WE ARE BLESSED WITH AMAZING QUEER SCI FI THIS YEAR AND I CANT STOP SCREAMING ABOUT IT. I honestly cannot express in words how amazing a year scifi is having, I am in AWE at the stories coming in this genre. Unconquerable Sun is a retelling of Alexander the Great set in space with a female Alexander (and yes, there is a female Hephaestion too). It's an epic story of war across the galaxy and as someone who hasn't been hugely interested in massive war/military fantasy and scifi before, I am in awe at the ease with which Elliot's writing completely engaged me because I had so much fun and was on the edge of my seat the whole way through.

Unconquerable Sun follows Sun, the daughter and heir to the Chaonian empire, who is locked in a bitter battle with her warrior mother for power, and must deftly use her brain and loyal companions to defeat the Phene empire they are at war with.

Unconquerable Sun does take a little time to fully get into. Sun isn't the most endearing of characters: in fact, for the first few chapters, I thought she was a whiny brat and was swaying towards Team Eireine (her mother). A lot of the book is from Sun's POV, which did make it a little difficult to get into the first portion of this book. However, from the wedding feast onwards, I was enthralled. There is constant action and tension throughout, this story never ever lets up. It's absolutely amazing. It might sound like near constant battles and races against team is too much, but I really didn't think it was at all. I think that's particularly down to the way Elliot has embedded so much plot behind every single battle? We see so much history of the world come out in the story when we battle the Phene; we see so much political shenanigans when we get the fights and tension with Perse; we see so much insight into the different cultures in the galaxy when we battle with the Gatoi; and we see so much depth and exploration of family when we see the fraught nature of Sun's relationship with her mother. There is so much worldbuilding poured into each of these battles that every one seems so different but so important because you gain more insights into the world each time.

This is another book which has had a blurb that doesn't prepare you for more than one POV going in, which I do think publishing needs to get better at because it is always rather jarring to go into a book you think is going to be about Sun, and then get four or five other POVs (The Bone Shard Daughter I'm looking at you as well). But much like with The Bone Shard Daughter, I also think Unconquerable Sun benefited from having these additional viewpoints. It's very interesting to see into the POV of an enemy Phene soldier, though her importance isn't really touched upon within this book so by the end I was questioning why she was there. I'm assuming we'll see more of her in the sequel! Alongside Sun, the other major POV character is Perse, the daughter of the leader of one of the 7 houses behind the Chaonian Empire, who ran away from home to be a soldier. Her path becomes entwined with Sun's in a way neither of them want, but I found the development of their relationship fascinating. It was really interesting to see Sun's opinions on Perse go back and forth depending on who she was talking to. It really highlighted Sun's ability to manipulate and use people, but also emphasised how she gains loyalty from those around her. Zizou is another POV character who I absoluty loved. He's a Gatoi soldier who has been captured, and his personal storyline was one of my favourites. The Gatoi are a very interesting race and I loved reading about their culture and how the Phene have manipulated them in their war, it was all absolutely fascinating.

Sun has other companions, although we don't get their POVs, but each are so unique and they are all so brilliant! If anything, I wish we got more of them! Of course, I must hightlight Hetty, the Hephaestion to Sun's Alexander, the secret lover always by her side. I found the protective nature of Sun's personality hilarious around Hetty but was equally enamoured with the way Hetty refused to be put in the corner and hidden away.

This was a really fantastic read. Push past the first few chapters of bratty Sun to get to a thrilling military scifi that never gets boring despite the constant battles thanks to the mammoth world building and character development that is embedded into each of these battles. Loved this one, and I can't wait for the sequel!

Unconquerable Sun is pure, page-turning, space opera fun. It’s touted as a “genderbent Alexander the Great retelling in space” which is a catchy tagline all in itself. But I can comfortably reassure any reader unfamiliar with the particulars of Alexander’s life that this is still a blast as a distinct story all on its own, whether or not you recognize the allusions to its inspiration.

