In the beginning, I was really fascinated by this book, thought the world interesting and was curious, where the story would lead. But after Severian leaves the Citadel, it really gets strange. He walks through surreal places and has strange encounters with strange people. It somehow reminds me on a medieval mystery play, where everything has a second meaning - only that I was missing the key. The second book was a little better - at least it has most of the time something like a plot. But I could not stand the esoteric/religious vibes. Also I had a problem with how the female characters were portrayed: all of them are weak and in need of a man - and mainly defined by their appearance.