Sword in the Stars

I was so excited when I was approved to get this, as I loved the first book so much and I was not disappointed at all in anyway. This book was amazing, from page to to the end I couldn’t put it down, it was a rollercoaster of fun, emotion, action, me verbally crying out as I read, just brilliant! I loved the focus on Merlin, as it seemed to be he got more focus here than in the first book and I loved this development and of course I love him too so that helps. Ari in this book does seem to be less focused on than Merkin, but she’s definitely a focus for the action. I do love a strong woman ! This book just like the first is wonderful, in fact I think this is even better than the first and I recommend both these books to everyone m guaranteed to make you smile.


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I lost my heart to this mix of sccience fiction and fantasy filled with queer rep so.. prepare for some gushing on my part!

If you didn't know yet, both these books retell the story of King Arthur in the most brilliant way. Set in space, Once & Future already hit a lot of my expectations but I have to say.. Sword in the Stars slayed my new - and somewhat higher - expectations in the best way possible.
Not only are there still plenty of science fiction-elements, the fantasy-ones get bigger and more important in this book. Time-travelling to medieval times, our cast has to overcome new and more challenging hurdles. I never thought I'd enjoy a mix of scifi and fantasy this way, but I've come to love it and can't imagine anything like these two books even existing? [If you know of any, do let me know!]

There is a lot happening in Sword in the Stars. With all the time-travelling, the past and present blurring together at times, you really do have to keep focus. The authors try their best to make it as easy to follow as possible and I'm glad to say they succeed at it too. I never felt confused or like I lost track of the plot. A huge plus if you have some kind of idea how different timelines are woven together. I'm sure I'll be picking up on a lot of new things if I ever have the time to reread these wonderful books!

Let's just take another moment to applaud all the queer rep in this duology. Not only sexuality-wise, but also gender-wise, the authors definitely give a new meaning to queer books. I don't think I ever saw this many diversity in queer rep in one book before and.. It deserves to be mentioned, celebrated and.. more!

The characters.. There are SO MANY FEELINGS concerning those. Especially Merlin, who quickly became one of my favorites - if not the favorite - of the bunch. He's so precious and complicated and amazing and.. worth getting to know! It's hard saying why you should give these books a read solely for the sake of getting to know him without spoiling anything but.. He is the character that threw me on a rollercoaster of emotions all throughout the book. I loved it. I love him. I love how his complicated personality and past makes sense in a way I rarely come across in books.

To simply prove my point, I want to share with you a note I made on my phone while reading: "OMG. WTF. HOW CAN -spoiler-?! THE TWIST. THE AUDACITY. THE.. THE.." I'm sure that.. gets across how invested I was in this story?

5 / 5