A Stranger in the Citadel
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2.0 • 1 Rating
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
From the powerful storyteller Tobias Buckell (Crystal Rain, The Tangled Lands), a complex novel of humanity’s passion for the written word. At the revolutionary crossroads of magic, betrayal, and long-forgotten truths, a naïve, compassionate royal and a determined, hunted librarian discover a dangerous world of mortal and ancient menaces.
“With A Stranger In The Citadel, Tobias Buckell writes to the moment we live in, with a clarity and urgency that only fable can provide. Read it.”
—John Scalzi, author of The Kaiju Preservation Society
The life of the youngest musketress of Ninetha has been one of hard training. But Lilith’s days have also contained many pleasures, the royal privileges of her family’s guardianship of the Cornucopia, a mystical source of limitless bounty. Lilith has never seen a book, and she never expects to encounter one within the safety of the citadel.
When Ishmael, an outcast librarian, shows up outside the Afriq Gate, Lilith saves him from immediate execution by her father’s second-in-command, the zealot Kira. As Lilith’s curiosity draws her to Ishmael, she lets slip her family’s most dangerous secret, sparking a deadly rebellion and an unexpected journey full of stunning revelations.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bestseller Buckell (Hurricane Fever) explores the consequences of book banning in this atmospheric postapocalyptic sci-fi fantasy. In a far future in which humanity has "crossed the great, dark void" of space to colonize a new planet after the ecological collapse of Earth, it is believed that "the gods delivered us from strife and pain, starvation and struggle, plagues and destructive weather. All we had to do was to give up knowledge." For this reason, all books are banned in the city of Ninetha. When Lilith, the daughter of the city's dictator, discovers that her family hides a book, it upends everything she thought she knew. She foolishly trusts Kira, her ruthless trainer, with her discovery—leading to a bloody insurrection that kills all of Lilith's family. With the help of outlaw librarian Ishmael, Lilith flees Ninetha to the strange world outside the city, where she's shocked to learn that very different attitudes about books persist. While the conceit feels familiar, Buckell elevates his take on it with unexpected twists and a kindling sense of wonder in the world beyond Ninetha's walls. The message about the importance of literacy could not be more timely, and Buckell's sure-handed plotting keep the pages flying. Readers will be hooked.