The story immediately introduces a prominent intergalactic conflict taking place among a number of factions. Hostilities are rising between The Republic of Chaonia, led by the Queen-Marshall Eirene, and the rivalling Phene Empire. The Phene are aggravated by Chaonian expansion and their recent tenuous alliance with the pompous Yele League. The Chaonians, who once suffered under a Phene invasion, are determined to remain a power in their own right. But the Phene are formidable enemies, with infamous Gatoi banner soliders fighting on their side – and to complicate things Chaonia is experiencing its own share of sabotage and infighting.

The conflicts between these parties reveal themselves with four main POV characters. All four – Sun, Persephone, Zizou, and Apama – have interesting viewpoints in their own right. They each highlight different aspects of this world and the various intrigues simmering beneath the surface.

Sun is the daughter of the union between Queen-Marshall Eirene and a prince of the Gatoi. She is tough, pragmatic and clever – but with an impulsive hot-tempered streak that she is counselled to control. To most, she is indisputably the heir that will succeed her mother to rule the Republic of Chaonia. She has even proven herself a capable military leader with victories over a Phene garrison. Unfortunately for Sun, these achievements hold no weight for some. She has to contend with rivals such as the powerful Lee family, who would prefer to have their own heir candidate in place, and the sentiments of prejudiced Chaonian nativists who look askance at her half-Gatoi heritage. But Sun has no intention of letting her birthright be taken from her. Whether it takes further victories in war or manipulation of public opinion, she intends to do what’s necessary to get her way.

Persephone (“Perse”) is a runaway scion from the aforementioned Lee family. For the past five years, Perse was attending the CeDCA military academy under an assumed identity, believing she escaped her family’s ruthless grasp at last. It’s with great displeasure that she realizes this was too good to be true. Upon her impeding graduation her family breezily swoops in to collect her – revealing they knew where she was all along. They immediately force her into one of their power ploys and insinuate her in Princess Sun’s entourage as one of her Companions. Sun is deeply suspicious of the new Lee girl who she presumes must be in on her family’s schemes. But though Perse has no love for Sun, she loves her family and their machinations even less. She reluctantly finds herself becoming more entwined with Sun’s fight against her enemies – including the both the Lees and the Phene.

Zizou is a dutiful Gatoi banner solider in the service of the Phene Empire. As with all banner soldiers, he is biologically augmented with neuroenhancers that increase his strength, agility, and even allow him to regulate some of his own emotions. Despite this prowess, he finds himself captured alive under mysterious circumstances and wakes up in a Chaonian research facility – just as it comes under attack. To his general disbelief, he discovers that the original researchers believed the Phene were able to control the Gatoi without their knowledge through their neurohancers. The researchers, led by Sun’s father, were trying to find a way to negate this. The new hostiles who have taken over the facility, however, have different plans in mind.

Apama is a newly-graduated lieutenant and lancer pilot in the Phene army. As a stellar pilot, she finds herself placed into a top-secret military expedition to bring war to Chaonian-controlled systems in unexpected stealth attacks. The Phene have every intention of retaking what they believe to be theirs, and they have no doubt that they will take Chaonia completely unaware. This is all well and good for Apama, who believes the Chaonians to be upstarts, but she is struggling to understand why high command seems to be singling her out with such particular interest.

I admit, when I first started the book, it took a few chapters to get fully invested. The beginning understandably contained a lot of exposition to introduce important players and for worldbuilding purposes, which could slow down the read at times. I think it was about the time I reached the first Perse chapter that I found things picked up a bit. But once the action began in earnest it just kept going, full speed ahead, and I was hooked. I loved all the political gambits and the way Sun and her Companions would use the media to their advantage. The military engagements and space battles were all very well executed and engrossing to read. I could visualize them clearly in my head which is a testament to the excellent descriptions used in these combat scenes.

But truly, I think a large strength of the book was in the characterizations. The main characters were all likable and the “voices” of their chapters were powerfully distinct. I found the change between the first-person and third-person – and even the written tenses – for each character’s POV was rather seamless as well. But it wasn’t just the main characters that were engaging. Sun’s Companions were all very entertaining, and many of the other supporting characters in this fairly large cast were individually memorable. There would be mentions of characters well in advance that you already began to feel as though you were acquainted with before they even make their first on-page appearance. I’m already hoping we’ll get to learn more about certain characters like the clever Tiana, or the diva Alika, or the smug Jade Kim, just to name a few.

