How long does it take to read The Shadow of the Torturer?
The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe takes about 5 hours 33 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
Book 1 of The Book of the New Sun
About 5 hours 33 minutes
A weekend read
First published 1980. 303 pages, about 83,325 words.
12 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 9 hours 16 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 5 hours 33 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 3 hours 28 minutes |
The page count is the median across 22 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
The Shadow of the Torturer is the first volume in the four-volume series, The Book of the New Sun. It is the tale of young Severian, an apprentice in the Guild of Torturers on the world called Urth, exiled for committing the ultimate sin of his profession -- showing mercy toward his victim -- and follows subsequent journey out of his home city of Nessus.
Subjects: Fantasy fiction
