thank you to orbit books uk for my arc! ✨

ah man this was such a bummer. this one sadly just fell flat for me. i didn't love the way it was written, and that unfortunately skewed my experience with it. i felt too detached from the characters and the plot, so in the end i didn't really have any motivation to pick it up or to care about anything.

something i really enjoyed about this though were the queer attitudes; i loved that queerness was no big deal, completely neutral. i really wish more fantasy worlds were like this (as well as the real one!) and i just wanted to know everything about the worldbuilding.

thank you again to orbit books uk for my arc! ✨

This book can be a bit confusing to get into, but once you've established the main characters, I personally couldn't stop from being incredibly invested in this Cleopatra retelling. The characters and the world are incredibly fascinating and while I'm excited to read more in this universe, this book feels like it stands on it own.
Would recommend if you like sci-fi and are interested in Cleopatra.

Thanks to netgalley for this copy!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for this review copy!

A space retelling of the lives and loves of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar, The Stars Undying is an incredibly inventive story, rich with politics and drama. The chapters switch between Gracia, a fugitive princess warring with her sister for the throne; and Ceirran, Commander of the interstellar Empire of Ceiao. Initially we know little about these two characters, but as more and more is revealed, the way their lives will intertwine becomes clear and makes the book so enticing to read. I absolutely loved Gracia and found her backstory so intriguing - especially her relationship with her sister!

The representation in this is fantastic, with so many amazing LGBTQIA + characters in the story including the two main characters. The strong personalities came to life from the page and made this such an interesting read. Ana was the best and I would’ve loved to have chapters from her perspective. Definitely one of the coolest characters ever!

If you’re a fan of complex politics and character relations this is definitely the book for you. Unfortunately, I found this a bit difficult to grasp and struggled with some parts of the story. The author very much throws you straight into the world, as though you’re living through the same things as the characters and know about their history. This fully immerses you in the story, but also means you have to be quite quick to understand what’s happening. I enjoyed this for the most part, but did find some bits quite confusing.

Overall, this was a unique and engaging read and I’d definitely recommend picking it up!
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
(3.5 stars, rounded up to 4)

DNF @ 30%

This wasn't for me unfortunately. It had promise, and it was very well written. The prose was exquisite. Unfortunately, I didn't feel that very much was happening and wasn't very invested in the characters. I'm sure others will love this, but sadly not one I'm going to continue with at this time.

You should read The Stars Undying if you are in the mood for a slow paced, politically intriguing fantasy set in space. While not on the level of other space operas like The Expanse, using the idea of a Cleopatra and Julius Caesar retelling in space is an interesting idea.

A key feature of this book is that the main character is an unreliable. If this is for you, fantastic, you’ll likely enjoy the book. Unfortunately for my tastes, it was overused and often let down the plot, rather than enhance it. Overall, I found the plot rather boring, not helped by excessively long information dumps which did not result in great world-building.

Thanks to Little Brown Book Group for giving me access to the eARC.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK, Orbit for providing me this arc for an honest review.*

This is the story of Cleopatra and Ceasar...in space.. I love space opera books, but space opera retellings? I haven't read any. Until now. This is a wonderful book for every sci-fi lover like me. I promise you, you will not want to put it down.

Some debut novels have modest ambitions. Tell a story, explore some themes, draw some characters, let it out into the world and hope it flies.

Then there are some debuts like The Stars Undying. Emery Robin takes inspiration from the history of the Roman Empire, Egypt’s Ptolemaic era, Shakespeare’s plays, and weaves an epic space opera with interstellar avatars of Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Marc Antony, and Caesar Augustus. Robin may not quite reach Shakespearean prose, but the sweeping arc and tragic rise and fall of the characters certainly show that the homework was done.

Princess Altagracia has lost everything. Her father dead, her sister claiming the throne of Szayet, her army decimated, her funds lost, she bets everything on the longest of long shots.

