The first two novels in Gene Wolfe’s epic four-part masterpiece, The Book of the New Sun, now together in one volume as a Tor Essentials titleTor Essentials presents new editions of science fiction and fantasy titles of proven merit and lasting value, each volume introduced by an appropriate literary figure. The Washington Post called Gene Wolfe (1931-2019) "the finest writer the science fiction world has yet produced. Ursula K. Le Guin called him, simply, "our Melville. The four-volume Book of the New Sun is unanimously acclaimed as his greatest achievement. In book one, The Shadow of the Torturer, young Severian, an apprentice in the Guild of Torturers in an impossibly far-future Earth (now called Urth), is exiled for committing his profession’s ultimate sin—showing mercy toward his victim. In book two, The Claw of the Conciliator, Severian, now banished from his home, undertakes a mythic quest to discover the power of an ancient relic and learn the truth about his hidden destiny. With a new introduction by historian and science fiction author Ada Palmer, author of Too Like the Lightning.