Sword and Citadel
Gene Wolfe
Gollancz
<p>**retail**</p><p>The Book of the New Sun is unanimously acclaimed as Gene Wolfe's most remarkable work, hailed as "a masterpiece of science fantasy comparable in importance to the major works of Tolkien and Lewis" by <em>Publishers Weekly</em>, and "one of the most ambitious works of speculative fiction in the twentieth century" by T<em>he Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Sword &amp; Citadel</em> brings together the final two books of the tetralogy in one volume:  </p><p><em>The Sword of the Lictor</em> is the third volume in Wolfe's remarkable epic, chronicling the odyssey of the wandering pilgrim called Severian, driven by a powerful and unfathomable destiny, as he carries out a dark mission far from his home.  </p><p><em>The Citadel of the Autarch</em> brings The Book of the New Sun to its harrowing conclusion, as Severian clashes in a final reckoning with the dread Autarch, fulfilling an ancient prophecy that will forever alter the realm known as Urth.  </p><p>"Brilliant . . . terrific . . . a fantasy so epic it beggars the mind. An extraordinary work of art!"-<em>Philadelphia Inquirer</em>  </p><p>"The Book of the New Sun establishes [Wolfe's] preeminence, pure and simple. . . . The Book of the New Sun contains elements of Spenserian allegory, Swiftian satire, Dickensian social consciousness and Wagnerian mythology. Wolfe creates a truly alien social order that the reader comes to experience from within . . . once into it, there is no stopping."<em>--The New York Times Book Review</em>  </p><p>At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.</p><p>Unanimously acclaimed as one of the finest works of science fiction ever written, the four-volume epic The Book of the New Sun is now available for the first time this decade. This dramatic adventure follows Severian as he transforms from a ruthless monster to a savior of a world. Sword &amp; Citadel contains the concluding two volumes, <em>The Sword of the Lictor</em> and <em>The Citadel of the Autarch</em>. </p>