Synopsis
All magic comes from the Citadel.
As a child, Adela dreamed of going to the Citadel and becoming a mage, though the reality of her parents’ deaths made that dream a farfetched fantasy. When the caretakers at the orphanage discover her latent magical talent, she is given the opportunity to join the Citadel. Adela leaps at the chance. Power, wealth, prestige — she would have it all.
There is no fire without fuel, however, and magic is not without its price. The Citadel keeps many secrets within its ancient halls, many things it is willing to do in the name of the greater good. As Adela grows from pupil to mage, she will soon discover that there are costs she is unwilling to pay.
But the choice may no longer be hers.
Quick Review
The Citadel at the End of the World is a masterful but incredibly fast-paced novella that explores the cost of power and the lies surrounding it.
Full Review
The Citadel at the End of the World is a fast-faced novella in which Adela goes to the titular Citadel to train. While her journey to become a mage begins as an exciting adventure, the more Adela learns about the Citadel and its magic, the more challenging it becomes. Both physically and morally. Author Y.R. Liu handled this with precision and care.
However, the pacing of Citadel is incredibly fast. In one chapter, there could be half a dozen or more scene changes. Some skip only a few moments, others may skip years. The whole novella, at just about eighty pages long, takes place over most of Adela’s lifetime. She begins the story as a young teenager, and it ends after she’s a grown woman—close to fifty years old.
This is probably where Citadel will lose most of its readers. I wanted a fast-paced read, and even for me there is a lot of time skipped over. Scenes that could be whole chapters are reduced to a single vignette.
This also impacts some of the losses Adela experiences along her way. Without getting into spoilers, some of the consequences for actions taken in the story didn’t hit particularly hard, since we barely get to spend any time with the supporting cast, outside of a few notable exceptions.
That said, Citadel is a great story about the cost of magic in this world, and it was exactly what I wanted, personally. While I would have liked to see more of Adela’s life and more of some of the supporting cast, Liu still delivered a great fantasy tale about the consequences of power.
I recommend The Citadel at the End of the World. If you’re up for a fast-paced fantasy novella, Liu has written one of the best I’ve read so far.
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