If there was anything I was expecting a bit more from, it was the Phene chapters. While I enjoyed Apama and her character very much, her segments felt the most underdeveloped. This may be in part because the Phene, their plans, and especially the Riders are intentionally meant to remain mysterious, meaning there is less that can be shown, but it made the impact of these chapters feel a bit flat compared to the others. Many of the supporting Phene characters also seemed less fleshed out than their counterparts in Chaonia as well, which was noticeable simply because I found the other side characters so vivid. With the Phene being some of the main ‘antagonists’ of the book, I think I was hoping for a bit more nuance. But I’ll definitely be hoping to learn more about them in the next book. (Sidenote: I also wasn’t really into the whole Perse and Zizou thing, but that’s a personal preference and not a criticism of the book.)

Overall, Unconquerable Sun was still an excellent time, and I’m looking forward to the next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for providing the free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I will share this review closer to publication.

This book is very Space Opera and also it is A Lot. It's got multiple space battles, quite confusing political machinations, and many different people scheming for power. The tagline is "gender-swapped Alexander the Great in space", but this didn't really affect my reading of the book at all because all I know about Alexander the Great is 1) he was good at fighting battles 2) he took elephants over some big mountains. Princess Sun is also very gifted at fighting battles, but she doesn't have any space elephants yet - presumably they will appear in a later book. Overall, this is a big thrilling ride of a book, and I enjoyed it even though I spent part of the time being a bit confused.

It's fast paced with lots of action, including a really nice train-escape sequence that I couldn't put down. Alongside the action, there are lots of mysteries over traitors and attacks, as well as messy family relationships like Sun and her mother.

By sheer coincidence, I started this after a long conversation with friends about world building and introducing lots of characters. Thus I was very aware of how many characters there were in this book and how the world building was a mix of being largely left to inference but with a lot of it given at the start..

Yes, it does mean you have to work a little harder at the start and take a lot of the world on trust that it will be explained, but there's nothing wrong with that style. Reading slower and more carefully, gives a richer reading experience as there's more attention paid to the story and character interactions.

I'd have liked a star map of the galaxy, to understand the lay between the empires as I was a little confused by the initial discussion of the battle fronts and important star systems.

There are four POV characters - Sun, Perse, Zizou, and some one on the other side of the war. This final POV felt very unnecessary. They had only a handful of chapters and didn't intersect with the others at all. I'm not sure what point they served at all, and it took a long time for the "mystery" about their identity to be revealed, such that I didn't care about them.

The other three POV work well together, however, they're all different person/tense combinations. Sun, the main POV, is told in past tense and third person. Perse, first person, present tense, and Zizou, third person, present tense. While this did help me instantly know whose POV it was, it was very jarring not to have a constant narrative style. I prefer books that keep in one constant style.

According to Goodreads, this is the first in a trilogy, and I'm interested to see the story grow to the part of Alexander the Great that I know - the expansion of empire!

Disclaimer: I didn’t finish this book, it just didn’t click with me. I did read enough (around a third) to give a provisional review though.
It’s an ambitious, richly detailed far future saga packed with multiple interesting characters and tonnes of intrigue. Readers who like this kind of thing will probably enjoy it, but I found it rather slow and confusing. There’s a lot going on, but none of it really grabbed my attention and therefore I kept getting lost and having to backtrack.

My experience with space opera has been slim – so if you’re looking for a more expert opinion on the genre as a whole let me quietly poke you towards I Should Read That who can probably tell you everything you want to know. If you’re more like me, someone who enjoys science fiction but hasn’t got too much background information or things to use as a comparison then YOU’RE IN THE RIGHT PLACE!

You’re also in the right place if you’re just wanting someone to wax lyrical about this book because HELLO I LOVED THIS BOOK. This is the kind of science fiction that just works for me, not too bogged down in science and aerodynamics with an emphasis on character and plot to keep me interested. And it’s got sapphic representation? Sign me the heck up!

