The Sword and the Citadel Book of the New Sun 2

The Locus Award. British Fantasy Award. John W. Campbell Memorial Award. Apollo Award. Chinese Galaxy and Nebula Awards. Finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Balrog Awards, the British Science Fiction Association Award, World Fantasy Award. Awards from SF Chronicle and the Gigamesh almanac. "The Sword and the Citadel" is the second half of the renowned magical tetralogy "The Book of the New Sun." Severian, the torturer who has become the lictor of the city of Thrax, again breaks his duty as an executioner and arranges an escape for a woman he was supposed to kill. He is forced to flee north to the Commonwealth, into the mountains, pursued by the guards of Thrax and monsters sent by his old enemies. In the north, war is raging: the Autarch's forces are fighting the army of the Ascians. "The Citadel of the Autarch" The story of Severian is nearing its conclusion. He will discover the source of the powers of the Claw of the Conciliator and learn the nature of the Autarch. Severian will return to Ness, to the Citadel, to his teachers, but in a new capacity. Will the former executioner become the New Sun? "The best fantasy of the last century." — Neil Gaiman "The Book of the New Sun is almost heartbreakingly good, rich and full of nuances that reveal themselves with each rereading. This is a masterpiece by Gene Wolfe." — David Langford, critic, ten-time Hugo Award winner "An astonishingly colorful and inventive book... The most extraordinary hero in the entire history of epic fantasy." — The Washington Post "A masterpiece of science fiction, comparable in significance to the major works of Tolkien and Lewis." — Publishers Weekly "The book contains elements of Spencer's allegory, Swift's satire, Dickens' social consciousness, and Wagner's mythology. Wolfe creates a truly alien society that the reader begins to feel from within... Once caught in it, one cannot stop." — The New York Book Reviews