Shadow of Torturer

by Gene Wolfe

• ISBN10: 0671540661
• ISBN13: 9780671540661
• Publish Date: 3 June 1984 (first published 3 October 1982)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 16 June 2021
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Pocket Books
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Language: English

Reviews

[ross91]

The idea behind this book is cool, but sadly the execution was lacking and I wasn't very interested in the story.
The worldbuilding is great, I always love a good mix of scifi and fantasy elements set in a very distant post-apocalyptic future.
My main problem was with the characters: Severian is not charistmatic enough, his motives aren't always understandable and all the other characters felt very surface-level.
The writing style is simple and convoluted at the same time, with unusual wordings, weird phrases and strange word choices.
I believe to fully comprehend this book the reader has to analyse everything and search for the hidden meaning, but to me it felt at times random and the story wasn't cohesive, especially the middle section.
Let's just say I really loved the concept of this book, but not how it was written.

[adamfortuna]

I thoroughly enjoyed the beginning of Shadow, only to be confused by the direction later on. The story itself and the characters were interesting -- meandering without a focus as Severian wanders.