Harare Review of Books

329 pages.

First published in August 2021.

Finished reading on 3 Sept 2021.

Genre: Science Fiction.

Publisher’s blurb for Citadel: An interplanetary battle is renewed in an epic novel of a warring solar system by the author of Ballistic.

The war should have been over. But it’s not for a group of nationalists grabbing for control.

It’s been two weeks since a missile with a nuclear warhead tore through the planetary defenses in the most blistering large-scale attack ever committed in the history of the Gaia system. Commander Dunstan Park of the Rhodian navy has been handpicked to command an experimental cruiser that could dictate the course of the escalating conflict. All he has to do is keep the ship from falling into the wrong hands.

On Gretia, the powder keg is beyond control. A terrorist attack against civilians draws Idina Chaudhary into a costly battle. It also forces a cautious Aden Jansen back into the fray. Now dedicated to a just cause, he’s still keeping his past hidden. The risk of exposing his former alliance could twist not only his fate but also that of his sister, Solveig, heir to the family empire.

With no time to waste, Dunstan hits the ground running. But as insurgents threaten the unstable peace, what’s ahead for both sides could change the destiny of the Gaia system forever.

Thank you to NetGalley and to 47North for this ARC.

When I got this galley, I rushed through the previous two books in the series (Aftershocks, and Ballistic) so I could get to it; so, I did that rare thing, reading all of the books in a series back-to-back. I highly recommend this, because it was wonderful to be immersed in this built world, and to get cosy with some very well-developed characters.

Although the middle book, Ballistic, was my favourite book in the series, Citadel was very satisfying, with almost all of the loose ends tied up (Q: did he really die? Although I guess he did). In fact, my only real complaint is that Citadel was less about the characters, and more about action and military hardware. I normally don’t mind this so much, but it was hard to maintain my concentration in some parts. (Reading the acknowledgements, this book was written in Plague Year, and the writer reports that he struggled.) My other small niggle is the seemingly borrowed storyline — from a real-world event — which made me want to skip over that particular section of the book (–you’ll know when you read it).

Still, this is high-concept, very well-written military SF, my favourite kind of book; and the whole series is a treat. What amazing world-building! I would recommend reading all of the books: they don’t work as standalone novels, I don’t think, as character arcs and story run through all 3 books.

Highly recommend the series (9/10); rating Citadel 6/10, mainly for the hardware.

Ps. Also, Aden gets pretty boring, and I’m not even sure what the point of his background is.