Books

First editions, first printings of all four volumes of Gene Wolfe's celebrated The Book of the New Sun. Comprising The Shadow of the Torturer, The Claw of the Conciliator, The Sword of the Lictor, The Citadel of the Autarch. A major work of modern science fiction and fantasy that invites comparisons to Herbert's Dune and Tolkien's Middle Earth, winner of numerous awards including the World Fantasy Award and the British Science Fiction Association Award for the first volume, and the Nebula Award for the second. (Anatomy of Wonder, 4-616) New York: Simon & Schuster / Timescape Books, 1980-1983. Publisher's original quarter cloth over paper-covered boards. Volumes are all in about near fine condition, with like dust jackets, unclipped with prices intact. Minor shelfwear present, remainder stamp to the bottom edge of the text block of volume one, remainder mark to volume two, owner's name to the flyleaf of volume four, else clean. Jackets show light wear with toning to the back panels. A nice set, protected in archival mylar.

The Book of the New Sun is a series of four science fantasy novels or one four-volume novel written by American author Gene Wolfe. It inaugurated the so-called 'Solar Cycle' that Wolfe continued by setting other works in the same universe. Narrated by Severian, a disgraced journeyman torturer who rises to the position of Autarch, the story involves themes of time travel, theology, and the nature of reality.