The Urth of the New Sun

The Urth of the New Sun

First edition (UK)
Author	Gene Wolfe
Cover artist	Peter Goodfellow
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	Science fiction
Publisher	Gollancz (UK) Tor Books (US)
Publication date	Aug 1987 (UK)[1] Sep 1987 (US)
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages	372 pp
ISBN	0-575-04116-1
OCLC	16003956
Dewey Decimal	813/.54 19
LC Class	PS3573.O52 U78 1987
Preceded by	The Book of the New Sun

The Urth of the New Sun is a 1987 science fiction novel by Gene Wolfe that serves as a coda to his 4-volume Book of the New Sun series. Like Book, it is of the dying earth subgenre. It was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel, Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1988.^[2]

Urth of the New Sun picks up the tale of Severian, the protagonist of Book of the New Sun, years after that work's end. He leaves his role as Autarch of Urth to seek a new sun for Urth.

Plot summary

Unlike the four part novel of the Book of the New Sun, Urth of the New Sun mostly takes place outside Urth. The book is yet again a continuation of Severian's narration of the aftermath of his ascent to the throne and subsequent journey "between the suns" to be judged and win back the fountain of life that will rejuvenate the slowly dying sun and revive life on Urth. When the book begins, Severian has already rewritten his accounts of before and is beginning his new log aboard the spaceship that will take him to Yesod, an enigmatic planet, home to the godlike beings who have the power to grant Urth and its sun a new lease on life.

Aboard the ship, Severian meets Zak, a mysterious being, who begins small and soon develops human form and turns out to be the all-powerful Tzadkiel of Yesod. Once in Yesod, Severian faces an immense task of facing all the deceased people he has encountered since his childhood, including Thecla and Master Malrubius. When he faces the tribunal to be judged by Tzadkiel, he is told that the trial was already successfully passed. Severian is made the New Sun.

After his return to Urth from Yesod, he finds the sun still dying, and that the New Sun is still very far, far away, but nevertheless moving relentlessly. He learns that many years have passed backwards. He also learns that he possesses healing power that he once attributed the Claw of the Concilator. He encounters an earlier version of Typhon who attempts to kill him. He manages to escape via the Corridors of Time. There, with the aid of a version of Tzadkiel, he travels back to the future. In his palace he finds his wife Valeria sitting on the throne attended by his old enemy Baldanders (who has grown enough to match the size of an undine). Shortly after Severian reveals himself, an apocalyptic flood washes away the citadel and much of the land of Urth, thus bringing destruction and rebirth.

Awards

Urth of the New Sun was nominated for the Hugo, Locus, and Nebula Awards in 1988^[2]

References