Cover Image: How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge

How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge

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This sequel did not have the charm, wit, humor, or creativity of the original. While How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse blended myriad fairy tales and sci-fi tropes to create something fresh and fun, this space saga involving alien politics and a mysterious super weapon felt uninspired. I still don’t understand arithmancy, the tech-based magic system. The characters felt bland, and the drawn out story just did not hold my attention.

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Never in my life did I think that I would enjoy a space opera duology as much I did in The Thorne Chronicles Books. From the characters to the writing style to the overall concept of the story, I was pulled in. There is a real freshness to the tale told and Rory is so deeply engaging. Almost instantly, I became invested in all the people met within the pages. "How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse" is smart, witty, and breathes a whole new life into the fairy tale genre.

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This one was a DNF for me. I was not able to get in to the storyline and the writing just didn’t do it for me. I will update my review if I revisit this one.

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I adored K. Eason's novel, How Rory Thorne Broke the Multiverse, and had high hopes for its sequel, How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge. I found the same delightful, witty prose and innovate story elements. The sentient murder roses were hands-down my favorite character. However, the multiplicity of cultures and characters left me perpetually confused, especially if I set the book down for a couple of days, as readers often do. The story began clearly enough, but by a third of the way through, the murder roses in which I initially delighted were sidelined and it seemed that as soon as I got oriented (or re-oriented) to a given character's POV, I got switched.

Sequels and series are very much the thing these days, but too many novels that are wonderful stand-alones are then followed by sequels that amount to pale imitations or tortured attempts to create a follow-on plot to a story that is complete in itself. Alas, How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge falls into this category. K. Eason is such a talented and skillful writer, I think it would be better to go on to a new story, one that I will gladly read.

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At the end of book one, Rory renounced her title and position and sought to make a new life for herself defined by her actions rather than that of the family she was born into. Unfortunately for her, the multiverse had other ideas.

There's something slightly bittersweet about this story, we see growth and development across the supporting cast, and some of that proves painful. Rory is no longer their princess, and in that absence her companions are growing into their own power and actualization. Rory still has the fairy gifts, but she still requires tempering instead of falling back on the assumptions of her upbringing.

While still enjoyable, How the Multiverse Got It's Revenge doesn't quite recapture the magic of How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse. Still fun and worth a read, just more standard magical space adventure versus the on point "Princess Leia meets The Princess Bride" of book one.

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Another great book in this series! They have such an interesting premise so it is always fun to see what K. Eason will come up with next.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

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FULL ARTICLE ON FRESHFICTION.COM

THE THORNE CHRONICLES started out on a hot strip of the 405 in traffic, where heat-induced frustration made me blurt out, "I want to write a feminist Sleeping Beauty story with a mohawked punk 13th fairy! In a spiked leather jacket! And what if she gives the princess a bullshit detector?"

It's fair to observe that I was already planning to break a few genre conventions. There are punk fairies in a pre-industrial, pseudo-European medieval setting. Also, there is...okay, no, there is a lot of bullshit in that setting, and in fairytales in general, but that made me think about Princess Leia’s no-bullshit attitude in, well, all the films. Which pretty much settled me on the setting. Fiction set in space (space opera, SF, however one decides to parse out the definitions) deals with tech that looks like magic to most people anyway (FTL, wormholes, jump-gates, laser-beams, sentient machines, cybernetics). Also, aliens! Which at their heart, is what fairies are.

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It seems princesses don't get to retire quietly to space after all. Rory, her crew, Grytt, and Rupert all return in this fairy-tale-space-opera sequel! Now with more xenos (aliens), more character development, and more....rosebushes?! I loved returning to Rory's universe and immersing myself in the intricate politics of Confederation space. This installment gave us some great character growth, especially with Thorsdottir and Jaed, who both deserve hugs after all they've gone through. Each person has a distinct voice, including the narrator, and I found myself hanging on to the end of every chapter for more.
However, I'm not sure if there will be more books in this series. The epilogue left me a bit in limbo; I wasn't sure if I should say goodbye to these characters I've come to love or gear up for the next adventure. I think that Rory's story could end here, but I desperately want to know what happens next in the Expansion!!! I would recommend How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge to anyone who appreciates sci-fi, quirkiness, and humor with their fairy tales. It's a uniquely imaginative world, and I am happy to get lost in its pages!

