2. The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe《新日之書》——杰因.沃爾夫

The Book of the New Sun is a novel written in four parts. It is written in first person by a man named Severian. His profession is torturer and the books chronicle his rise to power as ruler of the world. The world is our world, but set in a distant future where the sun has begun to cool and dim. The books are rare in the fantasy genre in that they have invited serious analysis and literary criticism. The Book of the New Sun starts with a killer premise and more than delivers. I came to the series only recently and count it as one of the greatest reads I have ever had, fantasy or no. It is a more challenging work than most "wizards and knights" fantasy, but oh so worth it.

《新日之書》這部小說分為4個部分。它是書中一個叫賽弗里安的男子以第一人稱來寫的。他是一個行刑官，書中記述了他成為世界統治者的歷程。世界就是我們現實中的世界，但時間設定在遙遠的未來，在那個時期太陽已經變得冰冷昏暗。這個系列在魔幻題材的書中十分罕見，曾引發了深入的分析以及文學爭議。《新日之書》以殺手背景開始，但并非以此推動情節。我也是最近才開始讀這部書的，這可以算得上是我讀過的最好的作品之一，不僅限于魔幻作品。這是一部比大多“巫師和騎士”更富挑戰性的作品，值得一讀。