Happy UK publication day to Unconquerable Sun, the fantastic first instalment in a new sci-fi trilogy from Kate Elliott! Published by Head of Zeus, this is billed as ‘gender-swapped Alexander the Great in space’, which is a great elevator pitch if ever I heard one. I was delighted to receive an advance copy of this brilliant book, and my review is live over on the Grimdark Magazine site. I’d love for you to head over there and check it out, but if you just want my essential thoughts on the book then how about this: I spent virtually an entire day unable to put this down, and my overriding thought upon finishing it was a desperate frustration at knowing that the second book isn’t available yet!
I’ll clarify that a little bit by pointing out that this is a smart, complex space opera, exploring the politics of the world it portrays as it twists through a plot full of betrayals and power plays. It’s absolutely not the sort of book that spoon-feeds you the information up-front, but then that’s exactly the sort of space opera I like the most, and once I settled into the rhythm of it I was easily carried along by the characters and the narrative. All the details of the world building came naturally as the story progressed – the beacon system that links the competing empires together, the cultural differences across those empires, and so on. I totally understand the appeal of books which allow the reader to just kick back and relax, but in my opinion the slow-release approach really suits this sort of story. It requires patience and attention from the reader, but the effort is very much repaid in the end!
Just a quick note on the Alexander the Great references – as I say in my review, there’s really no requirement to be well up on your 300 BC Greek history in order to enjoy this book! I had the loosest appreciation of Alexander’s story (probably from reading Valerio Massimo Manfredi many years ago), but I’m really not a history buff so for the most part I just enjoyed the book on its own merits. A quick bit of online research after finishing helped clarify where this draws its inspiration (Sun as Alexander, Eirene as Philip of Macedon etc.), and it’s interesting to reflect on the similarities after the fact, but you definitely shouldn’t worry if – like me – you just want to enjoy a great story. If you do know your Greek history, however, I’m sure you’ll have fun spotting all the references.
So yeah, this one definitely gets my wholehearted seal of approval. I do love a good space opera – especially one with loads of great female characters and a mixture of fabulous slow-burn world building, twisty court politics and breathless action! If that sounds like your thing too then definitely check this out. Here’s a link to my review over on the Grimdark Magazine site, and there’s a link at the bottom of the page if you’d like to go straight ahead and order yourself a copy!
All that remains is to say a massive thank you to Kate Elliott and Head of Zeus for the review copy, and the same to the folks over at Grimdark Magazine for hosting my review. Now I just have to contain my excitement until book two of The Sun Chronicles – which I believe is titled Furious Heaven – is published!
