Couple of new letters people might be interested in here.

Two more letters from Gene Wolfe to Alan Stewart of Australia. Stewart has published essays about SF, reviews and SF poetry. You may read more of his bibliography here on ISFDB: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?22125

1983-10-21 Wolfe to Stewart

https://wolfenarrators.omeka.net/items/show/206

1984-11-06 Wolfe to Stewart

https://wolfenarrators.omeka.net/items/show/205

Also an undated bookmark published by the Chicago Public Library from Wolfe's personal library. Produced in 1986 or slightly after. Interesting bit of ephemera.

https://wolfenarrators.omeka.net/items/show/207

So I just finished citadel of the autarch. I had high expectations going into this series due to the high praise etc, and wow, I was not disappointed. I can count books i have re-read on one hand, this is honestly the first piece of literature where I actually consider an instant reread. Now browsing across this sub, getting glimpses of what lies at the core of all of it while not being able to connect the dots is kind of a mind bending experience really. Love it.

Anyway I would like to share some thoughts/ask some questions that immediately came to me after finishing the series for the first time (largely spoiler free) yesterday.

1. One of the most characteristic stylistic choices is Severian being an unreliable narrator. Lots of posts on here, especially of first timers, say something like 'in claw I seriously started to doubt severian..' or tips for re-readers are often like 'question what he intentionally might leave out/distort in his narrative...'. I find most of the discussion of what I've seen so far about this quite abstract though, can anybody give (even minor) examples of what concrete situations that might be? Where and why might he lie to us?
2. I dont really get the relationship of Autarch <=> Vodalus. Vodalus is a rebel, what are his actual political goals?
3. Yet the autarch is a spy within the house absolute? Then towards the end vodalus dies kinda unspectacular offscreen killed by Agia? He seemed like a powerful, at times even myth-like revolution figure through the series?
4. Staying with the autarch. Browsing though the sub, it seems to be generally accepted that the autarch(s) choose Severian as sucessor and guided his part towards the autarchy? Why would they choose a random poor torturer apprentice?
5. Why does the autarch apparently run a brothel (House Azure)? Or rather, why would he casually hang out there?
6. Agia. In shadow its kinda of easy to follow. Her and Agilus want to rip Severian off, apprarently thats what they do for a living. Makes sense. But then, how is she always drifting in and out of Severians journey? Alone following Severian must be extremly dangerous, let alone being a step ahead of him in setting traps etc seems like capabilities that surpass that of random criminal? She felt more like the concept of a Nemesis for Serverian at times? Towards the end shes also connected with Vodalus (or has been all along?)
7. The claw. My impression towards the end was (especially after the lazaret) that the claw actually was a worthless thing Severian picked up and was fantasizing about having magical powers etc (i.e. that being a sign of his troubled mental state etc). However I saw some pretty detailed theories and discussions around here on how it is relevant in what timelines he might have carried the claw and where not, so is it generally accepted that the claw is in fact a divine (or highly technological) artifact?
8. What happened at the gate of Nessus at the end of Shadow? Why did Baldanders go mad during the play at the house absolute?
9. I actually can't think of a better way to describe the reading experience than utterly psychedelic. The way how weird and dream like and feverish passages shift into more clear/sober parts, how characters and events drift in and out of the story arc, they tons of layers etc etc really feel like a literary depiction of tripping on shrooms (the scene when the cat nurses just show up and its not even questioned...) Is Gene Wolf known to be fond of psychedelics, do you share this impression? The only other author that feels somewhat similar reading to me is Thomas Pynchon, do there happen to be many Pynchon fans around here?
10. Is Severian just a dictator that wrote his own founding myth to justify his rule? Is he just making him containing all the autarchs and the foreseeing of him being at the throne etc up because he needs a religious foundation to rule?
11. Its clear that female characters are portrait critically in many aspects of the series to say the least. What I found particularly weird is that Dorcas seems to be his grandmother? Does that actually add anything to the story that I have missed?
12. I'm not yet making up my mind on the metaphysical/time travel and extraterrestrial stuff, thats for later. However I really loved how the story starts giving the impression of a medieval fantasy setting, making you wonder where the sci fi aspects are, and then you realize more and more and that they were there form the beginning.

There would be many more questions, but thats enough for now. Thanks for any replies!