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Unfortunately, this book missed the mark for me even more than the 1st one. It was very slow and I didn't care for the way the story is actually being told. The fact that there are fairies, three different types of aliens and and sentient tech was a bit too much as well.

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Former Princess Rory Thorne finds that her actions, or inaction, may yet cause the multiverse to break once more

Full review at Nerds of a Feather Blog.

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After loving the first entry in this series, it pains me to say that this book was so “meh.” Did I actively hate it? No. But I also didn’t actively like it either. There are certainly elements I liked (the further development of side characters from the first book, for the most part), but they were few and far between.

My biggest issues:

- This novel didn’t feel like it was properly edited. The overuse of the word “throat” and particularly “the back of his/her/their throat” was awful. Once noticed, I couldn’t unsee (or, I suppose, as I listened on audio, unhear) it.

- Not much happens. This could have easily been a novella with large chunks of this cut out or condensed. When I think about how much time was covered in the first book (18 years) vs the couple of days in this one, it’s apparent that the author could have handled the political maneuvering in a much more brief fashion.

- The stakes, particularly in the second half, felt very low. I liked the beginning, and found it thrilling because there were stakes. But the second half was just people talking and none of it mattering very much. I never felt like there was really conflict or characters’ safety at risk.

Would I be willing to try another entry in this series? Maybe? But honestly, I might prefer to pretend the first book is a stand alone and just keep my warm fuzzy feelings about that from being contaminated from more blah sequels.

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I really enjoyed the first book in this duology, How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse, and was excited to read the sequel. Unfortunately for me, I read the first book when it came out and didn't necessarily remember all the plot points. While I could still follow this one, it really would have been beneficial to have read the first more recently - this book is definitely not a standalone. Like the first, this book has lots of political intrigue, but this book introduces a wider multiverse, with lots more warring factions. Rory and her friends are scavengers who accidentally stumble across a bioweapon and get caught in a giant conflict. This book had a different feel than the first, and while I was happy to go along for the ride it was sometimes hard to figure out who was who and what was happening. I think overall we spent less time with Rory, and I would've liked a little more time in her head. (Though it was nice to get more of Thorsdottir in this one.) I liked this one, but I felt the end wrapped up a little quickly, and it wasn't as good as the first.

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Sequels are always scary to go into. You don't know if the story is going to continue you the same flavor you loved previously and honestly, this book feels different from the first - definitely more space opera and less fairy tale. It took a bit for me to match speeds with that, but it's appropriate when you figure that the fairy tale was over at the end of the last book. It's also appropriate that Thorsdottir, Zhang, and Jaed get more attention and a different feel to their own passages. Rory's sections still feel like she has a chronicler, and Rupert and Grytt have always had understated roles (which makes you wonder who is chronicling it all...hmm). I too, love and miss some of the feel of the first book, but I don't think that feel is appropriate to these new circumstances, so I'm willing to follow the lead and evolve with the characters. The old feel is there, it's just more closely associated with the Rory sections.

Along with the tone changes there is a definite widening of scope for the worldbuilding, with more xenos featured and further development of the ways in which the world is a multiverse.

And I won't complain that some of the climactic action takes place "offscreen" because none of that action is done by any of the POV characters. That's all in the hands of others at the end, so yeah, it's a bit external, but better that than gratuitous inclusion

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I loved the first book in the series and was so happy to see the return of Rory, Jaed, Thorsdottir, Zhang, Super and Grytt. This book picks up about two years after the first and we see where everyone ended up. Without giving away details, Rory and Co. went out to become salvagers and made a discovery that will rock the multiverse.

