Shadow of the Torturer, The by Gene Wolfe

This is not a light read. The vocabulary in the book can seem confusing, but all of the words are real. A dictionary should be handy if you feel your vocabulary isn't strong.
It is once of the most dense and beautiful pieces of science fiction ever published. Wolfe weaves the characters into the tales in a wonderful way if you are a patient reader who is looking for literature and not just spaceships. The Urth is far future, and the societies fragmented. Severian is a torturer's apprentice who must leave his guild after an action that is considered a disgrace. His journey becomes the tale, and instead of telling us the story, Wolfe lets it unfold before us through the young and inexerienced Severian.

Started this book with high hopes, looked highly original and described as 'Greatest fantasy work behind Lord of The Rings. Unfortunately, I found the book to be highly abstract and innacessible, with no adequete explanations of people, towns, customs, or the general things described in the book. The author no doubt knows what he means but does not share it with the reader, with too many instances of words that could mean anything! Got halfway through and put it away, far too abstract and unexplained, and way too confusing!