The Claw of the Conciliator
by Gene Wolfe (Published by Timescape)
Winner, Best Novel in 1981
The second volume of “The Book of the New Sun”. The torturer Severian continues his journey of exile to the city Thrax, carrying with him the ancient executioner’s sword and the Claw of the Conciliator, a gem of extraterrestrial power and beauty which no one man is meant to possess.