The Book of the New Sun by Gene WolfeMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book is, as someone else said, at the same time brilliant and infuriating. It seems aimless, especially the latter half of the first book, and the third book in almost its entirety. It is as if the author substitutes character arcs (the motivation to move a story forward) for scenes that are difficult to know if they're nonsensical or allegorical, or both at the same time. Severian does change, but his changes are more evident in his actions than in any speech he makes, and in allegory (the breaking of his sword, his outward appearance).
I loved and hated the book. Somehow I had enough patience to finish the book, though in the sluggish parts I wanted to let go of it. I didn't mainly because of the beautiful prose and the imagination of the author, and it really left me wondering at the finer points of the plot, though some of the "mysteries" were pretty obvious and others were obscure in such a way that didn't make me want to bust my brains trying to figure them out (like the whole Abaia/Erebus/"Cthulish" gods), I just took them at face value, because they didn't seem important to the overall story.
I'll surely reread it at some point, since it might be better the second time.
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