weird Adventures of Huckleberry Finn vibe from the story. Granted, I haven’t read Huck in a while, but there seems to be some parallels (maybe on purpose) – he even falls in with a pair of charlatans at one point.

So, with all those niggles, what could one expect but some horrible rating. One star, a kind two? Well, actually, for all these things that bugged me, I still enjoyed the story. I’m not so sure I’ll ever complete the series (although I might), but I’d give this one something along the line of 3½ out of 5 stars.