I read this fairly fast and found it just as good as the first book and am happy I was able to read it in advance!

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Oh how I wanted to love this book. How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse was one of my favorite books of 2019. It was quirky, it was unique, and it was absolutely original. Eason did a fantastic job of adapting a classic fairytale into a space setting and adding so many wonderful layers of politics.

Unfortunately, How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge didn’t quite live up to its predecessor. The writing style that worked so beautifully in the first one got bogged down as we follow multiple POV characters and multiple storylines. I did like getting to know the side characters more but it felt rather disjointed. I adored the political intrigue in the first book and, while there was some of that here, the majority of the storyline was taken up with shoot-outs, violence, and general destruction. Also, I felt like the sentient plant storyline was kind of a let-down. Plus so much of the plot ultimately revolved around Rory still being a Princess and having some sort of galactic destiny that she had to fulfill. Which would have been fine if the entire first book hadn’t been about her wanting to move beyond the role she was born into and repudiating the idea of destiny. So it just kind of felt wrong that she was being forced into that role again.

Overall, it just felt like How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge couldn’t quite decide what type of a story it wanted to be. I do think that Eason is a talented writer and I plan on picking up any future books she writes.

*Disclaimer: I received an advance digital copy of this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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Please Note: This is the second book in a series that should be read in order. This review may contain spoilers from book one. 

How the Multiverse Got its Revenge is the second book in the Thorne Chronicles by K. Eason. The Thorn Chronicles is a young adult science fiction series. It is a like a fairytale set in space! I loved the idea of this series. Book two felt like even more of a feminist kick butt journey than the first book did. which I loved! The writing is just as witty as the first book, and the characters have really all come into their own, especially Rory. If you like Science Fictions with fun plots and great characters then I think you will really enjoy The Thorne Chronicles immensely.

How the Multiverse Got its Revenge takes place two years after the events of the first book. Rory has successfully avoided marrying her betrothed, but as a result her and her gang is now on the run. We learned some about the plants of space in the first book, but they take on a much bigger role in this second installment. In fact, the plants have a mind and an agenda of their own, which was super interesting. I got a little bit of a Terraformer by Colleen Houck vibe while reading this book, which was pretty cool. This must be the year of the plants in novels!

I enjoyed this follow up to book one, but the pacing of this one felt a little slower to me. I loved the fast pace of the first book. I felt like there was always something happening, and I didn't feel like that while reading this book. What I did really enjoy was that the problem solving seemed to step up its game in this book. The big bads here were really smart, and Rory struggled with that a bit. I really enjoyed seeing her and the gang push themselves to try and gain back their upper hand against these new aliens. It was a great challenge for them, and I really loved seeing more Arithmancy, and seeing more of the various aspects of Arithmancy, like Aura reading and complex code work. It was really fascinating and I think it was my favorite element of the story.

With villains, plenty of political issues, action and another romp across space, How the Multiverse Got its Revenge was a fun book. There is no cliffhanger ending and the story indicates that this is the end, but it leaves the reader to guess whether this is truly the end of Rory's exploits or if there could be more adventure in her future. I liked the way everything ended, but I am personally hoping for another installment or two because I feel like there are so many other adventure out there for her and her friends. How the Multiverse Got its Revenge was a solid book, and I really enjoyed it. I think I liked the first book just a smidge more, but How the Multiverse Got its Revenge will appeal to character driven readers of science fiction. Plus, it has a fun mix of fairy tale elements and creatures that added a bit of whimsy to the story. The Thorne Chronicles were a fun read for me.  Let me know your thoughts below if you have read this series!

3.5/5

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Two years have passed since Rory successfully avoided an arranged marriage and, in the process, inadvertently started a civil war. Rupert, Grytt and Ivar have retired to an uneventful life of raising sheep on the planet of Lanscott, uneventful that is - until the green fairy visits Ivar with a message that send sends Rupert and Grytt.in search of Rory.

