A Stranger in the Citadel

By: Tobias S. Buckell

Narrated by: Janina Edwards

A tale of family bonds, royal power, and the truth that threatens it all, from World Fantasy Award-winner Tobias S. Buckell.

“You shall not suffer a librarian to live.”

Growing up in Ninetha, Lilith has known this law all her life. The city’s every need is provided for by a god-machine called the cornucopia, which can produce food, clothing, anything in response to a thought. The gods provided this bounty on one condition: that humanity give up reading and writing.

Then, a librarian, an actual seeker of forbidden written knowledge, walks through the gates of the citadel, his very presence unraveling the life Lilith has known. She learns her father, the Lord Musketeer himself, has been harboring a secret - one that turns Ninetha against Lilith’s family.

Forced to flee, forced to throw in her lot with the librarian, Lilith uncovers even greater secrets - about the lie her life has been, and about the very nature of their world.

©2021 Tobias S. Buckell (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC.

Interesting Concept

I struggled with the notion of why librarians would be a threat to anything. After all, a librarian without books is just an underemployed nerd. But the author made them both a threat. The world was interesting and was not what you (or the librarian) expect.

The performance was top notch. You could hear the emotions to the extent that it was duplicated in the words.

It is worth a listen.

Creative

I liked this story, it was unique. I only wish it was a little more expansive. Like full novel sized and not baby novel.

interesting

kind of a slow start but once it got going it was really interesting. I don't know what genre to really put it in.

Worthy of a listen

I enjoyed the story once I connected with it. It took a couple of trys, but the story drew me in and overall it was a good tale. I shouted at the main charecter at times because she was so naive, so I was able to become invested in the storyline, I would like to hear a part two of this tale;1) to see the charecter development and 2) get a few answers to things we learned about in this story.

Excellent

This was a good weaving of religion with an alien touch. It showed how humans will always be humans in the end. I would love there to be a sequel.