Sword & Citadel by Gene Wolfe

This is the second half of the Book of the New Sun, which began with Shadow & Claw. We were supposed to discuss it in science-fiction reading group yesterday, but the meeting was rescheduled until tomorrow because of a conflict. I read most of the second half flying to Hawai'i last week, then finished it on the flight home.

When The Sword of the Lictor begins, Severian has taken up his post as the lictor of Thrax. Soon, he is forced to leave Thrax, and makes his way across the mountains to join up with the army in the north, fighting against the Ascians. Most of the book consists of adventures he has along the way. He finds a lonely cabin beneath a mountain, and endures an attack from an Alzabo with the family there. Then he discovers an ancient formation of towers, and meets a man with two heads. Finally, he leads the people who live on floating islands in a revolt against the castle that overlooks their lake.

The Citadel of the Autarch picks up when Severian has nearly reached the army. Part of the remainder he spends recovering from his journey, under the care of the Pelerines. Most of it, though, rapidly leads the story to its conclusion. From the beginning, it is no secret that Severian will become the new autarch. The questions are how, why, when, etc.

I hope the discussion tomorrow is enlightening. Unfortunately, we're only planning to discuss the first half of the Book of the New Sun. The questions posed by the second half will have to wait a couple more weeks.

One of my big questions is why Severian deserves the label of "unreliable narrator". He claims to have perfect memory, though he occasionally forgets things, and that may be the source of the epithet. But I was expecting some contradictions within the events of the text, and failed to find them.

On the whole, I think this is an excellent book, or two, or four. But I would definitely advise against reading them in anything but close succession. I felt quite connected to the first half, but had lost much of that feeling by the time I picked up the second, and never fully regained it.