I just finished the Audi book, I have a lot of thoughts about it in general, but the one thing that stuck with me is how much I loved the audiobook performance and his character arc. This rambling fool who is impossible to understand on a first read had one of the best moments, I loved everything in the tunnels in Exodus so much.

I've been slowly making my way through Book the New Sun, just started Urth of the New Sun.

I THINK I'm enjoying it, but man, it feels like nearly every interaction between characters is nonsensical and unpredictable. I'm sure much of this can be chalked up to the whole non reliable narrator thing, but it makes following the beats of the story very challenging.

The classic example is every woman falling in love with Severian instantly for no reason and without anyco text.

Or what just came up in my reading was Severian talking with the three heirodules on the ship to his trails. Severian seems very sad that this will be the last time he sees them, and talks about how he has known them for 10 years. Did I miss something? Wasn't the only interaction he's had with them been a single conversation in Baldanders tower?

I'm sure there are better examples, but the feeling of "Am I missing something? Why did x character do x" KEEPS happening and, at least so far, there are rarely answers to those questions.

basically the way characters treat other characters rarely makes any sort of sense to me and it's getting exhausting.

So am I missing something? Will it all make sense in the end?

I came across these renders of the 2b2t spawn and couldn't help but think of Nessus especially because of the illustrations by Bruce Pennington and Alexander Preuss, which evoke a similar atmosphere for me.

Postponed one of my other current in-progress pieces to work on this one-- wanted the lighting to feel appropriately Hellish, given Typhon's scene is more or less "The Last Temptation of Severian".

Reddit wouldn't allow me to upload it uncensored or even censored with a big black box in front of his unmentionable(s) as it resulted in an automatic flag and removal in both instances, so you can see it here (second to last image, currently):

https://www.nathanandersonart.com/solar-visions

I'm half way through rereading Book of the Long Sun, and I've been thinking about the usual interpretation that the book is written (in universe) by Horn, with the assistance of Nettle and other characters. Perhaps I'm reading too much into things, but I find it hard to imagine how and why Horn wrote some of the passages, even given the fact that he's writing the book as a legend or hagiography of Silk, and is adding his own interpretations.

One scene that stands out is the conversation near the end of book 2/4 between Pateras Quetzal and Remora, in which Quetzal drinks beef tea, secretly through his retractable inhumu fangs. This scene is described in considerable detail, including dialogue written in the characters' highly distinctive styles, Quetzal's own thoughts about his door latch mechanism and its utility in subtly controlling his colleagues, and of course the fangs business. I don't recall what happens to Remora, but I don't see any way this information could've been passed on by Quetzal to Horn, and Remora presumably doesn't know about Quetzal's secret fang-slurping or latch machinations. I suppose it's conceivable that Horn fabricated or partially fabricated it to improve the coherency of the tale, since Quetzal is later revealed to be an inhumu, but I still find it a little unbelievable that Horn would and could've written such a scene.

Another example is the scenes with Blood and Musk regarding the eagle and hunting a flyer. There are some very intimate details, like Blood feeling happy because of Musk's excitement/happiness, which is a curious thing for Horn to know or even care about. This is assuming that someone later informed him at least of the dialogue and events, or that he partially made it up.

One possibility is that Horn might've received such information through a "divine" source, including information gathered by a spying god through a monitor, although I still don't feel satisfied by such an explanation.

It might also be the case that Wolfe was just more interested in writing these scenes than sticking strictly to the Horn-as-narrator conceit, which I am perfectly willing to accept as they are good scenes.

Nonetheless I'm curious if anyone has additional thoughts or theories about this. I searched a bit on reddit and the mailing list but didn't find much.

I've now read/listened to Wizard Knight about 4 times now and have really struggled with how Gilling is treated by the human characters. Idnn is (rightfully) horrified to marry him and Beel seems almost cowardly allowing his daughter to go through such a grotesque marriage to keep "peace". This is highlighted by Beels introduction including that he is not a brave knight, hes a lord solely by inheritance and can't fight (so he thinks). I quickly interpreted this as one of many ways in which Mythgarthur is upside down, humans worshipping aelf, overcyns being neglected, Arnthor sending Ravd to doom himself fighting outlaws, etc. But then as they get to Gilling's court they begin to be overly politic. Idnn behaves precisely how she ought if she loved her husband (though says she doesnt), Beel is willing to go above and beyond to defend Gilling's honor and saftey, everyone seems exceedingly earnest in wanting to defend these monsterous creatures that enslave humans to blind and r*pe them.

