No good or bad situation lasts forever, but sometimes it lasts too long. Stronghold by Kesha Bakunin is a chronicle, spanning many years, rulers and societies.
Stronghold synopsis
No one knows where it came from. Or why, for that matter. Maybe the Stronghold has always been there. Silent. Foreboding. Expectant. Generations came and went. Wars raged. Kingdoms rose and fell. But the Stronghold stood and observed the history as it was written before it in blood, fire, and tears. Not a single soul has ever made it inside the Stronghold. But some sure tried…
A parable of despotism and religious oppression, “Stronghold” was banned in its country of origin. It took Kesha Bakunin years to rewrite the book in English. With censorship on the rise in many parts of the world, it might be the last chance for him to share this cautionary tale about the most insidious kind of tyranny—one which is welcomed by its subjects as virtuous.
The secret of the Stronghold awaits its claimant. The question is who will have the courage to peek inside.
Book review
All is acceptable in love and war. The learned keepers stand opposite the tribal people. Genocide is one way to go. Oppression of dissenters is another. If you don’t agree with what’s happening in society, you can always start a cult. Or venture into the untouchable Stronghold, who knows what’s going on in there?
Stronghold presents many political and social issues in the form of a fantasy story set in a world with a rich history. But if you know the background of the book – the fact that it was banned in Kesha Bakunin’s country – you know that this fantasy world has a lot in common with our own. This is political scheming at its best: a parable of despotism and religious oppression.
History and future
The story is not told in a linear fashion and it takes a while for you to get the hang of the story. But once you do, you become more interested in the different timelines and characters. Like them, you want to know more about Those and the Stronghold that can bring even the mighty Iskaria to its knees. Once the worldbuilding is mostly done and the Provost enters the scene, the plot slowly begins to unfold.
A large cast of characters is introduced at the beginning of the book, and it doesn’t stop there. You think you know them, but you only know what they want you to know. At first, you have no idea what is going on, but as you revisit the same timeline over and over again, you find out what really happened.
I was not very charmed by the writing style and the fact that many parts were told as accounts of history rather than active events. The writing style is somewhat stiff and at first I was distracted by the word order and the use of adjectives and adverbs. It reads like a medieval chronicle. I think this was done for better immersion, but it does not enhance the reading experience.
This says nothing about how intense the meaning of the words can come across. The judgments and opinions are barely hidden in sentences like “If ordinary untruths felt to him like hollows in the smooth flow of words, now he mentally stared into the abyss” and “A cesspool of wickedness masquerading as a shrine or a virtue.”
After a hundred pages, you still don’t know much about the Stronghold or the endgame. I like that what you want to know is slowly introduced and not fully explained until the last hundred pages of the book. I wondered for a moment if the plot was added more as an afterthought, secondary to creating a parable, but I think it fits the story, I accept the plot.
Leadership and society
“In every society, real people are a minority, and the majority is made up of human-like animals.” In a successful society, people set rules for the animals, and in a failed society it is the other way around. Reading this makes you feel good, right? Fortunately for those involved, someone wrote a book with rules people should live by, called a way of life; the hint could not be clearer. Another quote: “Angry, violent, stupid, short-sighted, treacherous, people had only one redeeming quality: abundance.” These sentences do not illustrate the overall tone of the novel, only the moments that certain characters express their more honest feelings. You are either one of them or one of Those.
People live in a cage of their own making. They cannot escape their reality after being subjugated for too long. Rulers experiment with governing a society. Stronghold is Kesha Bakunin’s large sandbox that allows him to showcase political systems and the resulting societies throughout the ages, and the impact the strong hold of those in charge has on their subjects and the prosperity of the nation. Watching this unfold is what makes this book interesting. You analyze people’s actions. Do they really have a choice? Can they break free from those who oppress them?
Stronghold is more about political machinations and various leadership styles than about the characters, whom you only meet briefly because the book covers a large time span. Still, specific individuals are critical to the success of a system. If they don’t live long enough to establish a new norm, what they have worked hard for falls apart the moment they disappear.
Final thoughts
If I rate this book as a “regular” science fiction and fantasy book, without knowing the author’s background, I would give it three stars for the reading experience. I liked this book and would certainly recommend it to some of you, but I did not enjoy every page. Knowing the background brings an extra dimension to the story because you read it differently and analyze each action, society and person. I’ll stick to three stars because of my reading experience, but the parable-like depiction of the real world earns four to five stars for intellectual food for thought.
By the end of the book I wished this book was twice as long, or just went on indefinitely (just tell me about the next 7000 years). I guess it secretly grew on me. I wonder what would happen to the world, although I fear it would be a copy of what happened before: the inevitable demise of all that is good after a few generations, when the (inspirational) figureheads die and pass on their rule to the next in line. Nothing lasts forever, but sometimes it lasts too long.
Interested?
Get your copy of Stronghold via Amazon (available 1 June 2021).
Book details
Title: Stronghold
Author: Kesha Bakunin
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Pages: 524
ISBN (13): 9781637529379
Publication date: 1 June 2021
About the author
A journalist and PR executive by trade, Kesha Bakunin started his career in one of the former Soviet states. As his country slid towards authoritarianism, social conformity, and religious orthodoxy, he emigrated to preserve personal integrity and professional independence. Having watched his homeland fall prey to a most bizarre mix of secular autocracy and religious extremism, Kesha felt compelled to document and share his observations in the form of a cautionary tale.
Since no local publisher was willing to represent Stronghold without excisions and adjustments, Kesha had to rewrite the book in English.
Many thanks to Atmosphere Press and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