Having renounced her title and determined to no longer be a Princess, Rory and her companions, Thorsdotter, Zhang and Jaed, are off to the edges of human space for a life as salvagers. They come across a damaged ship running under a false name and, on boarding, find everyone dead at the hands of previously unknown aliens. They also find the cargo, a sentient rose plant that is a dangerous weapon of mass destruction that must not fall into the wrong hands.

What follows is a rollicking adventure with new species of being, some of whom will become allies and some who will become the greatest enemy the known worlds have ever faced and, of course, Rory starts another war.

There was character development in this second book, our characters grow, mature and learn more about themselves and their companions. Even the “bad guys” are presented as multifaceted and complex. This one was easier to get into than the first one with more focus on the characters and fewer asides from the ‘historian” telling the tale. While stated as book two of a duology there is certainly more to be written about Rory and I hope to see more adventures for her and her crew

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Is another fantastic space adventure book. There are multiple POV’s and I didn’t mind as it feature the lives of the characters from the first book going their separate ways so each one was refreshing and unique, so I didn’t mind. I also liked how the universe just like life doesn’t let you go so easily. How the Multiverse Got It’s Revenge is more action packed and violent than its predecessor, which can be turn off for some as it’s pace differentiated from the first book, I found the book moved along at a much quicker pace and kept me engaged longer and I think it has to do with it’s more action adventure pace. Rory is still a spunky and endearing heroine. Overall, How the Multiverse Got It’s Revenge is an excellent end to fun Space Opera duology.

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The nitty-gritty: An enjoyable but slightly uneven sequel in K. Eason's imaginative Star Wars inspired space opera series.

Last year I was surprised by how much I loved How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse, so I was very excited to read the sequel. And for the most part, I enjoyed it. Rory Thorne was more upbeat and character focused, and I thought those things were mostly missing in the sequel. Revenge is a darker story that has a more tightly focused setting and whose plot leans more towards political maneuvering and impending war. I have to admit I missed the sparkling “personality” of the first book, and I didn’t think the pacing was as good. However, having said all that, I do think it was a successful conclusion to the duology, and I thought Eason managed to wrap up her big, sprawling story in a satisfying way.

And do beware of minor spoilers for the first book! The sequel takes place two years after the events of Rory Thorne. Rory, formerly the Princess of the Confederation of Liberated Worlds, has given up her title in lieu of a less complicated life, i.e. traveling through space with her friends Jaed, Zhang and Thorsdottir and looking for salvage opportunities on abandoned ships. Back on firm ground, Rupert, the former Vizier, and Grytt, Rory’s former bodymaid, are now living a life of ease on Lanscot. One day, Rupert gets a concerning message from a fairy (one of Rory’s fairies from the first book) who tells him that Rory might be in danger, and so he arranges a flight on a ship and heads out into Confederate space.

Meanwhile, Rory and her friends have found a derelict ship, and they’ve decided to board it to see if there is anything good to salvage. The unexpected discovery of what proves to be an unusual Tadeshi weapon puts them on a dangerous path: a xeno race called the vakari are enroute to intercept the weapon, which if used could have dire consequences.

With Rupert headed for the impending conflict to rescue Rory, and Rory and her friends standing between a lethal weapon and a murderous alien race, it will take all of Rory’s Princess skills of negotiation to survive.

Revenge continues to build on Eason’s fascinating idea of arithmancy, an interesting combination of magic and hard sci-fi, although in this book the emphasis is definitely more on the “hard” aspects with the science front and center. For those who haven’t read the first book, arithmancy is the ability to access different layers of reality with one’s mind and use computer code to create hexes (or disable them), unlock doors, and do all manner of sneaking around. Arithmancers like Rory and Jaed can also see and read auras, and although this ability sounds really cool, like most magic, it takes a physical toll on the person involved. In this book we meet a new alien species called the vakari who are far superior at arithmancy than humans are, and I loved seeing Rory and Jaed struggle with the fact that they are being outwitted (Rory, being a former Princess, has a bit of an ego!)

