First in a duology that reimagines fairy tale tropes within a space opera—The Princess Bride meets Princess Leia.
Rory Thorne is a princess with thirteen fairy blessings, the most important of which is to see through flattery and platitudes. As the eldest daughter, she always imagined she’d inherit her father’s throne and govern the interplanetary Thorne Consortium.
Then her father is assassinated, her mother gives birth to a son, and Rory is betrothed to the prince of a distant world.
When Rory arrives in her new home, she uncovers a treacherous plot to unseat her newly betrothed and usurp his throne. An unscrupulous minister has conspired to name himself Regent to the minor (and somewhat foolish) prince. With only her wits and a small team of allies, Rory must outmaneuver the Regent and rescue the prince.
How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse is a feminist reimagining of familiar fairytale tropes and a story of resistance and self-determination—how small acts of rebellion can lead a princess to not just save herself, but change the course of history.
Initial thoughts: For a book I picked up merely because it was one of the most recent SFF releases with an available copy for loan from my library’s Overdrive catalogue, I went into this book with zero expectations. Reminded of my pre-Goodreads days when I chose books at the library merely based on the synopsis, then hoped for the best.
What surprised me about How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse was how deftly a fairytale retelling was woven into a space opera. I really enjoyed how the author took Sleeping Beauty but empowered the princess with her own agency to determine her future despite the blessings and the curse that the fairies had given her as a baby.
