I love Garth Nix stories and I loved this space opera that made me laugh, rooting for the MC and turning pages as fast as I could.
I think that the author is an excellent storyteller and this story is humorous and gripping.
Excellent world building and character development, an engrossing and entertaining story.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

trigger warning
<spoiler> bullying, gore, trauma, mutilation, PTSD, suicide, grief </spoiler>

As Prince Khemri leaves his birth temple where he was trained to live a glorious life and travel space, he has to realise abruptly that his future won't be as he planned it, despite being one of the most privileged people in the whole universe. Or might it be because of it?

2,5 stars rounded up because it looks nice. Most of this was pretty boring.
In the beginning, Khemri is an overprivileged douchebag nobody likes, which doesn't matter because he thinks himself to be even above his peers who have the same background as him. There is quite a lot of character developement in this standalone, and the world building is kinda interesting.
My main problem with this book was that we're told most of it, instead of being shown. Despite hearing so many great things about this author, I feel like I will forget pretty soon most of what was in this book. There was this distance between me, the plot and the characters, in some part due to Khemri being a self-contained unit, but in most parts due to the writing which felt outdated.
The telling got lighter in the second half, but it wasn't enough to redeem this novel in my opinion.

As you can see, I don't even have much to say about it.

The arc was provided by the publisher.

A Confusion of Princes – Garth Nix

I have read a few Garth Nix – I was blown away by Sabriel and read the rest of The Old Kingdom series as quickly as I could. He consistently writes strong female characters which don’t feel forced or try-hard. The bells of the Abhorsen are so well painted, I can almost hear them when I’m reading. If you haven’t read those, please do, they’re awesome. I also read some of his younger reader series – The Keys to the Kingdom, which have a nice Archer’s Goon type feel.

When I spotted A Confusion of Princes on Netgalley, I definitely requested it! It’s actually a re-issue, originally released 2012 (so I’m assuming it’s a ten year anniversary celebration)

Newly minted Prince Khemri leads us through his world, where there are millions of ‘Princes’ – super enhanced beings who have been given telescopic eyes, super speed and others in order to fight it out between each other in the endless solar systems and far away galaxies. He is naïve and arrogant, sure that he will be in the running for the next Emperor as soon as he gets his own ship and hops about the galaxy having fun.

Except he’s rudely awakened by that daydream as his just appointed Master of Assassins (like a butler with benefits) informs him that he needs to move, now, and somewhere with protection or he will be assassinated before his teenaged feet hit the ground.

Khemri as a narrator is an interesting choice, as he starts off full of the exuberance of youth and privilege – not your most sympathetic hero. As the story unfolds, though, he learns more about the real people around him, and what their lives are like.

It reminded me in places of The Hunger Games, racing to the best weapons to stay alive for one more day, expendable bodies of young adults. I also thought about Star Wars, actually, with different planets inhabited by different people, all trying to survive.

Nix has a gift for explaining the most complicated ideas in a way which makes them seem not just acceptable, but totally normal. Of course everyone’s connected to an Imperial Mind, and the soldiers are giant bugs which are half ‘mektek’ and a bit ‘psitek’ – all very cyberpunk. That world was easy to fall into and I do wish it would be made into a TV series.

I really enjoyed this and would recommend it to Nix fans and Sci-fi appreciators too.

Thanks as always to Netgalley for the DRC and to the publisher, Orion Publishing Group, for the copy.

The Old Kingdom link:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23277163-the-old-kingdom-collection

Archer’s Goon: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47521.Archer_s_Goon

Garth Nix never lets me down with an interesting premise with characters I care about A Confusion of Princes is no exception. The title is a clunker but I’ll forgive it because it’s apt. The Prince system in confusing. There’s so many of them. Khemri is taken from his birth parents as a baby and raised alone by computer programmes to go forth and become one of the genetically enhanced elite Princes ruling the galaxy. Khem, however, is gifted and talented and he is headhunted to become a special secret agent within the establishment after completing his training which means being abandoned in unknown territory and finding his way back. Khem however stumbles on a conspiracy and has his eyes opened and his head turned by an ordinary red headed human. What?!
I don’t normally read a lot of space stuff, I can’t understand why you would put yourself in an environment that limits basic bodily functions such as breathing. It seems absurd. And look out, there’s problems with the air running out in this too but this was a damn good read. Khem is a privileged, spoiled ass but he’s 100% aware of this and at heart he’s a good lad. There’s no vanity about him. He pukes in his bread in front of a hot girl he just met and isn’t in the least bit cowed. What.A. Guy.
There’s stuff about doing the right thing, self sacrifice and family too all that important stuff. He also grows a dolphin at one point. He grows it and trains it to find stuff! It should be read for that alone.

From GoodReads:
This is really good fun.
Rich and imaginative world building - evil empire, technology, space academy, space battles, politics, duelling, romance, enlightenment ... and space pirates!!
Rattles along at warp speed. Hold on tight