 Front cover of the first one-volume edition (1998) | |
| Author | Gene Wolfe |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Don Maitz |
| Language | English |
| Series | Solar Cycle[1] Book of the New Sun sub-series[a] |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster; Orb / Tor Books (first two-volume) |
Publication date | 1980–1983 (four vols.); 1987 (coda); 1994 (two volume ed.) |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardcover first; trade paperback first two-volume ed.) |
| Pages | 1225 (1597 including coda) |
| ISBN | 1568658079 |
| OCLC | 30700568 |
| 813/.54 20 | |
| LC Class | PS3573.O52 S53 1994 |
| Followed by | The Urth of the New Sun |
The Book of the New Sun (1980–1983, 1987) is a four-volume science fantasy novel[2] written by the American author Gene Wolfe. The work is in four parts with a fifth novel acting as a coda to the main story. It inaugurated the "Solar Cycle" that Wolfe continued by setting other works in the same universe (The Book of the Long Sun series, and The Book of the Short Sun series).[1]
It chronicles the journey of Severian, a journeyman torturer from the Order of the Seekers for Truth and Penitence, who after helping a client kill themselves is exiled in disgrace to journey to the distant city of Thrax where he is to live out his days as their executioner. Severian lives in the ancient city of Nessus in a nation called the Commonwealth, ruled by the Autarch, in the Southern Hemisphere. It is at war with Ascia, its totalitarian northern neighbor. It is a first-person narrative, ostensibly translated by Wolfe into contemporary English, set in a distant future when the Sun has dimmed and Earth is cooler (a "Dying Earth" story).
The four volumes and additional fifth coda are:
In a 1998 poll of its subscribers, Locus magazine ranked the tetralogy number three among 36 all-time best fantasy novels before 1990.[3][b]
- ^ a b Solar Cycle series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB). Retrieved April 23, 2012.
- ^ Keeley, Matthew (December 4, 2017). "The Best Way to Approach The Book of the New Sun". tor.com. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
- ^ The Locus Online website links multiple pages providing the results of several polls and a little other information. • "The Locus Index to SF Awards: 1998 Locus All-Time Poll". Locus Publications. Archived from the original on January 13, 2004. Retrieved April 24, 2012. • See also "1998 Locus Poll Award". ISFDB. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
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