Monday, December 10, 2018

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Beneath the Citadel by Destiny Soria



Beneath the Citadel is a Young Adult Fantasy novel from author Destiny Soria.  It's a fantasy story featuring a world where the main characters are a group of teens fighting against a fascist regime that relies upon prophecies and foresight to counter every possible opposition.  It's also a story where the main romance is M-M, featuring characters with great insecurities and mental distresses (one character suffers from panic attacks), and magic of fun and varied types.

And it's pretty damn good.  The book has a lot of major characters and each is well differentiated and feel not only believable but interesting in their actions, even if the reader may not love all of them.  Combine that with a twisty plot that maintains the reader's interest throughout, and I really enjoyed Beneath the Citadel and look forward to more from the author in the future.

Note:  I read this book as an audiobook and the reader is very good, so I would recommend the book in that format.  


------------------------------------------------Plot Summary-------------------------------------------------------
The City of Eldra has been ruled for hundreds of years by the High Council deep within the Citadel, though the Council's rule has not always been favorable for the people of the city, particularly those in the lower wards.  But the Council's rule has been iron tight thanks to the prophecies left to them first by the Elder Seers - whose infallible prophecies are legendary - and now through the use of ordinary seers who see the future in dreams, diviners who can read potential future possibilities, sentients* who can read people's memories from viewing their faces, and rooks who can dive into and steal memories upon contact.  This absolute knowledge of both the past and future has allowed the Council's rule to persist, with a hundred year rebellion being put down brutally and mercilessly a few years prior.

Cassa, Alys, Evander, Newt and Vesper are teens who have all sought to defeat the council.  Cassa is now orphaned daughter of the rebellion's leaders; Alys and Evander are the kids of apothecaries who lost everything for merely providing help to the rebellion; Newt is the son of one of the traitor's to the rebellion and seeks to make up for it; and Vesper is secretly a Rook and the niece the council's High Chancellor who wishes to set things right.   With the rebellion destroyed, the group feels like the only ones left fighting the injustice of the Council - but how can they win such a fight if their futures are foretold?

And when Vesper betrays the other four's attempt to infiltrate the Citadel, Cassa, Alys, Evander and Newt discover that a dangerous monster now lurks beneath the Citadel.  But when that monster  promises to give them everything they ever wanted - the destruction of the council - and claims that to be an infallible prophecy, the group will be forced to make a dangerous choice that could not only change the City...but could very much destroy it completely.
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Beneath the Citadel's greatest strength is its five main characters, Cassa, Alys, Evander, Newt, and Vesper.  Nearly every chapter is told from one of the five's point of view, with a few chapters telling the stories of the past meetings between the five interspersed here and there.  Each of the characters has their own skills and talents - Cassa's reckless determination drives them all forward, Alys' logical planning balances Cassa, Evander's bloodbond allows him to telekinetically control silver, Newt's ability to dislocate his joints and climb sneakily into any space makes him a great spy, and Vesper's abilities allow her to take memories from others for various purposes.  And each of the characters has different opinions about the others based on their outward appearances, which they rely upon in their desperate situations.

But what the 5 Points of View reveal is that all of these outward appearances are generally wrong - Cassa is incredibly insecure about her lack of abilities and being unable to make her parent's sacrifice mean something, Alys has panic attacks and believes her failure as a diviner cost her family, etc. etc.  The result is a really well done novel where the reader is aware that perceptions of the various characters aren't even close to the truth, and the characters' actions always make a lot more sense to us than to the rest of the cast, driving the plot believably.

It also makes the characters very easy to root for for the most part.  The only character i can see others having problems with is Cassa, whose insecurities and recklessness make her take some actions the reader will be screaming at her for repeatedly, but Soria makes these actions make total sense through Cassa's POVs.  The insecurities of each character also make them all feel so much more distinct and not just typical fantasy archetypes and it's so easy to care for them - for example, the main romance in the book is between Newt and Evander and I wanted them to get together so damn much very quickly.  That romance is generally done pretty well (although it's maybe a bit too over the top at the beginning) so it was a nice part of this book as well.

The plot is rather well paced and works decently well enough.  There are a bunch of plot holes honestly* that become pretty clear when you think about them, but the plot works well enough to propel things forward, and the characters are again so excellent it doesn't even matter that much.  The book weaves together how the five types of mages (bloodbonders, sentients, rooks, seers, and diviners) work in some pretty clever ways that provide some fun twists too and the ending is also very satisfying, even if it's not totally happy.

*Spoiler in ROT13: Gur ovttrfg cybg ubyr vf gung gur punenpgref ner nfxrq ol gur Punapryybe gb cbvfba gur ivny bs yvdhvq hfrq ol gur nagntbavfg gb fgnl fnar gb cerirag uvz sebz xvyyvat rirelbar va gur Pvgl naq gurer'f arire ernyyl n fngvfslvat rkcynangvba jul gur znva tebhc vf arrqrq sbe guvf.  Gur punapryybe pynvzf ur pbhyqa'g chyy vg bss uvzfrys orpnhfr ur'q or gbb jngpurq, ohg gurer'f ab ernfba ur pbhyqa'g farnx bhg gb svaq n cngfl bgure guna gur znva dhnegrg, rfcrpvnyyl tvira ubj rnfl vg vf va gur raq gb shysvyy gur cyna ol bhe urebvar.  Nu jryy, vg qbrfa'g znggre gbb zhpu.

In short, I definitely recommend Beneath the Citadel, which might get my note for this year's YA award when the Hugo ballot comes out.
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