I will say I was quite slow to start this book, as with a lot of similar kind of ‘there’s already a war happening’ books you kind of have to just jump in and assume you’ll pick up all the information you’ll need by osmosis. I certainly found that after the first 20% or so I was fully hooked and immersed in the world. It helps that the book is multiple POV so you get a lot of different angles on the world. So if you’re someone who dreads an infodump then this may be a book for you. There is certainly detailed worldbuilding, some of which I don’t think I picked up quite enough of in a first read – I would like to get a bit more out of the pop culture elements in a reread, but the worldbuilding comes through the storytelling as opposed to just being thrust upon you – which works for me.

I’ve mentioned this book being character and plot focused, and that was another one of the things that absolutely worked for me. The whole story manages to feel very fresh and keeps things interesting (even though the book feels quite long). I think part of that is that it doesn’t feel like this book follows standard ‘beginning, middle, end’ story beats. The story feels much more sequential, one thing leads to another and you follow the characters through that journey. (Science fiction experts is that what Space Opera means? Don’t attack me if this is just what you expect from this kind of book).

I really enjoyed all of the different perspectives in this book, I don’t think it’ll come as a surprise that I enjoyed the group’s outlier Persephone the most – but Sun is also a very good character and manages to avoid a lot of the pitfalls I would normally expect from this kind of character. She is trusting without feeling naive which is not something I often find in a princess character – yay Sun.

As you may know I have an Ancient History degree so I feel I ought to be able to comment on the Alexander the Great angle of this book. However I basically noped out of all Greek History (and…all history pre 0AD) so my memory of Alexander’s story is foggy at best. There were a couple of references that I did manage to pick up (Bucephalus!) but if you’re not familiar with the story I wouldn’t have thought you’d be missing out on anything. I expect it’s a bonus to those who do know the history and the rest of us can just enjoy a big sprawling space epic.

Should you read this? I would say yes! Set some time aside to get through it, especially those earlier sections, but once I was hooked I was totally in it, desperate to find out what would happen to these characters. Someone time travel back from the future and give me the rest of the books in this series please.

My rating: 4/5 stars

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

I’ve been growing a bit bored of epic fantasy recently and reaching for some space opera that was not purely military sci-fi. Something that has the expansive world-building feel of say Game of Thrones, with great characters, gripping intrigue, cool tech and was ‘alien’ enough that earth – if there ever was such a place in this universe – is a so distant a memory as to be irrelevant.

Unconquerable Sun is what I have been looking for. I loved this book. It is fantastic.

Now I have read Kate Elliotts other works before, I was even a beta-reader for her in the distant past when I worked at a genre specialist bookshop – and I enjoyed those books, but I think this is my favourite.

I first heard she was writing it on Twitter when Kate described it as a gender swap on the story of Alexander the Great, set in space. Sounds cool, right? Well, you have no idea.

Imagine Steven Erikson’s Malazan books in a sci-fi setting, and you get an idea of how dynamic the world-building is. Genetically engineered strains of humanity take the place of aliens in this universe, and I much prefer that to green-eyed… people. It’s a refreshing change to imagine it’s our advances in science and technology that creates different classes of humans, rather than finding ‘life’ in other parts of the universe. Then the whole emasculation of gender, gender-roles and titles (although, if I am honest, at times confusing) further stretches the reader’s boundaries and indeed presents a universe that is very much a possibility. Elliott brings such a breath of fresh air to the genre that it sets this book a benchmark that other sci-fi authors should definitely take note of.

Even if you only have a passing understanding of the story of Alexander the Great, you will still have an idea of the scope of this novel. Unconquerable Sun is exciting, fast-paced epic, expansive and most of all, relevant. If you are looking for Peter F. Hamilton sci-fi by way of Steve Erikson, mixed up with some of Ann Leckie’s brilliance and Anna Smith Spark’s gritty edge, then look no further. Unconquerable Sun is it.

This book is pitched as gender-bent Alexander the Great in space - quite why I am not sure !! .
I requested a copy of this book because I love Sci Fi and Space Opera - and this book meets both criteria .

