For those who already have read either the four single-volumes edition, or the dual omnibus edition - but especially for those who are curious about reading this strange, wonderful and unpretentiously philosophical novel...
This is the best edition available!
Long overdue in its complete form - as the Autarch Severian originally intended it - sturdily bound, and printed with a decently sized font that does not torment the eyes - as does the Orb omnibus. Mine was purchased at a quite reasonable price, as are others likewise, currently available.
Short of an illustrated version - which, after three decades, sadly remains unaccomplished (Alan Lee and John Howe...anybody else, are you out there?), this is the most worthy version to own.. The new cover by Don Maitz is an additional bonus, though it would have been great to have included all of his previous covers within, inappropriately Frazetta-ish though they seem.
For those of you who are truly committed to appreciating this wonderfully evocative and unique (all tribute to Jack Vance acknowledged!) blend of science fiction, high fantasy and just plain beautiful literature, I recommend examining Lexicon Urthus for some useful, though not absolutely required, explanatory background information. However, amongst so many other fascinating conundrums, such as whether the setting is post-historical or prehistorical, or some combination or other alternative, truly satisfying answers are entirely up to your own interpretation. And isn't that always the case with art that most worthwhile?
Mage of writers, Wolfe conjures up, from the very first to the very last sentence (check them out!), a long, twisty and enchanting Mobius strip of imagery, events, characters, and landscapes, as well as truths, literal and figurative - often both at the same time.
This translation of The Seeker of Truth and Penitence Guild Journeyman Severian's memoir of his wanderings through many uncanny valleys in a lost or distant Argentina/Chile casts a lingering spell that is difficult to decipher, or to help yourself from contemplating long after you are finished reading it. Even in spite of its "many deviations and digressions" - and other often frustrating stylistic indulgences - this is a novel brimming with imagination, invention and real enchantment. I suppose it is accurate to describe Wolfe as "a writer's writer", like John Fowles or Vladimir Nabakov (ie: A Maggot, or Ada or Ardor), but a reader who is willing to experiment, will be greatly rewarded - particularly those with enthusiasm for fiction that advances the wonderful tropes and traditions of the weird.
A suitably dreamy Apollonian detachment lulls all the boundaries of this narrative, always abetted by a meticulous, yet marvelously imprecise language. So, along the way be warned: ambiguities prevail; explanatory information is often delayed, withheld - or even contradicted later on. Wolfe's style is elegant, redolent with disguise: a masque of wanderings, encounters, captures, escapes. Whole enjoyment requires patience, even tolerance for the way in which a wide variety of genre conventions are introduced, spun - then veered away from. There is action and adventure in doses - particularly in my favorite volume The Sword of the Lictor. Each of the four volumes is composed of short chapters, very episodic, piling wonder upon bewilderment upon mystery. There are entire histories and geographies, artifacts and customs only hinted at or hazily inferred; much for a tolerant and willing reader to participate with in trying to image - which only enhances the spell! And always there is a splendid wealth of wonderfully antique names: marvelously innovative colors and textures that Tolkien himself would likely delight in. (One example that no one has seemed to pick up on: Thecla, and how that vital character might correspond to the Claw.)
In too many other reviews of this remarkable book one encounters predictable"Modern Lit" lecture hall parroting about Severian as an "unreliable narrator", a superficial observation - rarely justified with worthwhile examples - and almost entirely neglectful of the very essence of Maestro Wolfe's cunning and uncanny, though understated, conceit: Much of what he has attempted to transcribe from Severian's memoir is likely lost in translation, as he mentions in the appendices, due to the difficulty of its message-in-a-bottle recovery from whatever far shore it was cast adrift. Likewise, it is very important to keep in mind that the narrator, for at least half of his tale, is a composite personality, something like Paul/Maud'Dib from Dune. The overall tone and tenor of this otherworldly narrative, then, is seductively familiar yet unfamiliar, all in keeping with the unreliable nature of it inherently mysterious universe.
Imagine the later days of the Byzantine Empire exaggerated by a wealth of alien, mutant and mythical beings and creations; and through this enigmatic landscape wanders the silhouette of an executioner: a curiously moral hero occupying an amoral world; savior and destroyer; a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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Great condition and shipping
Reviewed in Canada on February 22, 2021