These Burning Stars (The Kindom Trilogy, #1)
Bethany Jacobs
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These Burning Stars (The Kindom Trilogy, #1)
Bethany Jacobs
A dangerous cat-and-mouse quest for revenge. An empire that spans star systems, built on the bones of a genocide. A carefully hidden secret that could collapse worlds, hunted by three women with secrets of their own. All collide in this twisty, explosive space opera debut, perfect for readers of Arkady Martine and Kameron Hurley. Jun Ironway—hacker, con artist, and occasional thief—has gotten her hands on a piece of contraband that could set her up for proof that implicates the powerful Nightfoot family in a planet-wide genocide seventy-five years ago. The Nightfoots control the precious sevite that fuels interplanetary travel through three star systems. And someone is sure to pay handsomely for anything that could break their hold. Of course, anything valuable is also dangerous. The Kindom, the ruling power of the star systems, is inextricably tied up in the Nightfoots’ monopoly—and they can’t afford to let Jun expose the truth. They task two of their most brutal clerics with hunting her preternaturally stoic Chono, and brilliant hothead Esek, who also happens to be the heir to the Nightfoot empire. But Chono and Esek are haunted in turn by a figure from their shared past, known only as Six. What Six truly wants is anyone’s guess. And the closer they get to finding Jun, the surer Chono is that Six is manipulating them all. It's a game that could destroy their lives and devastate the stars. And they have no choice but to see it through to the end.
These Burning Stars is SO underrated. This is class A storytelling. Omg the plot twist and the way the storylines are woven together and ending just aghhhhh I’ve never ordered a sequel so fast in my life
2Your rating:
0I feel like I just overdosed on emotions.
This book is extraordinary.
I’m at a loss for how to describe what I felt while reading this. There is a not a single page wasted in creating this vivid world filled with scheming families, exquisite technology, astonishing plot twists, and the most truly raw characters I’ve ever read.
Every detail adds up. Every moment, every flashback, every line of dialogue — this is so intricately plotted. Even rarer, every character is just powerfully unique, often simultaneously unlikable and compelling, complete train wreck human beings all making each other worse, and each POV pulls you right under the narrator’s skin and makes you feel all kinds of blessedly fucked up emotions, because this is bloody and gritty and vengeful with scattered moments of tenderness and trust.
Above all, These Blazing Stars is a space opera that does NOT feel formulaic. This isn’t your standard “bad empire, oppressed rebels, time to fight back” nonsense that we’ve seen a billion times already. Jacobs takes those base elements but spins them into something that stands so firmly in its own lane that you genuinely have no idea what’s ever coming next; but when you get there, you’re walloped with all the seeds that have been planted throughout and it’s so, so satisfying.
5 stars and I only wish I could give it more.
0“If I was drowning, I would use my last strength to pull my enemy under with me. If I was burning alive, I would run into their arms like a lover. If I was bleeding to death, I would bite out their throat. I am not one to die with dignity and temperance. I will be vindictive and selfish to my last breath. Just as you would be.”
This book slaps - I love evil (or maybe not??) petty, revenge-driven ladies navigating complex space politics. This book has come the closest to filling the hole left by A Memory Called Empire.
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