"With the publication of his tetralogy The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe has entered the ranks of the major contemporary writers of science fiction," Pamela Sargent asserted in Twentieth-Century Science Fiction Writers. The series takes place far in the future in a society reminiscent of medieval Europe in its social structure where long-forgotten technologies appear magical. When Severian, an apprentice torturer, is exiled from his guild for aiding the suicide of a prisoner he loves, a journey of discovery is inaugurated that culminates in Severian's elevation to Autarch, ruler of Urth. "The far-future world of Urth through which Wolfe's characters move is a world of beauty and horror, one in which humanity's great accomplishments are not only past, but also nearly forgotten, and in which the lack of resources makes the knowledge that remains nearly useless," noted Sargent. Severian, however, possesses perfect recall, making his retrospective...