History Literature / BookOfTheNewSun

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

* LiteraryAgentHypothesis: The whole series is presented as a memoir by Severian after his ascension to the Phoenix Throne, somehow sent back in time and translated into contemporary English by Gene Wolfe. Each volume ends with an author's note explaining the difficulties of translating a language that doesn't exist yet.

* CallASmeerpARabbit: Most of the alien, genetically-engineered or otherwise exotic creatures are named after obscure prehistoric beasts. Apparently, not one term in the tetralogy was made up by the author. That claim has confused quite a few readers due to unfortunate typos such as "onegars", a type of animal no one could identify. Turns out it was meant to be "onagers", donkey-like animals. Wolfe gave the definitions for the more obscure terms from the first volume in ''The Castle of the Otter'' (collected in ''Castle of Days'').

''The Book of the New Sun'' is a lengthy ScienceFantasy novel by Creator/GeneWolfe, originally published as four spearate books. The earlier chapters, in particular have a LowFantasy feel. The story takes place in a feudal society a million years in the future. Severian, an apprentice of the Torturer's Guild, narrates his story. After falling in love with one of his charges, Severian is exiled from the guild and sent to a distant city as its appointed [[TheExecutioner executioner]]. Along the way he meets many strange people and experiences many life-altering events.

Later reprintings have collected the book into one or two volumes. A follow-up novel called ‘’The Urth of the New Sun’’ subsequently appeared.

The ‘’Book’’ a work of staggering complexity, in which the narration [[ViewersAreGeniuses explains little outright]].

''The Book of the New Sun'' is a lengthy ScienceFiction novel by Creator/GeneWolfe, originally published as four spearate books. The earlier chapters, in particular have a LowFantasy feel. The story takes place in a feudal society a million years in the future. Severian, an apprentice of the Torturer's Guild, narrates his story. After falling in love with one of his charges, Severian is exiled from the guild and sent to a distant city as its appointed [[TheExecutioner executioner]]. Along the way he meets many strange people and experiences many life-altering events.

''The Book of the New Sun'' is a science fiction novel by Creator/GeneWolfe. Taking place in a feudal society a million years in the future, it tells the story of Severian, an apprentice of the Torturer's Guild. After falling in love with one of his charges, Severian is exiled from the guild and sent to a distant city as its appointed [[TheExecutioner executioner]]. Along the way he meets many strange people and experiences many life-altering events.

The novel is usually published in four volumes. A fifth volume serves as a coda.

It's a work of staggering complexity, with [[ViewersAreGeniuses very little explained outright]].

* {{Expy}}: Severian has aspects of the Emperor Claudius as seen in ''Literature/IClaudius'' by Robert Graves. Hehas the epithets Severian the Mad and Severian the Lame", and, like Claudius. [[spoiler:has a less than happy marriage to a woman named Valeria]].

** Which in turn suggests Borges' story ''Funes the Memorious'', about a young man with a voluminous memory, who is so weighed down with details that he is incapable making the generalizations needed to truly understand those facts - which shows us ''how'' Severian is an UnreliableNarrator.

** Genre-wise, the book ''is'' a political autobiography. [[spoiler:Severian for example elaborately washes his hands of the murder of his delicious predecessor and appeals to his soldiers by claiming to be a war veteran.]]

* WhamEpisode: Lake Diaturna. [[spoiler:Severian fights Baldanders, ''Terminus Est'' is destroyed, and Severian meets the Hierodules. ]]

* DuelingMessiahs: Though it may not be apparent to the protagonist, there are two apparent candidates for the messiah figure known as the Conciliator, namely [[spoiler:Bardanders and Serverian himself]]. Naturally they end up fighting - the trigger being the science-driven former destroying a relic belonging to the faith-driven latter.

* BananaRepublic: The story takes place in a far future, alternate universe version of South America. The massive inequalities of its feudal system is a futuristic spin on this trope.

* FiveManBand - Subverted to hell and back with Dr Talos' players, who Severian crosses paths with and then ''leaves'', several times. Severian even meets Dr Talos and Baldanders [[YouAllMeetInAnInn in an inn]].
* ForegoneConclusion / FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Either Urth freezes beneath the dying Sun, or billions die with the coming of the New Sun, as prophesied by the Conciliator.