Told from multiple points of view the book could have been confusing - but it surprisingly wasn't .
The differing perpectives of the various central characters along with those of enemy soldiers allows the reader greater understanding of the various factional views- although some characters did appear flat even in life or death situations . It takes a while to realise who is who and how they all relate to each other but once you do it all works .
The book is full of tactical space battles, intrigue, court politics, shifting allegiances and inter-spatial politics , providing plenty of action scenes - but it can be hard to read at times - it is a long book(500pages).
I recommend persevering with the book as it is worth it .

I was given an arc of the book by NetGalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review

4.5 stars! If "Gender-swapped Alexander the Great in space" and this definitely delivers with real punch.

An absolutely massive space opera, full of fascinating, diverse characters, wild futuristic cultures and incredibly intricate politics across the galaxy, planet wide and interesting societies.. It look a little while to really get my head around who was who and how the world worked, but once I had a grasp of it - it just pulled me in!

Great pacing! The plot was intricate but exciting and worked really really well. There are galactic conspiracies, reality TV shows, big space battles, family feuds, and assassination attempts. Also, an LGBT romance! I really enjoyed this and it has definitely turned me on to hardcore Sci-Fi again.

A few days have passed since I finished Unconquerable Sun and this has allowed the magnificence of the story telling to settle and for me to reflect.
This is space opera at its best - tactical space battles, intrigue, court politics, and inter-spatial politics. The Phene Empire are the foe, though thorough skillful interweaving of POV you have a glimpse from a Phene citizens view. The Chaonian Republic are building their empire led by the the talented military leader Eirene queen-marshal of the Republic. Eirene's daughter is the Princess Sun, young, excellent military tactician with the boldness of youth. Surrounded by her own loyal court, Sun only trusts them and her father a prince of Gatoi and viewed as a barbarian by the Chaonians. The story picks up pace with narrative tension galore, great pacing and distinctive voices of the stories characters. Serious and fun by turns with echos of our own world in form of names and song lyrics - a must read.
This has been published in the US but not out until October in UK. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC

I'll be honest, "gender-swapped Alexander the Great retelling set in space" was all I needed to know about Unconquerable Sun -- it immediately got added to the "most anticipated books of the year" list. Having only read, but absolutely adored, one book by Kate Elliott before, I knew she'd be able to pull of a book with such an epic scope.

Unconquerable Sun is an ambitious start to an epic new sci-fi series. Filled with action, adventure, political intrigue, and shifting allegiances, this book is an absolute thrill to read and was incredibly difficult to put down. Elliott doesn't hold your hand with the sprawling world building, so it takes a few pages to really dig into the story, however I was totally hooked.

There are numerous POVs in this book, however our main two are Princess Sun -- our Alexander the Great character -- and Persephone Lee -- the reluctant daughter of one of the core houses who is desperate to escape her family's conniving. Splitting up the points of view was the smartest thing Elliott did for this book -- I surprisingly found Sun the most difficult to relate to and sympathise with because she's all sharp edges with little softness (even her vulnerabilities have spikes). Persephone's point of view adds a wonderful and extremely sympathetic layer to the story -- she's easily one of my absolute new favourite characters ever. When paired with the POVs of enemy soldiers and allies alike, the shifting perspectives in this book are so well done and add such wonderful dimension to what could have been a flat story.

While Unconquerable Sun wasn't a technically perfect book, it is easily one of best reading experiences I've had this year. A truly unputdownable tale, you'll be just as desperate as me to see what happens next!

3 stars does not mean I did not enjoy this book. I thought it was really good, I just wasn't for me. I loved the LGBTQ+ representation and I thought the gender reversal was a cool premise but I just found that I couldn't connect with the characters like I wanted to, towards the end it became more of a chore for me to finish it rather a pleasure. Again, I honestly feel like this book will appeal to many people-I just wasn't one of them

‘Unconquerable Sun’ is an action-packed, plot-driven novel, at the expense of its characters. Fans of epic space opera that bounces from action scene to action scene without pause will get a real adrenaline rush from this – but for those who need to connect to the characters to care about the story, this becomes more of a slog through over 500 pages of a confusing mess.

