I Read Books: Claw Of The Conciliator

 

The Claw Of The Conciliator

Between the end of the Shadow Of The Torturer and the start of this volume Severian has lost his companions and ended up in the town of Saltus with Jonas, a part-metal former sailor. There is a fair, the highlight of which will be an execution that Severian will perform. He spots Agia, who he loved and who betrayed him, but she vanishes in the fair; he has a fortune told; he performs his task. Then he gets a letter from Thecla, who he loved, but had to help commit suicide, which leads him to an underground cavern complex. He is ambushed by ape-men and an enormous creature; escapes, discovers the note was sent by Agia. He lets her go, returns to Saltus where he and Jonas are kidnapped by the rebel Vodalus.

Severian saved Vodalus years before, and enters his service. They feast on Thecla’s body, which combined with the essence of the alien alzabo, gives him her memories. Severian’s path will lead to the House Absolute, the palace of the Autarch and the theatrical troupe he was with will be performing there. Voladus gives him a message for someone in the House Absolute who will identify themselves with a code phrase. They are attacked by strange heat-seeking creatures; trick them into attacking a soldier. Severian uses the Claw (a religious relic gemstone) to revive the soldier. Continuing on he and Jonas are captured by soldiers, having unwittingly trespassed into the grounds of the House Absolute.

A memory from Thecla lets them escape through a secret passage. Jonas discovers mirrors that will let him travel back to the stars. Severian encounters someone who uses the identification phrase; it becomes clear as the conversation continues that this is in fact the Autarch, who Vodalus is rebelling against. When the Autarch shows him more wonders through mirrors he enters the Autarch’s service as well (technically as a member of the guild of torturers he’s already in their service). Wandering the grounds he comes across the theatrical troupe; Dr Talos, the giant Baldanders, the unearthly beauty Jolenta, and Dorcas, who Severian brought back to life (probably) from a lake. They put on the play, but Baldanders attacks the audience, revealing the cacogens, the people from beyond Urth.

Fleeing the House Absolute Severian catches up with the others. Dr Talos and Baldanders are going another way and insist Jolenta leave them and go with Severian and Dorcas. She falls ill, her extraordinary beauty having been created by Dr Talos’s science. They enter an abandoned stone city, meet two witches and have strange visions. In the morning Jolenta is dead and Dorcas and Severian alone.

There’s a lot more going on of course! Wolfe’s mastery of this strange future Urth is in presenting the weird as matter of fact and the mundane as outlandish. The sun does not dip below the horizon; the Urth turns to put us in the shadow. There are giant monster in the sea that want to swallow the land, but can’t emerge – but they send their sirens up rivers to coerce men to act for them. Jonas is revealed not as a human who was fixed with metal in the crash, but a machine man repaired with organic material. And time is out of joint, most obviously in that the Severian who writes is in the future and so has knowledge of events yet unrecorded, but so do other characters. Some understand Severian’s destiny, others do not care.

Read This: Superb dying earth fantasy, with adventure, excitement and layers of deeper events and meaning
Don’t Read This: Severian fights and shags his way across a bizarrely convoluted plot while characters amble about doing weird things