The Book of the New Sun: Vol. 1 av Gene Wolffe

‘A masterpiece. Gene Wolfe is a wizard, a torturer, frightening, delightful. Beware! This is magic stuff!’ – Ursula K. Le Guin

Severian, a young torturer just learning his trade, makes the mistake of falling in love with one of his victims. Unable to bear the sight of her pain, he offers his love the mercy of a sharp blade, and for his crime he is exiled from his home. Ordered to travel to the distant city of Thrax and take up the position of Executioner, Severian sets off, but the journey will be longer and stranger than he can imagine. While on the road he meets new friends, makes enemies and discovers a strange jewel that seems to command power over life and death – a power that others will kill to obtain. And when a series of dangerous revelations about his dying world are revealed, Severian is forced to question the very nature of existence, and his own shadowy destiny.