Today's entry BOTH into classic sf of the past that I actually want to read and "WTF is that cover and did they read the book!?"

Both Wolfe's style and deliberate lack-of-introduction took a while to actually catch my attention and I was often more interested in finding out what the world will throw at our main character next than what he himself will do. Severian spends much of the book as a cypher, but also the book itself is weird and I want to know what happens next please.