Title:

A Stranger in the Citadel

Author:

Tobias S. Buckell

Category:

Fantasy / Science Fiction

Rating:

Date Reviewed:

May 28th, 2024

read a short story by Buckell in the short story collection The Final Frontier. Buckell's entry in that anthology impressed me; he seemed to have plenty of interesting ideas. So I decided to track down a novel written by him, to see if I found it equally enjoyable. A Stranger in the Citadel was the only book by Buckell carried by our library system, so I checked it out. Just 256 pages long, A Stranger in the Citadel is a quick read, but there is a lot of good storytelling packed into those pages.

Lilith is the youngest of twelve offspring by the Lord Musketeer, who rules the walled city of Ninetha. One day, herders drag into Ninetha a captured person; they accuse him of being a librarian, and one of the edicts of the gods is that "You should not suffer a librarian to live!" There is no doubt that the bedraggled prisoner is guilty, he is carrying a book. The chief guard of Ninetha, a superb warrior named Kira, wants to execute the librarian immediately. But Lilith is intrigued - Ninetha has no visitors, it sits in a barren wasteland where it inhabitants eke out a hardscrabble existence. Indeed, if not for the miraculous cornucopia, Ninetha would certainly be unable to support its inhabitants. Why has this librarian braved the desolate landscape to come to Ninetha, and what can he tell Lilith of the broader world?

Kira wants to administer a swift death, but Lilith overrides her - and since she is part of the ruling family, Lilith's command stands. The prisoner is dragged off to the dungeon while Kira can merely burn the book to ashes. Lilith hopes to be able to talk to the stranger (she learns that his name is Ishmael), to discover what the rest of the wide world is like beyond the empty wastes. But the presence of the librarian triggers a series of events that reveal dangerous secrets that young Lilith was not yet privy to know. Kira leads an uprising against the Lord Musketeer and Lilith's siblings are slain. Lilith finds herself fleeing out into the desert with Ishmael, pursued by a vengeful Kira and a squadron of elite guards.

Buckell does a great job of world building. He gradually reveals the strangeness and wonders of Lilith's world. What starts off seemingly a fantasy novel, turns out to be a science fiction adventure through a world of amazing but forgotten technology, similar in vein to Wolfe's magisterial Book of the New Sun or McAuley's Confluence trilogy. Lilith encounters wonders and hardships, learning much from Ishmael, and both in turn discover much about how their world works. I enjoyed all the ideas Buckell put forth. Buckell has created memorable characters in Lilith and Ishmael, and constructed a plot that keeps the reader engaged. It is too bad our library does not have any other of Buckell's novels.