Before the Fortress Falls by A. L. Sowards

Before the Fortress Falls
by A. L. Sowards

ISBN-13: 9781524420802
Paperback: 379 pages
Publisher: Covenant Communications
Released: April 1, 2022

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
When rumors reach Vienna that an attack by the Ottoman army is imminent, Wilhelm von Schor, one of the emperor’s courtiers, prepares to evacuate his family—including his sister, Katja. But Katja is reluctance to leave the city and the people she loves so well. When she learns that her twin brother, Xavier, is returning to Vienna with his musketeers, she decides to remain behind and face the shadow of war.

Katja soon reunites with Xavier and also with Toby, a dear friend from childhood. As Katja and Toby renew their friendship, an element of attraction builds on the comradery of their youth, and they quickly realize they have found something worth fighting for: love. But all too soon, the Ottomans encircle the city, blanketing its inhabitants in fear. Katja, Toby, and Xavier must each fulfill their new roles if they are to survive. In the overcrowded hospitals, below ground in the countermines, and on the ramparts defending the city walls, the three must fight for love, family, faith, and the survival of their city and everyone inside.


My Review:
Before the Fortress Falls is about a pivotal battle that occurred at Vienna in 1683. There were five point-of-view characters to provide "firsthand" experience of various aspects of the battle: Wilhelm worked as a diplomat to help gather an army of allies to break the siege; his brother Xavier lead a group of musketeers tasked with defending the walls of Vienna; his sister Katja helped with the sick and injured in the hospital; their childhood friend, Toby, used his carpentry skills to shore up the countermines and take the battle underground. Plus brief scenes from the viewpoint of an enemy officer. At first, it felt like the characters mainly existed to allow the reader to experience the major events of the siege. Interesting historical details about the siege were woven into the suspenseful writing and brought the siege alive in my imagination.

About halfway through, I started to care about what happened to them. Toby and Katja managed to spend more time together, renewing their friendship but also supporting each other through the hard times and falling in love. Toby, Katja, and Xavier struggled with the loss of friends and eventually the feeling that it was a hopeless battle. Xavier (and the others) found hope and strength from his Christian faith and his belief in a better life after death. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this suspenseful historical, especially to anyone interested in what it'd be like to be in a siege.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.