This is pitched as a gender-bent Alexander the Great in space. I adore Greek and Roman history and mythology, and I’m a huge sci-fi fan, so this sounded right up my street. Alexander the Great is a historical figure I’m less familiar with, but I know enough to see the parallels between him and his equivalent in this book – Princess Sun. Weirdly, however, Sun doesn’t feel entirely like the main character. This book contains multiple point-of-view characters – as many epic science fiction stories do – but while Princess Sun’s perspective is told in third person past, another character, Persephone, gets sections told in first person present. This gives the impression that ‘Unconquerable Sun’ is about her, with the other characters merely lending a different perspective. Persephone is a promising character but also exceptionally irritating, and her sections being told in a different perspective disrupts the story's flow.

The main issue I have with this book is how flat the characters are. As I read, I’m constantly being told what the characters are feeling, but never shown it. None of the feelings feel authentic, and I can’t fathom any of the characters motivations. Princess Sun is angry at her parents for treating her like a child and not believing in her ability – but if this wasn’t explicitly stated on the page, it wouldn’t be clear. Persephone is desperate to escape from her family’s clutches and make a stamp as her own person – but it’s never entirely clear why. She also falls instantly in lust with almost everyone she meets, which is irritating to read about and an unnecessary distraction from the plot. Zizou is actually a great character, and the only one to make me feel something, but vastly under-utilised. Princess Sun’s Companions feature prominently, but there are so many of them it’s very difficult to remember which one is which – especially as the reader is told so little about them beyond their names, so they never evolve into fully-fledged characters. It’s difficult for struggles and deaths to be impactful when the characters didn’t feel alive in the first place.

The setting and backdrop are intriguing. The Chaonian’s, led by Princess Sun’s mother Queen Eirene, have been at war with the Phene for generations. The Chaonian’s have military might – with military intelligence led by the Lee family – but the Phene have superior technology and the allegiance of the Gatoi, beings engineered to be the perfect soldiers. However, a few Gatoi have switched sides – one of them Princess Sun’s father, making her half-Gatoi and in many respects an unsuitable heir to the throne. The descriptions of the different cultures – Chaonian, Gatoi, Phene – and technological advances are very interesting, but never really developed. The story never slows its pace enough to allow any kind of explanation or worldbuilding. This mostly works, but there are sections where this becomes confusing and the story becomes difficult to visualise. The book takes place on such an epic scale that full description would probably put the page count somewhere upwards of eight hundred, but it might be worth it to make sure that the reader actually understands what’s going on.

The plot is the novel’s highlight. Most of the book is spent with the Chaonians, with occasional glimpses at the Phene’s plans through Apama – an intriguing character who deserved more screentime. There are tangled webs of secrets and lies, betrayals, assassinations, and frank invasions, and the plot never takes its foot off the throttle. I think this would work 100x better as a film than a book – so much happens that it would ne incredible to see on screen, but it’s harder to take in via written format.

I feel like I should also mention that this is marketed as an LGBT book, and it contains plenty of diversity, with relationships between all genders entirely normalised. Princess Sun is in a stable relationship with another female-presenting character, which seems to have great potential at the start but never becomes as prominent as the beginning hints at. The representation is generally done very well – with the exception of Persephone, who falls into the trope of bisexual or pansexual character who falls in lust with everyone.
Overall, this is a book that fans of fast-paced, plot-driven science fiction will adore, but those who like fully-fledged characters will struggle to connect with. Unfortunately, it isn’t my cup of tea.

I’ve heard so many great things about Kate Elliott (and have several of her fantasy novels on my TBR) and was really excited to read this one - the moment I saw the tagline I was hooked by the idea. Alexander the Great is a historical behemoth, surrounded by so much myth and legend (which I admittedly don’t know well), yet there’s relatively little SFF inspired by him/the time period more generally.

And from that perspective, this didn’t disappoint. This is an epic space opera, jam packed with politics from the get-go, and Elliott doesn’t ease you in slowly. The book starts when Sun is 20 which was, well... a pretty big year in Alexander’s life. There’s a lot of names and places to wrap your head around early. I did find this frustrating occasionally, as I often felt a step or two behind (and had to often re-read some of the reveals about various characters to make sense of them, because I’d lost track of who hated who). There are also action scenes galore, as the characters quickly extricate themselves from one mess, only to land straight in another. But there are also a lot of lighthearted moments as well.

