Karen McMillan is a friend and fellow New Zealand author—and she also does reviews, generally across a range of literature genres (although not usually SFF/speculative fiction.)

If you’re interested in reviews, particularly in the contemporary realism, crime-thriller, chicklit and non fiction areas, you should definitely check out Karen’s review page, here.

One of the books recently reviewed by Karen is Kate Mosse’s novel Citadel, the third in her timeslip (which is, after all, a form of speculative fiction) series that began with the international bestseller Labyrinth, and continued with Sepulchre. Today, with Karen’s permission, I am publishing her full review for Citadel here.

—

Review: “Citadel” (Orion Publishing, 2012, 704 pp) by Kate Mosse

Release date: 30 October

Review by Karen McMillan

This is an impressive ‘time-slip’ novel that encompasses two story lines that come to an explosive intersection near the end of the book. Both stories are set in the far south of France in Carcassonne, evoking the eerie beauty of the region. One story concerns a monk and an ancient script, a Codex, that has the ability to summon up a ghost army back in AD 340. The main story is set in the World War II. Sandrine is a young naive woman, living with her older sister Marianne, until a demonstration in their local village goes wrong and innocent people are injured. At the demonstration, she meets Raoul, a young man who mysteriously saved her life by the river but then disappeared. The connection between them is instant and it doesn’t take long for them to begin a torrid love affair, even though he is a wanted man by the Gestapo. Sandrine learns the truth of what is happening under her nose and joins her sister and her friends in a female-only Resistance group, taking increasingly dangerous jobs in their fight for freedom. But then she meets the elusive Monsieur Baillard, who is looking for the Codex that is centuries old that he believes will help them in their time of need, and Sandrine becomes the crucial person in summoning this ancient power.

This is a remarkable novel.  It has intrigue, danger and true emotional clout. The ending will leave you winded, but you will want to read on to the very last page. A bittersweet, beautifully written novel, original, thought-provoking and completely engaging.

For more information on Kate Mosse’s writing, see her site here

—

About the Reviewer:

Karen McMillan lives in New Zealand and is the author of both fiction and non-fiction. She has a Diploma in Professional Writing and an Advanced Diploma of Applied Arts (Writing). Her non fiction title,  Love in Aotearoa, was short-listed for the Ashton Wylie Book Award in 2005.

Previously an award-winning fashion designer, Karen has worked full-time for a leading book publisher based in New Zealand for the past twelve years. Karen has written articles for a variety of different publications and from time to time she takes on ghost-writing projects. She also volunteers for her local hospice and writes articles that promote the life-affirming work that they do.