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.