The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe

New York: Simon & Schuster, (1980). First edition, 1st printing. 8vo. 303 pp. Original sage colored paper boards over grey quarter cloth, stamped in copper, in original unclipped ($11.95) dust-jacket. Faint toning, edge wear, particular to spine ends and corners. Light handling and shelf wear. Protected in archival mylar. Book is tight, square and firm. Light curling to spine ends, mild toning toward panel edges. Pages clean and bright, text unmarked.

Dust Jacket: Near Fine

Hardcover: Near Fine

“The Shadow of the Torturer is a fantasy novel by American writer Gene Wolfe, published by Simon & Schuster in May 1980. It is the first of four volumes in The Book of the New Sun which Wolfe had completed in draft before The Shadow of the Torturer was published. It relates the story of Severian, an apprentice Seeker for Truth and Penitence (the guild of torturers), from his youth through his expulsion from the guild and subsequent journey out of his home city of Nessus. In 1987, Locus magazine ranked The Shadow of the Torturer number four among the 33 "All-Time Best Fantasy Novels", based on a poll of subscribers. The Shadow of the Torturer won the annual World Fantasy Award and British Science Fiction Association Award as the year's best novel. Among other annual awards for fantasy or science fiction novels, it placed second for the Locus (fantasy), third for the Campbell Memorial (SF), and was a finalist for the Nebula (SF).”