* FlowerInHerHair: Dorcas does this.

* ColdBloodedTorture: Severian attempts to avoid details of his profession in his story. What little is described is only what is necessary to make sense of the plot.
* CoversAlwaysLie: The back cover blurb of the compilation version of ''The Sword of the Lictor'' / ''The Citadel of the Autarch'' describes the book as containing [[spoiler: "Severian's final showdown with the evil Autarch." Not only does this never happen, but to top it off, the "evil Autarch" is an affable eunuch with a penchant for flamboyant attire]].

* DudeShesLikeInAComa: [[spoiler:Severian undresses as she sleeps.]]

* HighDiveEscape: Baldanders makes one.

* [[HeroStoleMyBike Hero Stole My Destrier]]: Despite him having a ride, when Severian sees a Destrier (a horse-analog that is ''far'' faster than our current day equines) unlike any before, and proceeds to steal it to get to his destination faster.

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

* WhamEpisode: Lake Diaturna. [[spoiler:Severian fights Baldanders, ''Terminus Est'' is destroyed, and Severian meets the Hierogrammates. ]]

* GentleGiant: Subverted. Baldanders appears to fit the archetype, but is actually an [[spoiler:[[OmnidisciplinaryScientist Omnidisciplinary]] MadScientist who will eventually, it is implied, ascend ''at least'' to [[AGodAmI demigod-hood]]. Note that while he's a giant 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.]]

''The Book of the New Sun'' is a science fiction novel by Creator/GeneWolfe. Taking place in a feudal society a million years in the future, it tells the story of Severian, an apprentice of the Torturer's Guild. After falling in love with one of his charges, Severian is exiled from the guild and sent to a distant city as its appointed executioner. Along the way he meets many strange people and experiences many life-altering events.

* CoolSword: ''Terminus Est'', an executioner'sblade given to Severian when he is exiled. It has a hollow filled with mercury in the blade that causes the center of weight of the blade to shift when swung. It's taller than Severian, who is said to be tall himself.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Severian recalls a number of incidents that he admits don't have any apparent bearing on the plot. Subverted in that many (all?) of them do hint at things that Severian hasn't figured out but the reader is expected to. For example, the chapter about Triskele may be taken to show [[spoiler:that Severian could raise the dead long before he held the Claw.]]

''The Book of the New Sun'' is Creator/GeneWolfe's masterpiece. It takes AfterTheEnd in a FeudalFuture and seems to be LowFantasy, but is ScienceFiction in disguise. It tells the story of Severian, an apprentice of the Torturer's Guild, who turns out [[spoiler:to fit into MessianicArchetype]].

!!! Books
* Tetralogy, sometimes published in a single volume

* ''The Urth of the New Sun'', a coda, which was written some time later and clears up a number of points from the series proper.

It's a work of staggering complexity, with [[ViewersAreGeniuses very little explained outright]]. The WildMassGuessing alone would be longer than most pages on this wiki (and [[http://www.urth.net/urth/ here's]] proof).

* AllThereInTheManual: The rare supplementary books ''Lexicon Urthus'' by Michael Andre-Driussi (which explains some of the more oblique aspects of ''The Book of the New Sun'', as well as the archaic terminology) and ''The Castle of the Otter'' (a collection of essays by Wolfe himself about various aspects of the series).

* ArtificialHuman: [[spoiler:Jonas]]. [[spoiler:Dr. Talos]] is also [[spoiler:Baldanders']] homunculus. [[spoiler:Master Malrubius in his post-death appearances]] is this as well.

* BananaRepublic: If you believe that the story takes place in far future South America, then the massive inequalities of its feudal system is just a futuristic spin on this trope.
** WordOfGod says [[spoiler:Urth is not, in fact, ''our'' Earth in the distant future, but takes place in another iteration of the universe.]]

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Severian recalls a number of incidents that he admits don't have any apparent bearing on the plot. Subverted in that many (all?) of them do hint at things that Severian hasn't figured out but the reader is expected to. For example, the chapter about Triskele may be taken to show [[spoiler: that Severian could raise the dead long before he held the Claw.]]

