Citadel

Product Information

Though the elements of fantasy and magic require a firm suspension of disbelief (there is a whiff of Tolkien about the alleged powers of the codex), what capture the reader most powerfully are the horrors of the Nazi threat and the sacrifices necessary to survive and resist, which make Citadel feel the most substantial and mature of the trilogy. The story Citadel uses the element of mysticism in a Gnostic codex. The words in the codex conjure the spirit world. I ask why do we need to call on the "army of spirits" when we can call on God Himself? If we are referring to the "army of spirits" as God's angels, His angels are ministering spirits sent by Him. A superb blend of rugged action and haunting mystery based on real-life figures, Citadel is a vivid and richly atmospheric story of a group of heroic women who dared the odds to survive [provided by the publisher]

The complex history of the Languedoc has proved fertile territory for Kate Mosse in her recent trilogy of adventure novels, beginning with the phenomenally successful Labyrinth in 2005, shortly to be a mini-series, and now reaching its conclusion in Citadel. So for its depiction of the struggles of occupied Languedoc, Citadel earns some respect. Mosse evinces both passion and planning in her presentation of this story, enough that I can understand what makes her so beloved of some readers. Yet if the Languedoc people managed to rise up and drive out the Nazis anyway, why did they need ghost soldiers? For this reason, I found Citadel’s eleventh hour dip into the realm of fantasy perplexing more than anything else. Up until that point, the hunt for Arinius’ Codex had been pleasantly archaeological, reminding me of the conspiratorial tones of Eco and Ruiz Zafón. The actual resolution after all that feels more deflating than rewarding.This idea of a connection between the story of a secret Cathar treasure and the grail was given substance in the 20th century by the work of Otto Rahn, a German historian and SS officer who believed that the Cathars held the key to the grail mystery, and that the evidence was somewhere beneath the ruins of Montségur. His writings attracted the attention of Himmler, whose own fascination with the occult, and with the possible ancient pedigree of an Aryan race, led to the founding of the Ahnenerbe, a society dedicated to research into proving the historical origins of a master race. And new heroes and heroines, Raoul, Sandrine, Lucie, Marianne, too many to name all related somehow to the story of the characters of the previous book like a cycle. Revelation 1:1 announces both the book's title (it is a 'revelation') and its divine author ('Jesus Christ'). The book is an 'unveiling of unseen spiritual forces operating behind the scenes in history and controlling its events and outcome. This disclosure is conveyed in a series of symbolic visions that exhibit the influence of OT prophecies, especially those received by Daniel, Ezekiel, and Zechariah. The book is also 'prophecy' (Rev. 1:3; 22:7), not only as divine prediction of future events but also as divine diagnosis of the present state of affairs."

Then we meet a Dark Ages monk who is protecting a scroll known as the Codex. This secondary plot should have been left out of the book. It distracted me. It takes too much away from what could have been a great story of courageous female resistance fighters. Apparently Kate Mosse always includes a supernatural twist to her novels and this is why she had to force this storyline in for the trilogy to make sense. It’s a pity because it ruins the novel. Overall, I did get enjoyment out of the novel and the character development was done very well. I enjoyed reading about Carcassonne and greatly enjoyed the history involved in the creation of the novel. At last, I got my mitts on a copy of the final part of Kate Mosse's Languedoc trilogy. Citadel was published by Orion in October, it's been a long 5 year wait for this one. Historical fiction has never been my first love, and I'll admit that the first of the series; Labyrinth, sat on my shelf for a long time before I actually read it. I was amazed by the writing, by the story and how Mosse manages to captivate the reader with her complex plots and engaging characters. Labyrinth was followed by Sepulchre in 2007, and again, I loved it and have anticipated the release of Citadel for such a long time.

After the huge success of the first two instalments of her Languedoc trilogy, Kate Mosse's Citadel was always going to sell well. Mosse, who co-founded the Orange prize for fiction in 1996, received an OBE in the recent Queen's birthday honours, which has cemented her reputation as a champion of popular literature. Set in southern France during the second world war, Citadel centres on Sandrine Vidal, a headstrong 18-year-old, and her friends, who belong to a group of female resistance fighters called Citadel. Because I haven't read Sepulchre, I can't comment on how that book fits into the trilogy, but there are references to the two previous books that lead up to Citadel. The time frame of Citadel is the 1940's while France was in the midst of Nazi occupation. This story is one of bravery as a group of women partake in the French resistance. The characters are well developed and pull the reader into their worlds easily. But smuggling refugees over the mountains into neutral territory and sabotaging their Nazi occupiers is only part of their mission. These members of the resistance must also protect an ancient secret that, if discovered by the enemy, could change the course of history. Source: Free advanced reader copy from William Morrow, and France Book Tours, in exchange for a review. The story itself has potential as it charts the development of a group of women who come to run a Resistance movement named Citadel in Southern France during the Nazi occupation. This could have been a fascinating story. However, rather than simply dealing with this, Mosse chooses to interweave the most ludicrous plot about a Codex. This Codex, hidden by a former monk, is sought after by a leading Nazi supporter Chief Authie for its heretical properties and the Resistance groups for its ability to raise a ghost army. Ridiculous. Not only is this sub plot a distraction from the more credible one concerning the female resistance movement, but it simply does not make sense. Authie believes he has his hands on the Codex, but hands it over to his superiors who also want to use it to gain power despite his obsessive desire to destroy. Meanwhile, the Resistance knows where the real Codex lies, but are too busy with pamphleteering to go and get it despite its potential to save their country. Then when it is finally used, it saves a small number of villagers and has no real impact on the war itself. In short, it is just silly.