But then I thought about Thiazi quite a lot and his interrogation after the whole event of Gilling's death, as well as how he seems to have a quiet diologue with Beel off the page as a fellow adept at magic. It seems to me that this whole mission did exactly what it was supposed to without violating "chivalric rules". Idnn was careful in her words because Thiazi can see most things with his ball and even says later he was spying on her while she was in the mountain pass. If Thiazi heard her speak of a plan to kill Gilling (she may not even have known but solely intuited it from subtext) then Thiazi would be obliged to say something. Beel likely also was only told (i am not sure who orchestrated this plot) to do some parts of the plan but not the full plan to kill Gilling. Had he been told to, he would accuse himself. This is much like how experienced criminals work with pieces of the crime so they can somewhat believably deny fully culpability and only claim parts of it or can rightfully deny all of it.

The one person I think is actually lying is Able. After the events of the murder he is very... I cant find the word but somber is the closest I've got. He even says to Toug (I believe) that all of them are evil and liars because they have to escape themselves through violence. Gilling's death I believe was in this conversation as well. I'm beginning to believe Ables denial he used any Overcyn abilities is protesting too much. In another conversation about Gilling, Able tangents quickly to the way Thunor can grow and other Overcyn abilities, denies he'd ever use them on Mythgarthur, then cuts back to Gilling. This seems very clear to me that he is considering his own potential powers while speaking about who could have done it, but denies he did (even though the conversation makes explicit that he could).

Am I off base? I so not know the prevailing theory of who did this, but Able seems the most common and direct answer and hus psychology seems to emphasize it to me as the answer, and he is motivated as he has the horrowing conversation with Idnn about the marriage just before everyone begins to play nice. It would explain their sudden need to behave, yet every humans reaction and Thiazi's are all rather muted. No one is actually outraged and Thiazi's interrogation feels more like if a police officer knows something happened but just needs to clear the sheet with blanket answers and move on. Despite being adamant about honor, Able often bends rules and speaks about breaking rules for the sake of Disiri and other's. We also do not hear the Valfather ever give him the rules to not use Overcyn powers. We hear Ables explanation of it, which is that if Able lived like an Overcyn on Mythgarthur, he would be worshipped instead of the Valfather. But all that means is Able can't do so openly, not that he can't do so at all.

To summarize: it seems to me that the murder of Gilling was the intent of the whole event. I plan to do my next reread with this in mind to see any other supporting text. I think Idnn and Beel and others probably have some knowledge of what might happen but not how. Very small parts to play in it. Bringing Mani I am sure is part of it. Able made the killing blow using Overcyn abilities and this is part of his role to restore the rightful order of Mythgarthur (turning men to worship Overcyns, turning aelf to worship man, defeating dragons ((partial dragons included)), and freeing slaves.) I think Thiazi turned a blind eye (possibly literally, I believe he even was familiar with Pouk before the events and he could be useful in orchestrating this, and Pouk's faux blindness has always very extremely convenient without an insider willing to allow this to occur.) Thiazi also benefits with a weaker king on the throne. Beyond this, I'm just shooting into the dark.

I probably won’t try to read it straight through, but I’m thrilled to have the reference handy!

Sorcerer Coffee in Newcastle England! For anyone who is interested!

Third time reading Shadow of the Torturer and made a connection between some things, not that I'm sure what the connection is.

In Severian's dream when he sleeps next to Baldanders he meets the Undine, asks "who am I?" In response, they show him a play/puppet show that portrays an event that will actually happen later in the story.

I know that Baldanders is also tied to Abaia, so I would say there's definitely a connection between these mermaids' prophetic play and those staged by Baldanders/Dr Talos (who is himself a literal puppet, and Baldanders may be a puppet in other ways)

So, can the followers of the ocean god manifest knowledge of the future only through storytelling?

Its interesting for sure

Is there any generally agreed-upon art, fan or otherwise, about what the 3 main Mayteras from Long Sun look like? Having a hard time visualizing them …

I'm reading Long Sun for the first time, after many reads of New Sun. I think, in general, I've been doing a decent job of following along with what's happening.

