I don’t know about you, but I’m loving this growing trend of taking classics and/or events from history, making them gay, and setting them in space. (I say trend, but really so far it’s this book and Suzan Palumbo’s upcoming Countess.) If that sounds good to you—which it should—then let me urge you now to get your preorders in for The Stars Undying (US, UK, int’l) because trust me. You won’t regret it.
Before we start with the review though, don’t forget you can follow Emery on twitter too.
A spectacular space opera debut perfect for readers of Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice and Arkady Martine’s A Memory Called Empire, inspired by the lives and loves of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar.
Princess Altagracia has lost everything. After a bloody civil war, her twin sister has claimed not just the crown of their planet Szayet but the Pearl of its prophecy, a computer that contains the immortal soul of Szayet’s god. Stripped of her birthright, Gracia flees the planet—just as Matheus Ceirran, Commander of the interstellar Empire of Ceiao, arrives in deadly pursuit with his volatile lieutenant, Anita. When Gracia and Ceirran’s paths collide, Gracia sees an opportunity to win back her planet, her god, and her throne…if she can win the Commander and his right-hand officer over first.
But talking her way into Ceirran’s good graces, and his bed, is only the beginning. Dealing with the most powerful man in the galaxy is almost as dangerous as war, and Gracia is quickly torn between an alliance that fast becomes more than political and the wishes of the god—or machine—that whispers in her ear. For Szayet’s sake, and her own, Gracia will need to become more than a princess with a silver tongue. She will have to become a queen as history has never seen before—even if it breaks an empire.
The Stars Undying
Emery Robin
Rep: bi mcs, lesbian side character, nonbinary side character, gay side character
Release: 8th November 2022