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valkyrisms 's review for:
Winter's Orbit
by Everina Maxwell
It was an odd feeling seeing the deal for this book. I was fortunate enough to see an early draft posted on Archive of Our Own, where it was a much shorter and less developed, and loved it, only to have it vanish from my bookmarks one day. When I managed to track down the author, I found she had gotten an agent and was working on getting it traditionally published. I was worried that something about the spark of the original novel would be lost in the traditionally published process, but I’m so happy to report that the final copy is just as magical as the original.
Winter’s Orbit is a space opera that takes place within a sprawling galactic empire, connected by various different alliances that can control a spatial link that connects them to the wider universe. Control of these links is in high demand, and alliances are constantly being made between various empires and planets in an effort to gain more control of trade and connection to the outer worlds. And in order for the Iskat Empire to keep control of one of its planets, Thea, a new marriage alliance must be forged. Jainan of Thea and Taam of Iskat were once the system’s power couple that held the alliance together with seemingly solid glue, but after Taam dies in an accident, the honor of keeping the marriage alliance with Jainan alive falls to Prince Kiem, playboy and human disaster extraordinaire. Their fraught marriage is further damaged by the discovery that Taam’s accident was perhaps not what it seemed, and that his death has set into motion a series of events that will have a rippling effect throughout the universe.
This is the perfect example of a book that’s a sci-fi romance, following a similar structure to a traditional romance novel while still being in space. The core of the novel is not only the mystery, it’s the relationship between Kiem and Jainan. I really loved them. I’m such a hard sell on the romance side of things; it’s usually the thing I end up complaining about because it feels too simple or easy. Yet, even though the two are married very early on in the book, this relationship felt earned. It’s clear very early on that the two of them don’t want to be married: Kiem enjoys his life outside politics and romantic attachments and Jainan’s coming off the heels of an abusive relationship. They have to work at it, and along the way are a series of miscommunications that had me hitting my head against the wall. It didn’t feel stupid, though, not like other forms of communication that have me complaining that the two should just talk to each other. They have such different worldviews and life experiences on top of being from different planetary cultures, so all of their miscommunication made complete sense within the world they live in. It’s not all miscommunication and doom, however. There’s a lot of seriously charming elements and romance tropes: sharing a bed, huddling for warmth, the private versus public lives of romance interests… There’s a lot to love in this romance. It was sweet, but not overly so; the author never forgets that there’s a science-fiction plot happening in the background, complete with universal repercussions and inter-empire war.
And the Winter’s Orbit universe seems like such an interesting place to live in. Some of the worldbuilding made for bright spots in dark situations. Winter’s Orbit is a M/M romance, but the queer aspect of the novel is mostly ignored within a much more progressive universe (although still within a colonial empire, interestingly enough, but the book actually does interrogate this aspect of sci-fi that goes often ignored). The gender system of the Iskat Empire is based off of jewelry, particularly the material used to make it, or if its used at all. I would love the ability to take off my earrings and be perceived as nonbinary, or for other trans people to craft wooden or shiny jewelry to more properly express themselves. Jainan’s home planet uses scarves for clan associations as well. This seemed like an original facet of worldbuilding that I hadn’t seen before, one that was integrated well and gave off a charming vibe. There was also some realistic culture clashes: how gender is perceived on one world versus another, landscape and fighting changes, even instances where one word means something different on different planets. All these little things added up to form a believable universe that doesn’t feel homogenous or simple, but realistic in the little ways authors tend not to think about.
The biggest thing that changed from my first read-through online to my second with the actual book was that the plot became increasingly more dense, with added major characters and more labyrinthine twists and turns. While some of the padding was appreciated and definitely evolved this from being a more casual fanfic feel to a massively evolved sci-fi epic, some of the added characters and their motivations felt unnecessary. There’s a lot of he-said, she-said going around while our duo is trying to solve the mystery of Taam’s death, resulting in a lot of back and forth between suspicions and subjects. There are a lot of moving pieces, motivations, and flip-flopping of sides and alliances. Certain planets are part of certain empires, which are parts of other empires, which are involved in treaties with other kind-of empires? In a book with a whole universe of world-building involved, it can be easy to lose track of exactly how some of these planets and people are allied and why they are. It really was such a lush world, but as the mystery thickened and the book began to draw to a close, it felt like there were alliance and motivation politics that were a little unclear.
Winter’s Orbit is easy to love, with a romance plot to swoon over and a sci-fi epic for those of us who like our space operas intricate. Kiem and Jainan are the highlights of the novel, with their relationship equally cute and moving. Jainan in particular stood out to me as the most intricately layered; the book deals with mature subjects while not venturing too deep into dark sci-fi territory. I’m so glad this book managed to make its way from the corners of Archive of Our Own onto the shelves of real-life bookstores and that romance is more and more being seen as a viable category for sci-fi and fantasy novels.