I should add that I appreciate how unapologetically queer this book was. Most of the characters are not straight, and queer relationships are normalised - marriages made for political power (and love) are entirely gender neutral.

Where this book fell down for me was that I didn’t necessarily connect to or care about any of the characters on a personal level. Sun is our Alexander, but her POV feels very distant and impersonal, particularly given that it’s in 3rd person past tense, while the POV of one of her companions, Persephone, is in 1st person present. Given what we know of how ruthless Alexander becomes, I needed more insight into Sun’s inner thoughts to understand how we might get there. There are also two other POVs of minor characters, neither of which feel particularly well integrated into the main story.

Overall, I enjoyed this one - I’m keen for the sequel, and hope that the work that’s been done to allow a foundation for the world in book one will give the characters some space to breathe in book two.

It took a while to get into this book- the multiple viewpoints and respective switches from first to third person were a little confusing and threw me off as I entered the world of this female-Alexander-the-Great-in-space epic, but I'm glad I stuck with it. The world of Princess Sun and her companions is, as to be expected from Kate Elliott, vibrant and well drawn, and it consumed me to the point of dreaming about it! It was fun unravelling the different influences from our-present-their-past that formed Chaonian culture, though I found the little interjections of modern day songs threw me out of the story as being just *too* recognisable- the one bum note in the world building.

Overall though, I highly recommend Unconquerable Sun, not only as a retelling of the legend of Alexander the Great but as a sci fi epic in its own right.

Sun, the heir to the queen-marshal of Chaonia, is a hero in her own right - but her passage to power will not be easy. Her collection of Companions and "cee-cees" will prove invaluable as she fights to stay alive, darts through political intrigue, uncovers awful truths AND saves the Republic of Chaonia.

There are some good bones to this story and the world-building has resulted in an intriguing setting that I enjoyed falling into - once the awkward, confusing start was over and done with, that is. The first 20% of this book feels superfluous and we're constantly introduced to new POVs without any seamless transition (and only one of them is in first person, for some reason). It's slow going. I nearly DNFed. But as soon as thing get going, they REALLY get going. I had a blast following Sun and co. from peril to peril. What a ride.

I found this book entertaining at times, though it's not without problems - the most major one being that Sun' and her POV just aren't very interesting and she's supposed to be the main character! However, the other characters - Persephone especially!!! I love her - do make up for this.

I know almost nothing about Alexander the Great, so although this book is a gender-swapped space opera loosely inspired by his life, I was able to treat it as an entirely new story.

The world building is incredible. There is a real attention to detail and the it sounds like the author has really considered all parts of this universe. This did lead to some confusion early on since there was a lot to take in, but it didn't take too long to adjust.

The story in Unconquerable Sun just feels huge - there is constantly something new to learn about and to grab your attention, and always something happening, whether it is political intrigue or a great space battle. By the time I'd finished reading, I felt thoroughly conquered.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This review has been posted to Goodreads and will be submitted to Amazon after release.

ARC provided by the publishers—Tor Books & Head of Zeus—in exchange for an honest review.

It’s quite outrageous that it took me this long to finally read Kate Elliott’s book for the very first time.

I’ve heard many good things about Kate Elliott’s books. Black Wolves, Crossroads, Spiritwalker, and recently Crown of Stars (despite this being the oldest out of the series I mentioned) are series that I’ve seen occasionally in social media. But for whatever reasons, I just haven’t gotten around to them. Then Unconquerable Sun, the first book in The Sun Chronicles, appeared, and I decided to read this one first before finalizing my decision to read Elliott's backlog of books. I knew pretty much nothing about this book other than that it’s been continuously advertised as Gender-swapped Alexander the Great on an interstellar scale, and it ended up being a wonderful book that surprised me in many ways.

“Rule of Sun, Rule One. Never show weakness because the moment we show weakness, we will die.”

Princess Sun grew up behind the shadow of her mother, Eirene. This is a difficult task for Sun because Eirene, the legendary queen-marshal, has accumulated tons of achievements in her life. Eirene has expelled invaders, and most importantly, she has built Chaonia into an incredible republic. It is not an easy task for Princess Sun to live up to her insanely high expectations, things are made worse when noble houses schemes to have Sun removed from her position as an heir to Eirene. Sun has to fight off these threats to her life by relying on her wit, charisma, and companions that consists of her biggest rival, secret lover, and a dangerous prisoner of war from Gatoi.

