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Gene Wolfe

The Urth of the New Sun Hardcover – January 1, 1987

by Gene Wolfe (Author)

4.5 856 ratings

Book 3 of 3: New Sun

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Severian, the Autarch of Urth, leaves the planet and journeys among the aliens in time and space to meet his greatest test

Book 3 of 3

New Sun
Print length

372 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Tor Books
Publication date

January 1, 1987
ISBN-10

031293033X
ISBN-13

978-0312930332
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Editorial Reviews

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Severian, formerly a member of the Torturers' Guild and now Autarch of Urth, travels beyond the boundaries of time and space aboard the Ship of Tzadkiel on a mission to bring the New Sun to his dying planet. Wolfe demonstrates his mastery of both style and content in this complex, multilayered story of one man's eternal quest. Containing enough background material to make it accessible to series newcomers, this sequel to the four-volume Book of the New Sun is highly recommended. JC
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tor Books (January 1, 1987)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 372 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 031293033X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0312930332
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces

Best Sellers Rank: #1,737,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #82,054 in American Literature (Books)
- #86,925 in Science Fiction (Books)

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4.5 856 ratings

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Gene Wolfe

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Gene Wolfe is winner of the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, and many other awards. In 2007, he was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. He lives in Barrington, Illinois.

Photo by Cory Doctorow licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

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4.5 out of 5

856 global ratings

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Gray

Needs a reprint

Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2023

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Not a review of the book but the printing. It was last printed in the 90’s and it shows. The font is very thick and dark making it a little stressful to read.

2 people found this helpful

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J. Wood

Amazing.

Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2013

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I just finished reading this book after reading The Book of the New Sun Tetrology.
I hate spoilers so I will avoid them as completely as possible. The following is simply my own thoughts on the story itself and, following that, the religious aspects that, once heard of, may turn away the more scientifically minded reader or standard sci-fi fan.

All I can say is I would highly recommend this journey to anyone with half a brain. I firmly believe the subtleness of interactions that manifest this whole mosaic are of worth and value both mentally and spiritually. The joy of the story is tantamount to the growth the individual reader can experience. As Severian grows and experiences, so to do we grow and experience new avenues of thoughtfulness and consciousness.

I am not a religious person and yet this homage to religion or religious ideas is at times astounding and admirable. It parallels in many ways my own thoughts on evolution and the capabilities of mankind while viewing them in a different tone. I find myself respecting these views on gods more than I have any other. We split the hair of viewing the final decision while not even disbelieving (or perhaps rather just believing) in an afterlife for humanity, as far as I can tell. I say splitting the hair, one might also say we view two sides of the same coin, in reality it's not even so bold a difference. It is a hair with a split end, it is a coin with the same face stamped on both sides and we simply disagree where the middle is drawn. Wolfe as an atypical theist and the typical atheist are only in disagreement on a truly final belief that seems to be imperceptible or ambiguous in either case.

2 people found this helpful

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Edward Jones

Not the easiest author to read

Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2023

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He's very taleted and award winning. Sometimes I think he's like many college students and trying to spend all his effort in trying to use big words to make himself sound better.

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M. Packo

Phantasmagoria of Future Times

Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2015

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A most perplexing and difficult novel to review:
Idiosyncratic style and incidental structure that is extravagant with poetic imagery, elegant descriptions and profound observations - while frustratingly coy with its narrative revelations. And since this is the finale of The Book of the New Sun, anticipation remains throughout for many left-over riddles to be resolved. However, though some knots are untangled, the remarkably imaginative skein continues to snarl - too paradoxical and excessive for its own good.

(Warning: Do not expect satisfaction if you have not already read the Book of the New Sun, you will be lost!)

Unpretentiously mythic and philosophical in the best classic traditions of both science fiction and fantasy, this sequel/prequel to Severian's memoir is part Passion Play, part Through The Looking Glass, part Odyssey: a Brothers Grimm alchemy. Wolfe is an illusionist, even more cunning than usual with the Autarch Severian's continued pilgrimage, this time(s) progressing into the over-universe, then back to Urth, then to Ushas, then off again to... Well, it is all simultaneously quite magnificent, confounding, and, ultimately, irritating.

In outline: the first 26 of its 51 chapters involve the voyage to be tested for Urth's redemption. The most rewarding chapters 27 to 43 - a fascinating and often surprising recapitulation at old Urth. Apres those chapters, of course: le deluge...

