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borteez's review against another edition
3.0
I read this alongside the fantastic podcast 'Shelved by Genre,' which was an interesting experiment in terms of reading along with something that wasn't schoolwork. It was nostalgic to pace myself that way and I think it tended to bring GW's strengths to the forefront as I went along. That being said, I am not sure I would do it again.
The Books of the New Sun are, to put it lightly, mindbogglingly strange for their time. I can see the DNA of so many things we consider revolutionary in speculative fiction--time travel, complex and deeply Catholic (but also super NOT?) cosmologies, DeviantArt OCs. You know. The gamut of the human creative experience.
These books have our main character, Severian, meandering through a world in its sunsetting phase. As he goes he finds himself embroiled in a high-fantasy shlockfest of magical wars, curses and swords, strange creatures and plants and gods and stories, and it all leads to... possibly the most disappointing runup of final tie-togethers I've ever witnessed.
I wouldn't say this series *isn't* worth reading, I particularly think the first three volumes are really solid if sometimes a little bit boring. I do think GW lost the plot somewhere along the way, perhaps around the thirteenth time I said aloud 'really? we're doing THIS?'
All in all, I don't regret my time with GW here, I do think these books have a TON of VERY interesting speculation about the nature of humanity, religion, cycles of violence, what makes a community versus a village versus a nation versus a society versus a planet versus a universe, etc. It all just unfolds extremely... unpredictably. And I do hope, in future endeavors of Gene's, he learned to make his protagonist at least somewhat likable.
The Books of the New Sun are, to put it lightly, mindbogglingly strange for their time. I can see the DNA of so many things we consider revolutionary in speculative fiction--time travel, complex and deeply Catholic (but also super NOT?) cosmologies, DeviantArt OCs. You know. The gamut of the human creative experience.
These books have our main character, Severian, meandering through a world in its sunsetting phase. As he goes he finds himself embroiled in a high-fantasy shlockfest of magical wars, curses and swords, strange creatures and plants and gods and stories, and it all leads to... possibly the most disappointing runup of final tie-togethers I've ever witnessed.
I wouldn't say this series *isn't* worth reading, I particularly think the first three volumes are really solid if sometimes a little bit boring. I do think GW lost the plot somewhere along the way, perhaps around the thirteenth time I said aloud 'really? we're doing THIS?'
All in all, I don't regret my time with GW here, I do think these books have a TON of VERY interesting speculation about the nature of humanity, religion, cycles of violence, what makes a community versus a village versus a nation versus a society versus a planet versus a universe, etc. It all just unfolds extremely... unpredictably. And I do hope, in future endeavors of Gene's, he learned to make his protagonist at least somewhat likable.
fluffypotamus's review against another edition
4.25
Let the work be divided by a wise divider of work. Let the food be divided by a just divider of food. Let the pigs grow fat. Let rats starve.
the ascian's story is my favorite part of this book by far. very interesting but dense and opaque at times. felt like i needed a thesaurus nearby.
kinda wish my edition had bundled urth of the new sun as well, it feels a bit like the ending is missing.
kinda wish my edition had bundled urth of the new sun as well, it feels a bit like the ending is missing.
zazen's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
quajzen's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
thevapidwench's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
enricotruffi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
willand90's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
parenthesis's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
diziet_sma's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
thepancreas11's review against another edition
1.0
I got through seventy pages in three months, and then I put it down. I realized I got no joy from it, that I would find reasons not to read it. Seeing Neil Gaiman's praise on the cover made my heart sink, but I admit defeat. I feel like I just watched all the raw footage from "Planet Earth", the hours of following around some bird waiting for it to do something, and I don't even have David Attenborough to narrate. Actually, I finally understand why people say, "I don't really get science fiction."
I don't doubt the prowess of the author or the beauty of the prose. This clearly took some writing, I just wish it led to something more fulfilling. All the time and effort went into saying things in a complex way rather than saying complex things. The plot meandered and never really held my interest, even when I could get through the fog of the unreliable narrator and the futuristic language. I feel like I would have gotten just as much by trying to read Harry Potter in French. At least then, I know something interest will happen in the end, and hey, maybe I can learn some French along the way.
See, the beauty of Harry Potter is that all the effort went into making the story interesting, rather than the writing. You can zip through those books in a day and get everything you need. You can also read them slowly or re-read them and get more out of them because the little details mean something. They are complex and accessible simultaneously. Can you imagine if J.K. Rowling spent thirty pages describing all the things in Hagrid's hut? Actually, I'd rather read that than this book. This book was like listening to someone describe the intricacies of their obscure PhD research. I guess that's why millions of people have read Harry Potter and I know one person that has ever read this book.
I don't doubt the prowess of the author or the beauty of the prose. This clearly took some writing, I just wish it led to something more fulfilling. All the time and effort went into saying things in a complex way rather than saying complex things. The plot meandered and never really held my interest, even when I could get through the fog of the unreliable narrator and the futuristic language. I feel like I would have gotten just as much by trying to read Harry Potter in French. At least then, I know something interest will happen in the end, and hey, maybe I can learn some French along the way.
See, the beauty of Harry Potter is that all the effort went into making the story interesting, rather than the writing. You can zip through those books in a day and get everything you need. You can also read them slowly or re-read them and get more out of them because the little details mean something. They are complex and accessible simultaneously. Can you imagine if J.K. Rowling spent thirty pages describing all the things in Hagrid's hut? Actually, I'd rather read that than this book. This book was like listening to someone describe the intricacies of their obscure PhD research. I guess that's why millions of people have read Harry Potter and I know one person that has ever read this book.