2023 Locus Recommended Reading List

“Buckell’s writing always satisfies, and A Stranger in the Citadel brings it: tense, explosive oh-my-god-what-will-they-do-now action; appealing characters you care about, even when you deplore what they do; rich, surprising worldbuilding; a fascinating story of words and the people who guard them. Gotta love hero librarians, especially in times like these. Gotta love clever metatextual references. Gotta love the youth-dem determined to fix the world, naivete be damned.”
—Nalo Hopkinson, author of Falling in Love with Hominids

“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

[STARRED REVIEW] “Buckell’s latest (after The Tangled Lands, 2018, with Paolo Bacigalupi) begins by deceiving readers, presenting a postapocalyptic setting as fantasy, gradually dropping clues to the reader relating to our current world. Protagonist and narrator Lilith, the youngest musketress of Ninetha, privileged with guardianship of the mystical Cornucopia which provides for all of the city’s needs, is equally unaware of her world’s history, largely because books and reading were banned in exchange for the Cornucopias. When a librarian, Ishmael, stumbles into Ninetha as the first visitor in a generation, Lilith’s actions to defend him ripple into the destruction of her home and family by her own mentor, Kira, who was offended by the family’s heresy of secretly owning a single book and hoarding the provisions from the Cornucopia. When Lilith flees Ninetha with Ishmael, she discovers how sheltered her worldview was as he shares tales of his travels and his love of learning. Inspired by Fahrenheit 451, Buckell masterfully crafts this coming-of-age story for a strong, compassionate heroine who needed a bit of reality thrust upon her.”
—Booklist

“A Stranger in the Citadel is a powerful story that explores the strength of the written word and those who fear it. Tobias Buckell has crafted a disturbing and page-turning tale of banned books, outlaw librarians, killer angels, and world changing secrets—set in a far flung dystopian future that chillingly resonates with our present.”
—P. Djèlí Clark, author of Ring Shout

“Buckell plots it all with compulsive and propulsive energy, reminding us of the nature of these knowledge-based stakes.”
—Caribbean Beat

“A Stranger in the Citadel (Tachyon Publications) by Grenada-raised Tobias Buckell presents a compassionate allegory for humanity’s peaceful coexistence and survival, through the lens of speculative fiction. Focusing on the thorny relationship between a warrioress who has never seen a book, and a fugitive librarian fleeing dangerous reprisals, A Stranger in the Citadel is awash with political intrigue, often highlighting the fundamental breakdown between official pronouncements and the lives of the working-class people that superpowers are meant to serve.
—Trinidad Daily Express

“Tobias Buckell packs a trilogy’s worth of action and invention into this riotously-paced novel, which builds to a moving conclusion. It’s an exciting and surprising book, a thriller which also happens to be a thoughtful meditation on power, knowledge and loyalty.”
—Alastair Reynolds, author of the Revelation Space series

“The message about the importance of literacy could not be more timely, and Buckellʼs sure-handed plotting keep the pages flying. Readers will be hooked.”
—Publishers Weekly

“A Stranger in the Citadel is a smartly-written book, full of deep, layered worldbuilding and complex relationships, all built around a thoughtful exploration of the power of story.”
—Jim C. Hines, author of Libriomancer

“VERDICT: In World Fantasy Award winner Buckell’s (The Trove) latest, Lilith undergoes a journey from innocence to terrible experience. Recommended for readers who enjoy stories that reveal in layers and any who liked the postapocalyptic, flawed reconstruction of knowledge in The Starless Crown by James Rollins.”
—Library Journal

Praise for Tobias Buckell

[STARRED REVIEW] “Buckell has written a smart and well-constructed tale that’s filled with excitement and the flavor of the Caribbean isles.”
—Kirkus

“Buckell’s consistent efforts at creating marketable novels with crossover potential can be seen as revolutionary acts, attempts to stand the genre’s financial hierarchy on its head. Technical competence and knowledge of one’s intended audience become tools for resisting erasure.”
—Los Angeles Review of Books

“Buckell delivers double helpings of action and violence in a plot-driven story worthy of a good blockbuster.”
—Publishers Weekly

“A writer to shelve there with C. J. Cherryh, Alastair Reynolds, Dan Simmons and those few other writers who have managed to adopt the advantages of mainstream literature without giving up the skilled storytelling and sense of wonder of old-style SF.”
—Critical Mass

“If the Hernandez Brothers of Love and Rockets fame could channel Arthur Clarke and Hal Clement, they’d probably write like Tobias Buckell. His multicultural protagonists and point of view, combined with his hard-SF inclinations and expertise, conspire to deliver freshly conceived and spicy-flavored space opera.”
—Sci-Fi Weekly

“Riffing on classics like Fahrenheit 451, Buckell creates a future world in which largesse is provided through giant machines known as the cornucopia and books and knowledge are spurned.”
—Pile by the Bed

“A Stranger in the Citadel has some of the most creative and captivating world-building I’ve read in a while!”
—Potions and Puzzles