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mweis's review against another edition
3.0
*I received an eARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*
I really do not know how I feel about this book, so forgive me if this review is rambling. Billed as a political space opera inspired by the lives of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar, The Stars Undying has a lot going for it but ultimately fell apart for me in its execution.
I think where I struggled the most is in the choice to have each of the perspectives in the first person. There was a lot of "I did x,y,z" and none of the voices felt distinct enough for me to remember whose perspective I was actually in. It was slow to start and unfortunately never fully hooked me into the plot, which made it feel even slower and more meandering. I do love the inspiration and found myself researching some of the historical events this book takes inspiration from. Thematically, I think this is doing some interesting things with AI and the concept of immortality. Maybe if I had known more about the real life counterparts to these characters I would have been more invested.
I think A Memory Called Empire is a good comp title to this, though as that is one of my favorite books I'd personally rather reread that. I've seen so many people rave about this though so maybe if I'll come back to it before the sequel is released with more tempered expectations.
I really do not know how I feel about this book, so forgive me if this review is rambling. Billed as a political space opera inspired by the lives of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar, The Stars Undying has a lot going for it but ultimately fell apart for me in its execution.
I think where I struggled the most is in the choice to have each of the perspectives in the first person. There was a lot of "I did x,y,z" and none of the voices felt distinct enough for me to remember whose perspective I was actually in. It was slow to start and unfortunately never fully hooked me into the plot, which made it feel even slower and more meandering. I do love the inspiration and found myself researching some of the historical events this book takes inspiration from. Thematically, I think this is doing some interesting things with AI and the concept of immortality. Maybe if I had known more about the real life counterparts to these characters I would have been more invested.
I think A Memory Called Empire is a good comp title to this, though as that is one of my favorite books I'd personally rather reread that. I've seen so many people rave about this though so maybe if I'll come back to it before the sequel is released with more tempered expectations.
wilful_wisp's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
noirverse's review against another edition
3.0
From the blurb, I immediately thought The Stars Undying would be a fantastic read. It turned out that it both is and isn't that. If I was rating this book on Act I alone it would easily be 4.5/5 stars. However, that level of quality didn't stay even for the entire story. I enjoy having a focus on characters, but the middle part made me feel restless for anything of note to happen when the characters themselves started to lose my interest, and it felt like things were happening just because history had it happen (I really did not care about that tour). It picked up again towards the end with all the politics even if it didn't save the overall experience for me as, again, the history it's inspired by felt like it was weighing over everything and making characters into puppets for the plot instead of having the characters stand on their own within the plot. In the end, I liked this okay but didn't love it which about sums it up.
acascadeofbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
disabledbookdragon's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
felissadee's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
barnesm31's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
jalexpulliamkepler's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
an incredible debut and strong retelling that still stumbles some in the pacing and tension
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Classism, Gun violence, Infidelity, Blood, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Violence, and War
Moderate: Alcohol
goosemixtapes's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
this book was written for me and it's probably going to be my favorite book of the year but in a way where i'm pissed about it because i should have written this. my GOD the way this book interacts with history and the concept of myth-making is so craziness-inducing. this goes so far beyond "cleopatra in space" but it is also doing so much justice to the concept of cleopatra in space. flawless writing, incredible characters, bisexual love triangles, cicero is there, what more can you ask for and i can't even like. get into how great this is because i'm no-joke going to write an academic thesis on it
laelyn's review against another edition
3.0
"The Stars Undying" has one of the most intriguing premises a book can have for me: a space opera version of Caesar and Cleopatra, with a woman taking Marcus Antonius's role? Perfection. I did enjoy Robin's debut in a lot of ways, but ultimately it was a rather forgettable affair, unlike the book's source of inspiration.
It's a well-written book and I enjoyed the world-building with lots of sci-fi words - that are confusing at first, admittedly, but you get used to them quickly. Now, the world-building isn't all too complex, and you don't actually learn much about all these planets and systems our Caesar, Ceirran, is happily conquering. But there's enough to keep the reader interested, and the main focus is not what happens on these planets anyway. It's a book about clever characters manouvering politically, it's about court intrigue.
I liked both our pov characters, Ceirran and Gracia, though my favourite character is easily Ana, our Marcus Antonius. It took me a while to warm up to them all, and other than Ana there are no actual likeable characters in there and their characterization is often a little inconsistent, but they're complex and interesting.
As expected, there's a lot of political manouvering, and while I very much enjoy that, it also got a little repetitive after a while. The rather slow pace of, especially, the middle part of the book made the most fascinating aspects of the story - Gracia's relationship with her God (an AI type being based on, I'd wager, Alexander the Great) and her plans to turn Ceirran into an immortal God as well - get dragged down a bit. Maybe the book was just too long for its contents. There are a loooot of people and places and events happening in the background, a lot of concepts and themes woven throughout, but because of the slow pacing and the way the story is constructed, none of them really matter too much in the end.
"The Stars Undying" is an impressive debut, a challenging read due to its pacing and sheer density both of content and form. I recommend it for people interested in a new take on Cleopatra's story, but most of all politics-focused, slow space operas with epic battles that only ever take place in the background of the story.
3 stars.
It's a well-written book and I enjoyed the world-building with lots of sci-fi words - that are confusing at first, admittedly, but you get used to them quickly. Now, the world-building isn't all too complex, and you don't actually learn much about all these planets and systems our Caesar, Ceirran, is happily conquering. But there's enough to keep the reader interested, and the main focus is not what happens on these planets anyway. It's a book about clever characters manouvering politically, it's about court intrigue.
I liked both our pov characters, Ceirran and Gracia, though my favourite character is easily Ana, our Marcus Antonius. It took me a while to warm up to them all, and other than Ana there are no actual likeable characters in there and their characterization is often a little inconsistent, but they're complex and interesting.
As expected, there's a lot of political manouvering, and while I very much enjoy that, it also got a little repetitive after a while. The rather slow pace of, especially, the middle part of the book made the most fascinating aspects of the story - Gracia's relationship with her God (an AI type being based on, I'd wager, Alexander the Great) and her plans to turn Ceirran into an immortal God as well - get dragged down a bit. Maybe the book was just too long for its contents. There are a loooot of people and places and events happening in the background, a lot of concepts and themes woven throughout, but because of the slow pacing and the way the story is constructed, none of them really matter too much in the end.
"The Stars Undying" is an impressive debut, a challenging read due to its pacing and sheer density both of content and form. I recommend it for people interested in a new take on Cleopatra's story, but most of all politics-focused, slow space operas with epic battles that only ever take place in the background of the story.
3 stars.