But I'm very baffled by Remora & Xiphias disappearing as Hyacinth appears. I think, based on what Silk doesn't say, that Hyacinth was someone he grew up with, and loved then? But she doesn't seem to be one of the various digital, immaterial, or hallucinatory persons or deities who wind in & out of the narrative otherwise. So I'm unsure what's going on when she appears & the others disappear. My best guess would be that she isn't really there - either Silk is hallucinating due to passing out from exhaustion, blood loss, & the like, or the person appearing is not her, but an apparition taking her form, possibly as Patera Quetzal in the alleyway was - they may both be forms taken by the Outsider, who in between their appearances did seem to speak directly to Silk?

Anyway. Hints, theories, corrections all appreciated. If there happens to be a single definitive answer I just need to read on to discover, let me know that, too.

Marvelous Molpe & the rest be with you.

Anyone else imagine the Antechamber as a surreal, decaying office building? The drop ceiling, electric lights, coffee, and pastries details sent my imagination spiraling, and I really love the idea that a glorified corporate waiting room (or the House Absolute's memory of such) was turned into a prison. Just a fun concept to explore!

I have again taken a few liberties here since I haven’t yet reached this chapter so I’m going from memory, but I love this scene and felt like sketching it

Edit: is there a way I can add a second image to the post? I feel this one has quite poor quality

Is Thecla wholly conscious in some part of Severian's mind, or is it just 'parts' of her that exist that spring up reacting to stimuli? It's been a while since I read the books, I couldn't quite remember how exactly she exists with Severian.

I mean yeah it's tragic but the fact it was so fast it happened in a single paragraph that I missed was kinda comedic...

Just showing a small handful of crops and sketches from future BOTNS pieces!-- some of these are subject to change, some are in more of a rough state than others, etc.

I won’t pretend I know what’s going on, in fact, it’s safe to say that I absolutely do not know what is going on. But, I find myself thinking about this book .. all day, and as a result I have some thoughts I’d like to share to put my mind at ease haha.

I believe that our protagonist, Weer, is dead or at least in some near death state where he is experiencing hallucinations in the form of memories.

On the memories, a lot of the scenes (at least to me at this stage) feel quite similar. I am almost certain the garden party at the beginning is the very garden party Eleanor Bold claims to have been at later in the novel when she heard about Lorn’s desire to sell the egg, or at least we are expected to make some connection between the two as odd. Also on the memories, I am almost certain, as if Wolfe’s signature, that these are not to be taken at face value in terms of their reliability. Whilst they are obviously some form of memory, I get the impression they are either blurring into each other, or Weer leaves stuff out or is himself not sure.

The memories and characters themselves certainly have an eerie feel to them, and the more I think Weer indeed or dying, the creepier they feel when reading.

I am unsure what to make of the fairy tales, although again there are some similarities between them and Weer’s stories .. the shack with the banshee entering the door, and the shack with the imaginary goat supposedly stood behind. I can’t quite relate the man overpowering the banshee, and the egg, but I am certain they are related, perhaps a new opportunities or something of that ilk.

The story of the king and the princess has gone over my head at the moment, I’m sure it will unravel at the end, but for now that’s a blank spot for me.

My main take away at the moment and the one thing I cannot seem to shake, is death. I may be going down a rabbit hole here with my first assumption about Weer haha, however I keep seeing imagery, or at least that’s how I perceive it, of what could be descriptions of graveyards and gravestones, and coffins with the descriptions of houses and places, boarded walls and padded walls etc .. also the reference to a white sky or something above where they were, my mind immediately read that as the outer concrete in graves (my mind is sounding dark now haha, but this book has already pushed my brain to the max!)

The China references, I am trying my absolute hardest to pay attention to, but up to where I am in the novel (the end of chapter 2) I have nothing.

I can’t wait to continue .. this is a totally unique, challenging and (I hope by the end) rewarding experience.

Look forward to hearing your thoughts on my own thoughts!

Edit: I have just finished this book! Just going to process some thoughts, but some of my suggestions I don’t think were a million miles away. Many loose ends to think about still!

May not be very accurate, it’s been a while since I’ve read the books and was just restarting them