The Claw of the Conciliator

Rarely has a science fiction/fantasy novel received the kind of critical acclaim that greeted Gene Wolfe's The Shadow of the Torturer, Volume One of The Book of the New Sun. Ursula K. Le Guin called it "the first volume of a masterpiece." The Claw of the Conciliator is the eagerly awaited second volume of this momentous work.

The Book of the New Sun is set a million years in the future, on an Earth transformed in mysterious and wondrous ways, and in a time when our present culture is no longer even a memory.

The Shadow of the Torturer introduced Severian, a torturer exiled for falling in love with one of his victims, and allowing her to take her own life rather than be subjected to the highly refined methods of torture Severian has been so carefully trained in. In Volume Two, Severian is in possession of a gem considered to be "The Claw of the Conciliator," a powerful relic of the Master of Power, a legendary figure of mythic proportions. Armed with his sword, Terminus Est, and the Claw, Severian continues his journey to Thrax, the city of his exile. On the way, he encounters such wonders as the apelike creatures with glowing, hairy bodies and human intelligence in their eyes, who fight Severian with an intensity and strength such that it seems they must surely slay him; the bizarre cannibalistic ritual, which infuses Severian with the memories and thoughts of his dead beloved Thecla; the room of mirrorlike surfaces into which Jonas, Severian's not-quite-mortal companion, disappears; and the dazzling Vatic Fountain, into which Severian tosses an offering to learn his destiny.

Evocative, profound, hypnotic, The Claw of the Conciliator is a novel of dreamlike beauties and awesome terrors, the second volume of a masterwork.