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A review by notsayingrevolutionbut
Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell
adventurous
mysterious
Let's get something clear: I only recently learned that "space opera" doesn't actually mean theatrical singing and exquisite costumes in the cosmos, and I haven't forgiven the genre since. We're losing points from the get-go.
Another note: I heartily admire Maxwell for her ambitions with this book and for originally posting it as an original work on AO3. That takes guts and I respect it.
Winter's Orbit includes one of the most viscerally accurate and painful renderings of queer intimate partner violence that I have yet encountered. The exploration of Jainan's (past) relationship with Taam was the strongest part of the book, by far. All of the bits in Jainan's voice were so hard to read (though the perspective switches halfway or quarter-way through a chapter were messy). I appreciate the author's unwillingness to back away from the complexities of domestic abuse, allowing the damage to infiltrate into Jainan's very thought processes. His journey of recognizing and rejecting the abuse partially saves this book from...
Plot holes! Poor worldbuilding! Very confusing interplanetary politics! There's a possibility that the trouble was on my end because I do not particularly enjoy sci-fi. However, I do deeply enjoy fictional political dramas, and this was too much even for me. There was so much going on and almost none of it was explained (that's not even a spoiler... the first 50 pages are real intense). The setting is only kind of established in between quips from Kiem and the aching pain of Jainan. Again, maybe I'm just new to the SFF game but isn't the setting supposed to be the most interesting and defining feature? We're in space. There is cool, futuristic tech. I'm afraid this novel failed to provide much detail on either of those realities. There's a scene toward the end of the story involving a disappointingly low-stakes break-in where the characters... get through walls using a birth canal... made of jelly? I THINK?
I picked up this book on account of its romance, which was somewhat underbaked but overall fitting with the rest of the story. It's not clear to me why Kiem and Jainan are attracted to each other beyond a physical level, and it's also not clear to me why their turning point happens so early on. I can usually cope with those things in a book. However, they point to a larger issue: I couldn't get a read on most of the characters' motivations. Why does the Auditor make such a fuss at the beginning? There is no reason for that to happen.Why does the Emperor capitulate so easily later on? She still outguns the other planets. Why does the antagonist care at all about the past Jainan/ Taam relationship? That has nothing to do with the villainous plans.
The answer to all of those questions is obviously "because the plot needs them to." I'll accept some fudges with the plot to clear the path for romance, but this isn't a romance book. It's a sci-fi book with a side of romance, and it needs the plot to even get off the ground. One might argue that it never did reach the sky.
TL;DR this book didn't work for me on multiple levels. I do hope other readers can a) better understand the stuff that went over my head and/or b) enjoy this imperfect book for what it is.
Another note: I heartily admire Maxwell for her ambitions with this book and for originally posting it as an original work on AO3. That takes guts and I respect it.
Winter's Orbit includes one of the most viscerally accurate and painful renderings of queer intimate partner violence that I have yet encountered. The exploration of Jainan's (past) relationship with Taam was the strongest part of the book, by far. All of the bits in Jainan's voice were so hard to read (though the perspective switches halfway or quarter-way through a chapter were messy). I appreciate the author's unwillingness to back away from the complexities of domestic abuse, allowing the damage to infiltrate into Jainan's very thought processes. His journey of recognizing and rejecting the abuse partially saves this book from...
Plot holes! Poor worldbuilding! Very confusing interplanetary politics! There's a possibility that the trouble was on my end because I do not particularly enjoy sci-fi. However, I do deeply enjoy fictional political dramas, and this was too much even for me. There was so much going on and almost none of it was explained (that's not even a spoiler... the first 50 pages are real intense). The setting is only kind of established in between quips from Kiem and the aching pain of Jainan. Again, maybe I'm just new to the SFF game but isn't the setting supposed to be the most interesting and defining feature? We're in space. There is cool, futuristic tech. I'm afraid this novel failed to provide much detail on either of those realities. There's a scene toward the end of the story involving a disappointingly low-stakes break-in where the characters... get through walls using a birth canal... made of jelly? I THINK?
I picked up this book on account of its romance, which was somewhat underbaked but overall fitting with the rest of the story. It's not clear to me why Kiem and Jainan are attracted to each other beyond a physical level, and it's also not clear to me why their turning point happens so early on. I can usually cope with those things in a book. However, they point to a larger issue: I couldn't get a read on most of the characters' motivations. Why does the Auditor make such a fuss at the beginning? There is no reason for that to happen.
The answer to all of those questions is obviously "because the plot needs them to." I'll accept some fudges with the plot to clear the path for romance, but this isn't a romance book. It's a sci-fi book with a side of romance, and it needs the plot to even get off the ground. One might argue that it never did reach the sky.
TL;DR this book didn't work for me on multiple levels. I do hope other readers can a) better understand the stuff that went over my head and/or b) enjoy this imperfect book for what it is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship
Minor: Physical abuse, Gaslighting