FIRST EDITION OF GENE WOLFE'S BOOK OF THE NEW SUN TETRALOGY, SIGNED IN ALL FOUR VOLUMES

WOLFE, Gene. Book of the New Sun Tetralogy. COMPRISING: The Shadow of the Torturer. WITH: The Claw of the Conciliator. WITH: The Sword of the Lictor. WITH: The Citadel of the Autarch. New York: Timescape/Simon & Schuster, (1980-83). Four volumes. Octavo, original half black, red, and green cloth, original dust jackets.

First edition of the Book of the New Sun tetralogy, widely considered one of the highspots of the "dying earth" genre, signed on the title page or second half title of each volume by Gene Wolfe.

"A masterpiece of science fantasy comparable in importance to the major works of Tolkien and Lewis" (Publishers Weekly). "A rich, many-layered story; the detail and integrity of the imagined world invite comparison with Herbert's Dune and Tolkein's Middle Earth, but it is a unique literary work that transcends issues of categorization… Taken as a whole, the entire… sequence is a stunning accomplishment" (Anatomy of Wonder II-1282). "In 1980, Wolfe published the first volume of what would become his magnum opus, a tetralogy called 'The Book of the New Sun.' For science-fiction readers, 'The Book of the New Sun' is roughly what 'Ulysses' is to fans of the modern novel… His narrators may be prophets, or liars, or merely crazy, but somewhere in their stories they help to reveal what Wolfe most wants his readers to know: that compassion can withstand the most brutal of futures and exist on the most distant planets, and it has been part of us since ages long past" (New Yorker). "The Book of the New Sun establishes [Wolfe's] preeminence, pure and simple… The Book of the New Sun contains elements of Spenserian allegory, Swiftian satire, Dickensian social consciousness and Wagnerian mythology. Wolfe creates a truly alien social order that the reader comes to experience from within… once into it, there is no stopping" (New York Times). "Wolfe uses many of the cliched trappings of modern fantasy, or sword-and-sorcery, and in doing so he redeems and transfigures them… There is a risk that some of this will be missed by the general reader: a knowledge of the full repertory of sf conventions may be necessary to appreciate the tricks which Wolfe performs so intelligently. It is a supremely intelligent novel, supremely well written" (Pringle, Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels 95). Clute & Nicholls, 1339-40.

Books fine, dust jackets about-fine to fine. A beautiful set, most desirable signed.