Empress of a thousand skies by Rhoda Belleza

Book one in the series

Publisher: Razorbill

Publication date: February 7^th, 2017

Source: eArc from the publisher

Rating: 3.5 hearts

Synopsis

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 are thrown together to confront a ruthless evil that threatens the fate of the entire galaxy.

A saga of vengeance, warfare, and the true meaning of legacy.

Review

This book is the story of Rhee, the only survivor of the Ta’an family, she was on another planet since her parents and sister were murdered. She wants revenge and someone wants her dead.

It’s also the story of Alyosha, one of the stars of The Revolutionary Boys, a reality show that films Aly and his partner Vincent doing their UniForce job. He was accused of the Princess’s murder. He must prove his innocence since he didn’t see the princess and also since she’s alive.

I can’t say that I like Rhee, for me, she’s a failed child who, despite the tragedy she has experienced, cannot help herself from behaving like an authoritarian princess. I don’t like how she treats Dahlen, I understand her motives but it’s not enough.

Dahlen is an interesting character and I hope that we will see more of him in the next book, yes I did say that I will read the next book. Even if this one wasn’t perfect, there is some good in here and it’s the first so there is more installments and that’s good.

I like Alyosha, he is a refugee from a planet that got bombed as part of the Great War, he wants to be considered as more than a refugee. He wants to do great things for the empire; sadly his people are viewed poorly by everyone. I wasn’t always agreeing with his actions but I like his mind, he knows when he made a mistake and try to fix it.

Kara is also an interesting character; I want to see what will happen to her in the future.

There are also other characters that I hope we will see in the next book, Julian is one them, I want to see how Rhoda Belleza will write the story between Rhee and him.

I really don’t know what to think about this book, I was impatient to read it and I’m a little disappointed.

A thing I really like is the all world building, seriously, all these planets and different people; it’s what I like in a space opera book but a map would have been a great thing to have.

Empress of a thousand skies is a first book with some things that I don’t like, but it also have so much possibilities that I really hope the next book will be better. I hope that Rhee will grow up, eventually and I want to see more Dahlen and more Kara of course.

The writing style was good, the characters have some default but it’s like every human beings. The galaxy’s politics are very complex and there are a lot of planets, I must say that I like that. I like the droids too, the use of technology is very appreciated here. Most people are equipped with a cube, which keep all their memories; they can see them when they want.

There isn’t only one story in Empress of a thousand skies, Alyosha and Kara will discover some interesting things about technology and about themselves.

Quick word: Not a bad space opera debut.

About the author

Rhoda Belleza was raised in Los Angeles, where she grew up writing XFiles fanfiction and stuffing her face with avocados. When she’s not writing, Rhoda obsesses over nail art tutorials, watches kung fu movies, and sews together crooked things that pass for clothes. She’s a children’s editor at a publishing house and writes from a sunny Brooklyn apartment stuffed far too many bikes and far too many shoes. Empress of a Thousand Skies is her debut novel.