The Stars Undying
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2.8 • 4 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
A "dazzling" tale of empire and betrayal set among the stars (#1 New York Times bestselling author Casey McQuiston), this queer, spectacular space opera draws inspiration from Roman and Egyptian empires—and the lives and loves of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar.
Princess Altagracia has lost everything. After a bloody civil war, her twin sister has claimed both the crown of their planet, Szayet, and the Pearl of its prophecy: a computer that contains the immortal soul of Szayet’s god.
So when the interstellar Empire of Ceiao turns its conquering eye toward Szayet, Gracia sees an opportunity. To regain her planet, Gracia places herself in the hands of the empire and its dangerous commander, Matheus Ceirran.
But winning over Matheus, to say nothing of his mercurial and compelling captain Anita, is no easy feat. And in trying to secure her planet’s sovereignty and future, Gracia will find herself torn between Matheus’s ambitions, Anita’s unpredictable desires, and the demands of the Pearl that whispers in her ear.
For Szayet’s sake and her own, she will need to become more than a princess with a silver tongue. She will have to become a queen as history has never seen before.
"A glittering triumph of a book that weaves together history and tragedy into a star-spanning epic." —Everina Maxwell, author of Winter’s Orbit
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Robin's epic and extensively detailed debut and Empire Without End series launch puts a space opera spin on the love triangle between Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, and Marc Anthony. Altagracia "Gracia" Caviro Patramata is the true queen and prophet of Szayet, but her more militaristic sister, Arcelia, stages a coup and seizes the Pearl of the Dead, a quicksilver computer containing an AI version of Szayet's founder, Alekso. Gracia's only chance at reclaiming the throne is rolling herself up in a carpet, smuggling herself into the quarters of Matheus Ceirran, admiral of the Empire of Ceiao, and seducing him to her side. Though Gracia regains her throne, inviting foreign military to intervene in the Szayeti government soon backfires: the Alekso AI is furious with Gracia, Ceirran's hotheaded assistant captain causes trouble, and Ceirran himself faces deadly opposition from the Merchants' Council of Ceiao. Robin's worldbuilding relies so heavily on classical history that it feels subsumed by it, and readers unfamiliar with the intricacies of Cleopatra or Julius Caesar's lives may struggle to keep track of the shifting politics and extensive cast. Still, for fans of plot-heavy space opera—and particularly classicists who enjoy SFF—there's much that will appeal in this galaxy of clever, casually queer characters scheming and double-dealing through the stars.
