History Literature / BookOfTheNewSun

* TortureTechnician: The Torturer's Guild in which Severian is born and apprenticed

* GodGuise: Tzadkiel appears to Severian in the form of an angel. [[spoiler: He falls for it]]

** Chillingly subverted in that the Conciliator myth [[spoiler:is engineered by SufficientlyAdvancedAliens to make it ''appear'' that their plan to destroy/renew Urth has a divine purpose. Arguably the entire plot is about Severian being manipulated into believing he is on a divine mission.]]

Part of the "Briah" Cycle, along with the BookOfTheLongSun tetralogy and BookOfTheShortSun trilogy.

* PrisonerOfZendaExit - Baldanders.

* LanguageOfTruth: The very [[NineteenEightyFour "newspeak"]] like language of the Ascians. Possibly more of a LanguageEqualsThought.

* ArtificialHuman: [[spoiler:Jonas]]. Also, [[spoiler:Dr. Talos]] turns out to be [[spoiler:Baldanders']] homunculus. [[spoiler:Master Malrubius]] in his post-death appearances is this as well.

* {{Crapsack World}}

* EldritchAbomination: Typhon and his children - though they're neither the only nor the oldest ones. Abaia and Erebus are particularly nasty, apparently, though [[{{TakeOurWordForIt}} they're never seen in person]] - only their human worshippers/slaves, the Ascians, who are an Orwellian totalitarian nation.

** Note that while he's a giant [[spoiler:already, he's not even close to full-grown. He will get big enough to have to live in the water eventually, among the Undines and other giant-types too big to walk on land, which as the comment above states, seem to have eerie abilities - there's a throwaway reference to them swimming between the stars.]]

* {{Homage}}: Many of the shorter stories encountered throughout the main text contain more or less obvious parallels to real-life mythology and literature. One is quite clearly the first chapter of RudyardKipling's ''Literature/TheJungleBook'', mashed up with the myth of Romulus and Remus and an American Thanksgiving story.
* HaveWeMetYet - Played straight and inverted ''at the same time''. The Hierodules are constantly moving backwards in time, while Severian moves through time normally - hence, his last meeting with them in ''Urth of the New Sun'' is their first meeting with him.

** ...which is a popular fan theory. The idea is that in Urth, male sexual promiscuity incredibly rampant. In order to establish himself as a badass Severian lied about most (if not all) his sexual encounters (which vary wildly in depiction.)
* LanguageOfTruth: The very [[NineteenEightyFour "newspeak"]] like language of the Ascians. Possibly more of a LanguageEqualsThought.

* LiteraryAgentHypothesis: Each volume ends with a note from Gene Wolfe on the 'translation,' often with mentions of how frustratingly unclear Severian sometimes is.

* OurAngelsAreDifferent - if they're not aliens.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To JackVance's ''Literature/DyingEarth'' stories

* SpiritualSuccessor: To Jack Vance's DyingEarth stories

* SoBeautifulItsACurse: Subverted by Jolenta - she herself enjoys being so beautiful that EvenTheGirlsWantHer. [[spoiler: However, the process used by Dr. Talos to ''make'' her beautiful has left her effectively crippled and dependent on various lotions and chemicals only he can provide, without which it breaks down. [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel Horribly]].]]

** Also qualifies as a {{BFS}} -it's taller than Severian.

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: A very dark example- Severian tells the story of a lieutenant of the guard who was dared to join the Torturer's Guild for a holiday feast. He was rumored to have been seated on a chair of heated iron or other outlandish tortures. Severian, however, claims that the guard was treated hospitably, which only freaked him out ''more'', thinking that they were lulling him into a false sense of security. He eventually shot himself in the mouth.
** Even if the guard wasn't hurt, Severian's description of the Guild's feasts is pretty scary. Decorations include a spiked torture wheel. Music includes the guild's hymn called the "Fearful Song" as well as music played on flutes made of bone or instruments designed to sound like screaming men. What makes this funny is that Severian doesn't realize that others might find it scary.

** Actually the story is a mashup between Theseus and the Battle of Hampton Roads: the joke is that after so many centuries, people got the Minotaur confused with the ''Monitor.'' (There's a similar story that is a mashup of the Jungle Book and Romulus the founder of Rome - both children raised by wolves.)

* {{Homage}}: Many of the shorter stories encountered throughout the main text contain more or less obvious parallels to real-life mythology and literature. One is quite clearly the first chapter of RudyardKipling's ''JungleBook'', mashed up with the myth of Romulus and Remus and an American Thanksgiving story.

** Consider the unnatural height and alien-influenced appearance of exultants, whose numbers include Thecla, Vodalus, and Thea. The exact ''degree'' of their distinctive height and features is vague, leaving it uncertain whether they'd strike us as TheBeautifulPeople or as borderline {{HumanoidAbomination}}s.

* UnreliableNarrator - Severian is one of the big ones, and it is sometimes [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]]. He claims on several occasions to have an eidetic memory - but it's quite clear that he sometimes lies outright. He also omits details that he apparently considers unimportant (or has difficulty understanding).

* UnreliableNarrator - Severian is one of the big ones, and it is sometimes [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]]. He claims on several occasions to have an eidetic memory - but it's quite clear that he sometimes lies outright.

Part of the "Briah" Cycle, along with the BookOfTheLongSun tetrology and BookOfTheShortSun trilogy.

* * IfYouKnowWhatIMean: Jonas has a habit of making "as the Actress said to the Bishop" like comments; they're not always bawdy though.

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