* BrainBleach: [[spoiler:Baldanders' castle/laboratory contains a room whose central feature is a wide-awake vivisected pregnant woman under glass]]. Severian also finds [[spoiler: a gigantic infant (that is, the size of a full-grown man) chained to Baldanders' bed]]. Even Severian is sharp enough to think "catamite."

* BrotherSisterIncest: [[spoiler: Agia and Agilus]].
* CallASmeerpARabbit: As if inverting the popular fantasy trope is not enough, Wolfe subverts it for good measure by naming most of his alien, genetically-engineered or otherwise exotic creatures after obscure prehistoric beasts. Apparently, not one term in the tetralogy was made up by the author.
** That claim has confused quite a few readers due to unfortunate typos such as "onegars", a type of animal no one could identify. Turns out it was meant to be "onagers", donkey-like animals. Wolfe gave the definitions for the more obscure terms from the first volume in his ''The Castle of the Otter'' (collected in ''Castle of Days'') which is well worth reading.)

* CliffhangerCopout: The was originally published as four separate books. Each of the first three books ended with a cliffhanger. In each case, the next book begins some time after the resolution of the cliffhanger the resolution [[NoodleIncident never explained in detail]]. This might have been a protest on Wolfe's part against the novel being DividedForPublication.
* ColdBloodedTorture: Severan attempts to avoid details of his profession in his story. What little do we get is only to note strange events or if it's relevant to the plot.
* CoversAlwaysLie: The back cover blurb of the compilation version of ''The Sword of the Lictor'' / ''The Citadel of the Autarch'' describes the book as containing [[spoiler: "Severian's final showdown with the evil Autarch." Not only does this never happen, but to top it off, the "evil Autarch" is an affable eunuch with a penchant for flamboyant attire]]. No, not AffablyEvil. Just affable.
* ColdBloodedTorture: The Torturer's Guild tortures people as punishment, not interrogation and has no interest in the innocence, guilt, or any attributes of their victims.
** Though Sevarian does bring up on several occasions that the punishments the torturers inflict are handed down to them from judges and that they take no liberties with their orders. They perform exactly what they're told to, no more and no less, in a twisted kind of professionalism(even to the point of calling their prisoners "clients")
* CoolSword ''Terminus Est''. Also qualifies as a {{BFS}}. It's taller than Severian, who is said to be tall himself.
** To Wolfe's annoyance, some reviewers insist that it is a literally [[WrongGenreSavvy ''magic'' sword]]. It is [[WordOfGod nothing of the sort]]. Wolfe gave [[Literature/SoldierOfTheMist Latro]] a magic sword ("It cuts things") as a TakeThat to the reviewers.

* HaveWeMetYet: Played straight and inverted, ''at the same time. [[spoiler:The Hierodules are moving backwards in time, while Severian moves through time normally. Hence, his last meeting with them in ''The Urth of the New Sun'' is their first meeting with him.]]

!! Books

The tetralogy consists of ''The Shadow of the Torturer'', ''The Claw of the Conciliator'', ''The Sword of the Lictor'' and ''The Citadel of the Autarch'', sometimes published in a single volume. It has a coda, ''The Urth of the New Sun'', which was written some time later and clears up a number of points from the series proper. It's a work of staggering complexity, with [[ViewersAreGeniuses very little explained outright]]. The WildMassGuessing alone would be longer than most pages on this wiki (and [[http://www.urth.net/urth/ here's]] proof).

It is along, with the ''Literature/BookOfTheLongSun'' tetralogy and ''Literature/BookOfTheShortSun'' trilogy, make up the Briah cycle, also known as the Solar cycle.

* CoolSword ''Terminus Est''. Also qualifies as a {{BFS}}. Tt's taller than Severian, who is said to be tall himself.

* OurAngelsAreDifferent: That's if they're not SufficientlyAdvancedAliens.
%%* OurMonstersAreDifferent: Just about every possible variety.

* ViewersAreGeniuses: The books are peppered with a large amount of obscure terms that will look like Latin altered to fit English grammatical rules to the casual reader. As noted in the afterword of the first book, none of the words are made up, and have seen real-world usage. Their obscurity is intended to reinforce the fact that they are approximations of untranslatable concepts, nothing else. A eader with an exceptionally large vocabulary will have a much easier time with the novels.

* WhamEpisode: Lake Diaturna.