Score: 8
I’m particularly fond of the narration here. Severian the torturer recounts the story of how he rises to be autarch, but unreliably and faultily. Details get omitted, things must be inferred. The world is described without exposition, leading you to decipher what is what as you go along. Is a horse really a horse, or just some being that vaguely looks like one. The writing is exquisite, full of imagery, calling on you to know what he speaks of. Innumerable quoteable passages, one truly thinks oneself immersed in Wolfes mind.