I deeply enjoyed BOTNS, but I'm torn on this entry. The first half is a war novel, and while the stories of each of the characters reveal much of the plot in the same way as the play or legends of previous parts, that part is half the book. The war scenes are brutal, but I like how Wolfe describes battle in context of what happens in a battle rather than line-by-line.

Where the book frustrates me is the last 50 pages being far more expository than Wolfe ever was before. Malubrius lays out the plot and purpose. You are told directly who Dorcas is. You are simply told things in general in a way that just doesn't happen in the rest of the series. Don't tell me! While I appreciate Severian's totally-missing-the-point epiphany, it doesn't make up for what felt like Wolfe trying to wrap things up in a book that, until now, trusted me to do that myself.