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Gene Wolfe's four-volume Book of the New Sun must rank among the finest works of literature of the past quarter-century. SHADOW AND CLAW is an omnibus consisting of the first half, the volumes THE SHADOW OF THE TORTURER and THE CLAW OF THE CONCILIATOR.

The Book of the New Sun is shelved among science-fiction, but it is much more. Wolfe draws on Christianity, the works of J.L. Borges, medieval morality plays, and a thousand elements of "Spritus Mundi." It is essentially a Christian allegory, as "Sun" is clearly the homophone of "Son." However, this element doesn't intrude on the unbelieving reader. The BotNS is written with a colourful array of obscure English words, for example: odalisque, fulgurator, carnifex, cenobite, peltast. Nonetheless, Wolfe gives such context that reaching for the Oxford English Dictionary is hardly necessary. A saint's dictionary helps, however, as most characters are named for nearly-forgotten saints.

SHADOW AND CLAW introduces us to Severian, an apprentice to a guild of torturers in a far-future Earth, when the sun is dying. As he confesses early on, Severian's narration is essentially the story of how he has "backed into the throne." He begins by telling the reader of his exile for showing a condemned woman mercy and his going forth into a world both alien and wispily recognizable.

THE CLAW OF THE CONCILIATOR continues Severian's wanderings, and his unwitting involement in the mysterious politics of his day. Most striking is a play transcribed in the second half. "Dr. Talos' Play: Eschatology and Genesis" seems at first a poorly written morality play, but the careful reader will notice myriad hidden references to the book's plot, Greek and middle-eastern myth, and the renewing salvation of Christ as seen by Christianity.

Severian is among of one the most complex and believable narrators I've ever read. Wolfe uses Severian to see Urth through his eyes, and much of the information we gather about his world comes from what he doesn't understand. For example, he lives in a world where one no longer distinguishes between ocean and space-going craft, and his confusion gives us important clues about the character Jonas. Furthermore, this book, although only four volumes and a coda, spawns whole years of exegesis, as denizens of the 'net mailing-list "Urth-l" can attest. Mystery has always been a continual element in Wolfe's works, but answers do lurk in every paragraph.

I admit that the Book of the New Sun is not for everyone; its million allusions and complex language require a fair degree of classical education and may bore many people. Nonetheless, for me it was "The Book of Gold," as I discovered it at an age when it sped me on to the glories of world literature. It shows the way to Borges, Robert Graves, Roman and Greek history and myth, the splendour of exegesis and, for at least me personally, the Church. If this review makes the work sound appealing, I would recommend buying SHADOW AND CLAW and experiencing this wonderful work.