“What my family wants harmed, I will. Even if Sun is a bitch.”

Upon reading the first few chapters of Unconquerable Sun, I honestly thought that this novel wouldn’t work for me. I really wouldn’t call this book an easy read; Elliott won’t hold your hands, it’s up to the readers themselves to divulge the meaning behind each name and terminologies through the contexts and narratives provided, and there was a LOT to take in. Do note that I’m not too knowledgeable on the story of Alexander the Great; I don’t know how that affects my enjoyment. Plus, I’m also much more well-versed in an epic fantasy than space opera; names and terminologies tend to be much easier for me to learn in epic fantasy, so this situation might not apply to you. I eventually became used to the in-world names and terms, and when the story exploded in the quarter mark of the novel, the actions never let up from there, and the rest of the book was filled with events I found myself entertained in.

“What does honor mean if it is just a word used as a currency in trade?”

Unconquerable Sun is very heavy on its action sequences. Excluding the first quarter of the book, everything else was non-stop actions with almost no breather in-between. From deceptions, deadly politics, close-quarter combat, and large-scale space war, this novel has everything a military space-opera enthusiast loves to read. The constant exposure to battles and wars with tons of names/terms to remember did hinder the pacing of the book for me at times. Thankfully, the characters really pulled through for me. Sun is a well-written character; her determination and strength to win are inspiring. That being said, although Sun is the titular character, I did find myself feeling more invested in the other POV characters: Persephone Lee and Zizou. The chemistry between Sun and her Companions were the definite key points of the book to me. I love reading all of them trying their best to cooperate and overcome their differences despite each of them coming from a different background, and I found their banter with each other utterly enjoyable to read.

“Holding on to my grudge isn’t worth it. In this world we can’t afford to lose the companions who have our backs. Everyone makes mistakes; everyone succumbs to pressures, many of which are out of their control.”

Considering that this is the first time I read anything by Elliott, I can’t judge whether her prose has improved from her past books or not, but I love the choices of words she implemented into her prose. Elliott also uses a storytelling device that’s different than the standard. Sun’s and Apama’s POV chapters are written in the third-person past tense; Persephone Lee’s POV chapters are written in the first-person present tense; Zizou’s POV chapters are written in the third-person present tense. This is quite a rare combination of narration choices to encounter in a single book for me, and although I didn’t see the necessity of doing it, I found the actual reading experience itself refreshing and engaging. As I mentioned earlier, the POV chapters in this book that utilizes present tense ended up being my favorite chapters to read compared to the one that uses past tense—the one I’m much more familiar with. The most important question to ask about these is whether they’re well-written or not, and I have to say that they were. Also, this is purely coincidental, but somehow the previous upcoming book I just finished—The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart—reading uses a similar kind of switches in POV.

“Don’t diminish your accomplishments, but don’t boast of them either. The evidence of your deeds is the only trophy you need.”

Unconquerable Sun may be a bit challenging to get into at first, but once you’re in the 25% section of the book, you will most likely find that persevering through the difficult sections worthwhile. Great diverse characters, massive in scope, complex and richly detailed world-building, Unconquerable Sun is a must-read for military sci-fi/space-opera readers. I definitely look forward to reading more of Kate Elliott’s backlog now while I wait for the next book in the series. I still don’t know whether I’ll read Crown of Stars or Black Wolves next; I was thinking of getting the entire Crown of Stars series in paperback (the cover arts are gorgeous) to read, but then I found out that each book will cost me around $22-30 each. In total, that means I have to spend at least $150 to get the entire set; this is way too overpriced for a mass market paperback collection for me. I might end up going the Kindle route for Crown of Stars eventually or maybe—despite the discontinued state of the series—read Black Wolves, which I already own now, first instead.

Official release date: 7th July 2020 (US) & 1st October 2020 (UK)

You can pre-order the book from: Amazon | Book Depository (Free shipping)

The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions