Crown Princess Rhiannon, known as Rhee, has deadly accuracy with a blade and a thirst for vengeance. After her family perished in a suspicious spacecraft accident when she was just a child, Rhee grew up in exile while a corrupt government ruled in her stead. Now, Rhee has finally come of age to claim her title as Empress...and to avenge her family. But on the eve of her coronation, Rhee is brutally attacked by a government assassin and only narrowly escapes with her life. Without knowing who she can trust, Rhee goes into hiding, relying only on her sharp instincts and her trusty blade to survive.Across the galaxy, pilot Alyosha has risen above his war refugee origins to find fame as the popular star of a reality holo-vision show. But when Aly is framed for the attack on Rhee, he goes from celebrity to fugitive in an instant. On the run from the formidable UniForce army, Aly knows that his only hope is to find the princess and clear his name. Thrown together by an act of violence, Rhee and Aly eventually discover the attack is just one part of a larger plan with devastating, far-reaching consequences for the entire galaxy.
Debut author Rhoda Belleza has crafted an exhilarating, page-turning saga with cinematic scope, impossibly high stakes, and two unforgettable characters fighting to save their own lives and the fate of the universe.
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.
