Empress of a Thousand Skies (Empress of a Thousand Skies, #1)

by Rhoda Belleza

For fans of Pierce Brown and Firefly comes an epic sci-fi fantasy, hailed as "an important and relevant novel" by The New York Times. 

Empress
Rhee, also known as Crown Princess Rhiannon Ta’an, is the sole surviving heir to a powerful dynasty. She’ll stop at nothing to avenge her family and claim her throne.
 
Fugitive
Aly has risen above his war refugee origins to find fame as the dashing star of a DroneVision show. But when he’s falsely accused of killing Rhee, he's forced to prove his innocence to save his reputation – and his life.
 
Madman
With planets on the brink of war, Rhee and Aly must confront a ruthless evil that threatens the fate of the entire galaxy.

Rhoda Belleza crafts a powerful saga of vengeance, warfare, and the true meaning of legacy in this exhilarating debut, perfect for readers of Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles and Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman's Illuminae Files.

• ISBN10: 110199911X
• ISBN13: 9781101999110
• Publish Date: 3 November 2017 (first published 7 February 2017)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 5 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Razorbill
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 352
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781101999110

Reviews

[katie]

Absolutely FANTASTIC 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

[Stephanie]

I took my time reading this book, even thought it was pretty short. This was the first time in awhile that a book felt so rooted in the reality we live right now, despite it being wholly science fiction. It's hard to explain without reading it, but you'll understand if you do. It slapped me in the face without being obvious.

But, the problem for me was not in its thematic values, but mostly the style of writing. I felt like certain emotional moments were lost when all of a sudden a chapter break moves the reader forward in time. There is a character death in the middle of the book, but you don't know the character is dead until the following chapter where it's been a few days, and the main character is now aboard another ship/on another planet. I just wanted those moments, not be told they happened and we're suddenly a week later and past that event in time.

[liz089]

I got this one in my February FairyLoot box and I was so curious I started reading immidiately !

It was a lot to take in at the beginning, a whole new universe, new races, it took me a while to get familiair with it and get into it. But when I was in it, I flew through the pages and finished it very fast. Mainly because it only has around 300 pages, but also because it was written very compelling and easy to get through.

I really liked now actionpacked the story was, no dull moments, and... there was almost NO ROMANCE until the end !! Great !!

But, ven though it had a lot of action and the main characters were not really annoying.. I did not connect with them that much and the plot was really predictable.
It also reminded me a bit of The Lunar Chronicles??

It was not a bad book, not at all. Especially for a debut author, this was awesome.
All in all I would like to give this one a 3.5 star.. and I'm curious how she will progress in the next volume !