[Brys]

I enjoyed these two books a lot. They weren't as good as some people have claimed, but they were still very enjoyable. I liked a lot of things - the originality of the world, the unique idea of the protagonist as a torturer, the flowing prose (if not the near-perfection many have claimed it is - I still prefer Mieville's, Moorcock's and Lieber's prose), and surprisingly, the meandering plot. I think that the idea of a story being told through memories, and the theme of how memory distorts reality etc and how it is Severian's thoughts, what he has written, and finally, something that isn't an unbiased account of what happened and doesn't claim to be, is an excellent idea. I'd have preferred a bit more direct action, and there were some scenes that were a waste of time IMO (especially visiting the botanic gardens, for the most part), and I'd have liked a slightly more in-depth look at his life during his time as a member of the torturers, but really, there was very little to complain about.