As always, the chimeric use of an antiquated vocabulary is unparalleled in its mysterious and evocative richness. But Wolfe also remains the thaumaturge more than the hoped for dramatist: as each series of incidents and episodes morphs into another, characters appear then reappear, then change into someone or even something else. Wolfe glories in precise imprecision; his story telling technique, at the most crucial times, depends upon just enough ambiguity to allow meaning to flow free. This is its great accomplishment, though also its most annoying fault. Often Urth of the New Sun reads like some sort of Masque of the White Fountain, complete with guests like a fairy godmother, Friar Tuck, John the Baptist, the Three Wise Men, Tinkerbell - and, of course, good old Apu-Punchau as a sort of Prince Prospero. His style depends on avoiding narrative cliches or conventions, so often risks irritating even the most patient audience with its persistent vagaries and layer upon layer of possibility. So, what exactly was Severian's test? And how did he pass it? How and why was the sun diminished? A punishment for what original sin? And ultimately what is Severian's apotheosis?

The truest science fictional bona fide of this admirably allegorical achievement is Wolfe's masterful fusion of a qabalistic and modern cosmology. Considering the current state of physics' debate between cosmological models (particularly Cyclic, open or regenerative), all the symbolic ingenuity of metaphysically drawing a divine spark from Yesod to Briah - the soul of the story - alone makes the Urth of the New Sun a unique addition to the Stapledon tradition. Unfortunately, the story's emotional outcome becomes submerged by its mythopoeic complexity.

And even if Severian's oddly opaque conscience - the alien heart of all his chronicling - still remains strangely difficult to fathom... Well, again, I consider this is a book full of wonderful and irritating conundrums. Difficult to love, impossible not to admire, but above all frequently graced with wonderfully poignant, beautiful images and insights that linger in the memory.

29 people found this helpful

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Robert DeFrank

Well...I finished it

Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2014

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This was a strange ride, but after Wolfe left us hanging at the end of Citadel of the Autarch I had to see how this story ends.
In many ways, the first half is everything I hoped for. Autarch Severian begins his final quest to gain New Sun for Urth and the villains make one final bid to stop him. He meets the angelic Hierogramme puppet masters face to face and encounters cosmic wonders beyond the scope of Urth before returning home with the White Fountain of renewal.

And the book is half over.

The entire last half of the book, then, is essentially the road back to the Shire and the Scouring of the Shire after the Ring is tossed in Mount Doom. I have to admit that I found many of the chapters dealing with Severian's return to Urth's past and his exploits as the Conciliator tiresome. Actually seeing the Conciliator's journey unfold seemed to diminish the ominous myths that arose from those days to haunt Severian's time, and those chapters both dragged and compressed too much. I realize Wolfe was trying to tackle a lot, but the myths of the Conciliator's era in the Age of Typhon worked best when referenced at a distance.

Things picked up during the long-awaited arrival of the New Sun and epic and horrifying fate of Urth, and I found myself wishing Wolfe had shown his reader's Severian's return at that point and merely referenced his adventures in the past.

There are some other disappointments: we never get to directly see Father Inire or Agia again, or Dorcas and the rest. I'd've liked to see more of Baldanders, but it is what it is.

This was a strange and marvelous world Wolfe had built, and it's with some regret that I closed it on the last chapter, but there are still the books of the Long and Short Sun to look forward to...

11 people found this helpful

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Mark Stone

Great read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 20, 2022

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Great book, really enjoyed it. The best one yet by Gene Wolfe

Gerard

A fitting end to a major work

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 21, 2015

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Few books work on as many levels as Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun and few works have a 'sequal' that extends and completes the original work while doing something new and original. The Urth of the New Sun does all of these thing while providing any reader who has reached this point an extra later of meaning and clarity to what has gone before. Biblical and classical references are brought into sharper focus without so much masquerade as previous volumes, which some will welcome.

Few works compare to The Book of the New Sun and fewer endings compare to The Urth of the New Sun. Your journey with Severian is not complete without it.

3 people found this helpful

SW

I adore the core four books of the New Sun ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 8, 2017

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I adore the core four books of the New Sun. This was an enjoyable read, but lacked somehow the brilliance of the first four and by seeming to hint towards a grand picture that might explain everything, I felt it actually undermined the openess and ambiguity of the first four books, which was part of their huge appeal

3 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

either way I sure enjoyed the story great value amazing author 5/5 gold

Reviewed in Canada on May 2, 2016

Verified Purchase

Dude buy this book i have no clue what was going on but I'm sure if I read this series over and over again throughout my life I'll derive some value from it, either way I sure enjoyed the story great value amazing author 5/5 gold stars

Kindle Customer

An amazing book.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 17, 2018

Verified Purchase

Surprising and inventive, the narrative is simple but the underlying meaning is not. The way then story ends is equally obvious and inevitable. A masterpiece and a worthy end to the Book of the New Sun.

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