I can feel pretty distinctly that my opinion of this book is going to improve over time and I’m giving it a very favorable rating on account of it being completely unlike any other book I’ve ever read, despite being an extremely challenging read. The appendix where G.W. speaks of his “translation” of the book as if he had received a distinct and very real futuristic vision and this is his recounting of it REALLY threw me for a loop. 

I really want to talk about the way Wolfe depicts women, because I think it’s really unique, even if I did find it a little unsavory at times. All of the women characters are viewed pretty singularly through a sexual lens (the only exception I can think of is Valeria, the little girl towards the beginning of the book). I found this to be disrespectful, but only because it was the only lens that we were able to experience the women characters through. 
HOWEVER, the way that Wolfe characterizes his women, and the way he describes Severians bespoke feelings towards each of them was  interesting and surprisingly nuanced. I appreciated the way Severians relationship with (and desire for) each of them was differentiated. From his pure infatuation with Thecla, his  carnal need for Agia, and his genuine emotional connection with Dorcas. 

I highlighted this part: “….the second [type of woman] will never permit us to give them what we give the first. Agia enjoyed my admiration and would have been moved to ecstasy by my caresses; but even if I were to pour myself into her a hundred times, we would part strangers.”

Pretty cool book, I’m definitely reading more just to pick apart a little more of this world’s mysteries.