MINI-REVIEW: Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza

Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza

Release Date: February 7, 2017

My Rating: 4 stars

Summary: Crown Princess Rhiannon Ta'an wants vengeance.

The only surviving heir to an ancient Kalusian dynasty, Rhee has spent her life training to destroy the people who killed her family. Now, on the eve of her coronation, the time has finally come for Rhee to claim her throne - and her revenge.

Alyosha is a Wraetan who has risen above his war refugee origins to find fame as the dashing star of a DroneVision show. Despite his popularity, Aly struggles with anti-Wraetan prejudices and the pressure of being perfect in the public eye.

Their paths collide with one brutal act of violence: Rhee is attacked, barely escaping with her life. Aly is blamed for her presumed murder.

The princess and her accused killer are forced to go into hiding - even as a war between planets is waged in Rhee's name. But soon, Rhee and Aly discover that the assassination attempt is just one part of a sinister plot. Bound together by an evil that only they can stop, the two fugitives must join forces to save the galaxy.

This book was a lot different from many of the other sci-fi books that I've read. In a lot of ways, it mirrored the political challenges we face today: racism, bigots, prejudice, etc. You usually don't see these things addressed in sci-fi books; maybe fantasy, but not sci-fi (in my experience). One of the main characters, Alyosha, faces racism and prejudice every day; he's a Wraetian, which is a race that basically everyone else discriminates against.

As the star of a popular show, Aly thinks he has to act "perfectly" so that people won't see him doing any "bad" things and think that all Wraetians are lazy, criminals, you get the idea (and see it mirroring today?). This book also deals a little with differences with religion. It's sad that, even in another universe, prejudice exists, but unfortunately, it's realistic. For this, it's refreshing to read about these issues and how people are affected by them even in a different world.

Unfortunately, this book was short, too short; roughly 300 pages (and the font was on the larger side), all of the plot was sort of squished, and a lot happened, like way too much. It made the book fast-paced, but nothing was really fleshed out, so the plot kind of fell short. Also, some of the writing was a bit too melodramatic sometimes, making it hard for me to really empathize with the characters.

That being said, Empress of a Thousand Skies was a great book. It deals with issues of racism and religion, and both protagonists are POCs, as are most of other characters too. I wholeheartedly recommend this book, especially if you like Illuminae!

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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.

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