Reddit reviews The Book of the New Sun

Gene Wolfe - The Book of the New Sun

The Book of the New Sun

I own this complete copy of New Sun. I got it for $11.67 on Amazon, so the price fluctuates wildly.

It's a complete copy.

A lot of the themes and even specific details in POE lore remind me of The Book of the New Sun which is one of my all-time favourites. I don't know if GGG was influenced by it in general, but the unique sword Terminus Est is a direct reference.

\ Including fallen/falling Rome-esque empires, desire for immortality portrayed as evil, some humans descended to barbarism, ancient technology, mirrors, sprawling libraries, rose-like weapons, animated statues in a Roman emperor's garden, unreliable narrators, etc. (Obviously some of these are generic, but all in one thing is interesting...).

1. Rediscovery of Man, by Cordwainer Smith. It's a big book and not really practical to keep extra copies lying around. So I just tell everyone about it and try to force them to read it. You should read it, many times. I really cannot understate how unique this work is in science fiction. Only other thing that comes close for me is Gene Wolfe'sBook of the New Sun.
   
   
2. I honestly don't know if I have many non-textbooks that are in this category.
   
   
3. I've given several copies of The Lord's Service and The Federal Vision. Currently, I have a box of about 15 copies of Theses on Worship that I got at a discount from the author, so I've been handing those out with some regularity.