Uh oh, somebody's horny, and his name starts with S! :/ In which Severian promises to meet up with Dr. Talos & Co. later, but totally bails (#relatable). Don't worry, he finds a much more interesting character to follow around! Join us as we read chapters 16 & 17 of Shadow of the Torturer and examine how Severian's ~unquenchable thirst~ relates to Wolfe's depictions of race and gender in the Commonwealth.

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Sources:

"Mapping a Masterwork: A Critical Review of Gene Wolfe’s The Book of the New Sun" by Peter Wright

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In this freewheeling discussion of chapters 15 & 16 of Shadow of the Torturer, we and Severian begin to explore the wide world outside the Torturer's Guild. On the way we encounter a big anime sword, Wolfe's disgust for innkeepers and poor people, a giant named Baldanders, and too many allusions. Come for the weird old songs, stay for the extended digression on Moby Dick.

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Who would you cast in your dream Book of the New Sun movie? While we answer this unimaginably difficult question, Severian and The Guild have some difficult choices of their own to make. Join us as we read chapters 12 & 13 of Shadow of the Torturer and get into some of our favorite chapters thus far!

Also, apologies for the weird inexplicable background thumping in this episode?! Thankfully it mostly clears up after the first ten minutes. We seem to have resolved the issue, so with any luck it will NOT be featured on any future episodes (fingers crossed)!

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What does it mean to choose to be a torturer? In which the hosts attempt to answer this question, because Wolfe sure ain't! Join us in a meandering, loosely structured discussion of chapters 10 & 11 of Shadow of the Torturer including extended digressions about The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas and Julian of Norwich.

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Is there anything sexier than starting a new philosophical inquiry? Join us as we read chapters 7, 8, and 9 of Shadow of the Torturer and tackle humanity's biggest questions: Is religion only cool and rad if it is inherently contradictory? Can cops be sympathetic? Does Severian f@$&? Later, we discuss The Knight and why Will takes a "guilty until proven innocent" approach to Wolfe's depictions of sexual relationships.

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Introduction to The Wizard Knight by Yves Menard (available in the excerpt preview)

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In which the hosts, for the first time in their lives, are disappointed by a trip to the library. Join us as we read chapters 5 & 6 of Shadow of the Torturer. Thankfully, for those listeners who endure til the end, we have other books which might intrigue and delight! Included within: Mervin Peake and a tortured sexy man.

Our Read Another Book segment is named in homage of one of our favorite podcasts, The Shrieking Shack! Go check them out!

**Note: unfortunately, we experienced some difficulties in editing this episode, so please accept our apologies for any discrepancies in volume!

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In which the hosts meet a really cool dog! Join us as we read chapters 3 & 4 of Shadow of the Torturer and you too can meet this really cool dog! Then we scour the internet's finest marketplace of ideas, Reddit, for theories about what the heck is going on with Valeria.

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In which the hosts meet our protagonist, Severian. Who is he? Why is he running around in a graveyard in the middle of the night? What even is a torturer's apprentice, exactly? Are we actually enjoying this book?! Join us as we read the first two chapters of Shadow of the Torturer, and later investigate the mysterious Castle of the Otter to learn from the world's foremost Gene Wolfe expert...the man himself.

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Sources:

"Helioscope" in Castle of the Otter by Gene Wolfe

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In which the hosts attempt to justify themselves and this endeavor to the universe, with the help of some eternal wisdom from Neil Gaiman.

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Sources:

"How to Read Gene Wolfe" by Neil Gaiman

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