The Sword of the Lictor

Book three of the tetralogy The Book of the New Sun, following The Shadow of the Torturer (1980) and The Claw of the Conciliator (p.44) - and though this is a more shapely volume, hero Severian's wanderings remain mere travelogue, with no true Quest in view. Now in the city of Thrax, Severian's companion Dorcas discovers she's really dead, brought back to life by the power of the Claw - so off she goes in search of her former life. Severian, meanwhile, having refused to kill a woman at the behest of the archon, flees into the mountains in search of the Pelerines, the rightful custodians of the Claw: he has another brush with nemesis Agia; he escapes the attack of a slime-creature sent by ex-spaceman Hethor; he stumbles into a trap set by two-headed Typhon, ancient foe of the Conciliator; then, captured by lake-dwellers, he's sent to the local castle, where he again meets up with Dr. Talos (now revealed as a cyborg). And finally, after an epic battle, Severian slays the giant Baldanders - but his sword is broken, the Claw jewel is shattered, and he finds a real claw of great mental power. . . which causes him to stumble off in a daze. As in previous volumes, the individual episodes here, often highly original and about equally bewitching and obscure, carry the reader along. So, despite Wolfe's dense, simile-burdened prose and the lack of real substance, this series should continue to engage a fair share of the fantasy audience. (Kirkus Reviews)