Winter’s Orbit is a space opera that takes place within a sprawling galactic empire, connected by various different alliances that can control a spatial link that connects them to the wider universe. Control of these links is in high demand, and alliances are constantly being made between various empires and planets in an effort to gain more control of trade and connection to the outer worlds. And in order for the Iskat Empire to keep control of one of its planets, Thea, a new marriage alliance must be forged. Jainan of Thea and Taam of Iskat were once the system’s power couple that held the alliance together with seemingly solid glue, but after Taam dies in an accident, the honor of keeping the marriage alliance with Jainan alive falls to Prince Kiem, playboy and human disaster extraordinaire. Their fraught marriage is further damaged by the discovery that Taam’s accident was perhaps not what it seemed, and that his death has set into motion a series of events that will have a rippling effect throughout the universe.
This is the perfect example of a book that’s a sci-fi romance, following a similar structure to a traditional romance novel while still being in space. The core of the novel is not only the mystery, it’s the relationship between Kiem and Jainan. I really loved them. I’m such a hard sell on the romance side of things; it’s usually the thing I end up complaining about because it feels too simple or easy. Yet, even though the two are married very early on in the book, this relationship felt earned. It’s clear very early on that the two of them don’t want to be married: Kiem enjoys his life outside politics and romantic attachments and Jainan’s coming off the heels of an abusive relationship. They have to work at it, and along the way are a series of miscommunications that had me hitting my head against the wall. It didn’t feel stupid, though, not like other forms of communication that have me complaining that the two should just talk to each other. They have such different worldviews and life experiences on top of being from different planetary cultures, so all of their miscommunication made complete sense within the world they live in. It’s not all miscommunication and doom, however. There’s a lot of seriously charming elements and romance tropes: sharing a bed, huddling for warmth, the private versus public lives of romance interests… There’s a lot to love in this romance. It was sweet, but not overly so; the author never forgets that there’s a science-fiction plot happening in the background, complete with universal repercussions and inter-empire war.
And the Winter’s Orbit universe seems like such an interesting place to live in. Some of the worldbuilding made for bright spots in dark situations. Winter’s Orbit is a M/M romance, but the queer aspect of the novel is mostly ignored within a much more progressive universe (although still within a colonial empire, interestingly enough, but the book actually does interrogate this aspect of sci-fi that goes often ignored). The gender system of the Iskat Empire is based off of jewelry, particularly the material used to make it, or if its used at all. I would love the ability to take off my earrings and be perceived as nonbinary, or for other trans people to craft wooden or shiny jewelry to more properly express themselves. Jainan’s home planet uses scarves for clan associations as well. This seemed like an original facet of worldbuilding that I hadn’t seen before, one that was integrated well and gave off a charming vibe. There was also some realistic culture clashes: how gender is perceived on one world versus another, landscape and fighting changes, even instances where one word means something different on different planets. All these little things added up to form a believable universe that doesn’t feel homogenous or simple, but realistic in the little ways authors tend not to think about.
The biggest thing that changed from my first read-through online to my second with the actual book was that the plot became increasingly more dense, with added major characters and more labyrinthine twists and turns. While some of the padding was appreciated and definitely evolved this from being a more casual fanfic feel to a massively evolved sci-fi epic, some of the added characters and their motivations felt unnecessary. There’s a lot of he-said, she-said going around while our duo is trying to solve the mystery of Taam’s death, resulting in a lot of back and forth between suspicions and subjects. There are a lot of moving pieces, motivations, and flip-flopping of sides and alliances. Certain planets are part of certain empires, which are parts of other empires, which are involved in treaties with other kind-of empires? In a book with a whole universe of world-building involved, it can be easy to lose track of exactly how some of these planets and people are allied and why they are. It really was such a lush world, but as the mystery thickened and the book began to draw to a close, it felt like there were alliance and motivation politics that were a little unclear.
Winter’s Orbit is easy to love, with a romance plot to swoon over and a sci-fi epic for those of us who like our space operas intricate. Kiem and Jainan are the highlights of the novel, with their relationship equally cute and moving. Jainan in particular stood out to me as the most intricately layered; the book deals with mature subjects while not venturing too deep into dark sci-fi territory. I’m so glad this book managed to make its way from the corners of Archive of Our Own onto the shelves of real-life bookstores and that romance is more and more being seen as a viable category for sci-fi and fantasy novels.