A review by buttonsbeadslace
Citadel of the Sky by Chrysoula Tzavelas
5.0
I found this book through Kickstarter, having no previous knowledge of the author's work. I was hooked as soon as I read the preview. I backed the Kickstarter immediately and spent days wondering what happened next while I waited for the Kickstarter to end and my purchase to be filled. This book has a gripping, constantly evolving plot with a tinge of horror, set in a world with unique and complex systems of religion, politics and magic.The only thing I disliked about it is that it ends on a cliffhanger.
I'm surprised to see the royal family's magic described as "making them go mad" in the blurb, because that makes this book sound like every other story that uses a sort of generic "madness" as a trope, when it's the opposite. No one "goes" mad in this book. The "madness" isn't used as a threat-- there's no pretense that the characters are Normal and Sane now, but might Go Mad in some irrevocable, fate-worse-than-death way if they do the wrong thing. None of that. This is a book in which a bunch of people who are mentally ill now, already, do their best to cope and also rule a country, solve mysteries, and fight off invading armies.
I cannot say strongly enough how impressed I am with the balance this book maintains in portraying the characters who have the royal blood, and thus the royal magic and the royal "madness". Too often, disabilities in fiction are either completely tragic-- they make a person incapable of doing anything worthwhile, ever-- or they exist in theory but don't really affect the characters in any significant way. This book balances the significant effects of the royal "madness" with the still significant abilities of the royals to control not only their own lives but the whole kingdom. The royals' experiences are sometimes genuinely scary, and they sometimes struggle with themselves and wish some of their symptoms would go away, but they are also all full characters with their own agency. They make their own choices. They work around their symptoms and live their lives as best they can.
Among the different members of the royal family we see many different attitudes toward mental illness and many different ways of coping. The main character, Tiana, resents being treated as fragile and fears that people will be afraid of her. She tries to hide her symptoms and act as "normal" as possible, especially around strangers, but her desire to be normal and accepted is at odds with her curiosity. Kiar, Tiana's cousin, is introverted and closed-off. She maintains outward self-control and poise by avoiding other people and her own emotions, while inside she's filled with self-doubt. King Shonathan, Tiana's father, drifts through life trying to avoid thinking about painful memories. Shanasee, another cousin, has the greatest magical power of any member of the royal family currently alive, but refuses to use her abilities. She played a large part in ending the last magical threat to the kingdom, and was horrified by the results of her actions.
The Regents, mentioned in the blurb, exist in the confusing territory between friend, relative, and caregiver. They grow up alongside the members of the royal family after being chosen by them, but they are trained to help the royals control their powers and stay anchored in reality, and the Regents as a group have their own political power and interests. This creates a lot of mixed feelings on both sides. Kiar doesn't have a regent and feels that having one would be admitting to weakness; Tiana cares deeply for her regent, Lisette, but also sometimes resents Lisette's kindness and finds it condescending.
I'm surprised to see the royal family's magic described as "making them go mad" in the blurb, because that makes this book sound like every other story that uses a sort of generic "madness" as a trope, when it's the opposite. No one "goes" mad in this book. The "madness" isn't used as a threat-- there's no pretense that the characters are Normal and Sane now, but might Go Mad in some irrevocable, fate-worse-than-death way if they do the wrong thing. None of that. This is a book in which a bunch of people who are mentally ill now, already, do their best to cope and also rule a country, solve mysteries, and fight off invading armies.
I cannot say strongly enough how impressed I am with the balance this book maintains in portraying the characters who have the royal blood, and thus the royal magic and the royal "madness". Too often, disabilities in fiction are either completely tragic-- they make a person incapable of doing anything worthwhile, ever-- or they exist in theory but don't really affect the characters in any significant way. This book balances the significant effects of the royal "madness" with the still significant abilities of the royals to control not only their own lives but the whole kingdom. The royals' experiences are sometimes genuinely scary, and they sometimes struggle with themselves and wish some of their symptoms would go away, but they are also all full characters with their own agency. They make their own choices. They work around their symptoms and live their lives as best they can.
Among the different members of the royal family we see many different attitudes toward mental illness and many different ways of coping. The main character, Tiana, resents being treated as fragile and fears that people will be afraid of her. She tries to hide her symptoms and act as "normal" as possible, especially around strangers, but her desire to be normal and accepted is at odds with her curiosity. Kiar, Tiana's cousin, is introverted and closed-off. She maintains outward self-control and poise by avoiding other people and her own emotions, while inside she's filled with self-doubt. King Shonathan, Tiana's father, drifts through life trying to avoid thinking about painful memories. Shanasee, another cousin, has the greatest magical power of any member of the royal family currently alive, but refuses to use her abilities. She played a large part in ending the last magical threat to the kingdom, and was horrified by the results of her actions.
The Regents, mentioned in the blurb, exist in the confusing territory between friend, relative, and caregiver. They grow up alongside the members of the royal family after being chosen by them, but they are trained to help the royals control their powers and stay anchored in reality, and the Regents as a group have their own political power and interests. This creates a lot of mixed feelings on both sides. Kiar doesn't have a regent and feels that having one would be admitting to weakness; Tiana cares deeply for her regent, Lisette, but also sometimes resents Lisette's kindness and finds it condescending.