Because the characters are scattered across space, more or less, we didn’t get the cohesive ensemble story that I enjoyed so much in the first book. However, on a positive note, this gave us a chance to get to know some of the side characters more, and I have to say my favorites this time were without a doubt Thorsdottir and Jaed. Rory is still a main character, but I didn’t like her storyline as much in this book, since she’s more embroiled in politics, and that wasn’t nearly as interesting as what was going on with Thorsdottir and Jaed. Jaed was Rory’s “sort of” romantic interest in the last book, but apparently she gave him the dreaded “let’s just be friends” speech (off page), which leaves Jaed open to other pursuits. Thorsdottir and Jaed spend lots of time together in this book, and I loved their interactions and slowly blossoming something--I won’t call it romance, but it felt like a slow burn and I loved it. I would seriously love a Thorsdottir and Jaed story in the future!

As far as negatives go, I would say my biggest disappointment was the resolution of the weapon and everything that happened when it was discovered. I really don’t want to spoil things so I’m going to be vague, but let’s just say that I absolutely loved the idea of it, and the fact that the weapon is sentient (sorry, small spoiler!), and the fact that the weapon and Thorsdottir have some very cool interactions. But I wanted more, and it sort of felt like the weapon’s storyline fizzled out at the end, even though things were more or less resolved. 

Once again Eason frames her story by having a “chronicler” relate the events. It didn’t bother me much in Rory Thorne, but for some reason, this time I had more trouble with the formality of the prose and the frequent interruptions by the chronicler. This really is a great story with lots of interesting characters, tense political situations and plenty of action, but unfortunately these positives are sometimes buried in the tedious “asides” that the chronicler loves to throw in. I did happen to read an interview with Eason recently that said she got her inspiration from the narration style of The Princess Bride, which actually explains a lot, but I do wonder how the story would read without so much filler.

Ultimately, I did end up enjoying How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge, and I actually loved the way Eason wrapped everything up. At least for the ending, I thought the narrative format actually worked, as it gives the story a definitive ending, even if it’s implied that Rory and the gang still have many more adventures ahead of them. This is only a duology, however in that same interview, Eason says she’s already working on another story set in the same world, but this time in the future with different characters. I have to admit I’m intrigued!

Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.

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This book was received from the Author, and Publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is a non spoiler review, because you as reader need to read this book. Also, I feel sometimes I have in the past gave away to much of the plot line. This has diminished the pleasure for would be readers.

An action packed space opera, How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge is the second book in the space opera Rory Thorne Chronicles.
Rory thwarted the plot, saved the betrothed, incited a revolution, and renounced her title. Now a salvager privateer!


How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge, the sequel to How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse, released on October 27th!
For those who haven’t read Rory Thorne, what are you waiting for?

To me this book was definitely more Starwars with darker action packed space battles. Set two years after the first book, How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse. Rory is struggling to be a normal citizen working as salvager. Things are still heating up even though she tries to distance her self from the political upheaval.

The storyline takes off when she happens to find a dead ship carrying a sentient super-weapon, bioengineered and capable of eradicating an entire planet. Rory along with some of her former bodyguards are privateers and when several different factions arrive to claim the highly dangerous weapon, things heat up and she is separated from her allies.

This was great second installment in a exciting and fun duolgy. I did find the pacing somewhat off. Not that it bothered me. Just something I noticed.
The tone of the book was different than the first book and with so much action sequences that it might have caused the authors writing to speed up and slow down on purpose.
A spunky heroine, action adventure, along with political intrigue, makes for a fascinating tale. All in all it was an enjoyable reading experience.

Are You planing on reading it? If so come back and share your thoughts!
Have a wonderful day,
Gwendalyn {GiGi}

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