Matheus Ceirran is the Ceian commander who leads the military. Although Szayet is a backwater planet in a distant region with a decrepit capital city long past its glory days and dominated by a strange religion, Ceirran has followed a fugitive and former lover to the capital city of Alectelo where he debarks to remind the locals of the power of the empire.

In Alectelo, Ceirran is first surprised when the reigning queen greets him with a box containing the severed head of his fugitive. Later he is surprised at another present. A box of rugs arrives at his office, a box of rugs that also contains the Princess Altagracia. In a move driven by her desperation, she smuggles herself into the office and snuggles herself into the affections of the most powerful military man in the galaxy.

Rulers of Szayet wear a specific pearl in their ear. This pearl, a biogenetic computer engineered by a forgotten process, supposedly contains the life and spirit of Alekso the Undying, the greatest ruler of Szayet. Alekso consults with the rulers, offering his brilliance and insight, his experience and his strategic genius, and raises the rulers to the level of prophets.

Young women presenting themselves in the office of a conquering military commander, regardless of how willing they are to play upon his desires, have little beyond the obvious to offer. That is not enough for the commander to back their cause. However, Princess Altagracia offers something new, something that every conquering commander angling to rule an empire might want.

Godhood. Immortality. The opportunity to be undying.

A reimagining of the bloody, messy, tragic and epic lives of people whose legends have long outlived their empires. Robin opens a career with a debut novel that promises the stars. For at least this reader, it delivered them.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Orbit for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really interesting read!

The first third was slow but it picked up well after that. The world building was magnificently done - so detailed and clear. I loved the writing style and thought the whole concept was fabulous.

Cleopatra and Julius Caesar story is almost archetypal and the author did a good job in using it in a sci-fi based story.
It's a gripping story, well plotted and intriguing. I was attracted by the reference to the historical characters and liked how their story seems new even if it's faithful to the original.
The world building is interesting and I liked the storytelling.
I think this is going to be a good series and I want to read the next books.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Thank you to the publisher Orbit and to NetGalley for the digital ARC it has not affected my honest review.

"The Stars Undying" is an incredible scifi based adaptation of the relationship between Cleopatra (here called Gracia) and Caesar (here called Ceirran) set in a richly developed world. This story is beautifully written and the depth of worldbuilding here, particularly in the god figure that Gracia follows (she carries his immortal soul in her ear and can speak to him) and the impact of empire across the galaxy. It takes the most famous parts of the Caesar/Cleopatra story (her visiting him in a carpet) and combines them with incredible side characters (I'm sure that Anita, Ceirran's right hand, is a female version of Mark Antony) who all feel real. The chemistry between Ceirran and Gracia is gorgeous and romantic and tragically inevitable, especially if you know the true story. I was so impressed with the depth of the characters, particularly because some only appear on a few pages; I found it nearly impossible to put this book down after a chapter because the POVs were so well done.

I'm hopeful for a sequel because I'd love to see what comes next for Gracia, and what might happen based on my knowledge of history, but at the same time I know that Emery Robin will continue to surprise me.

Thanks Netgalley and Publisher for this advanvced copy.

I truly loved the concept of The Stars Undying, making Cleopatra and Julius Caesar retelling and set as space opera book. The writing style was so detailed, it was easier to understand the worldbuilding. The minus point was the slow pacing, some people need to patient to see the interesting parts of the story

I was intrigued by the premise of this one when I first read it. This was due to a number of factors, the setting intrigued me – Ancient Rome moved to the stars, and that the story followed a young woman’s rise to power.

My knowledge of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra’s story is a little rusty, just a few remnants from school, and mainly to be honest, what I remembered from HBO’s top notch series Rome from years ago. But I knew the basics and could recognise the way they were loosely woven into the plot of The Stars Undying. I’m not sure if my level of knowledge was a help or a hindrance, I’m sure there were probably call backs to historical events or characters that I missed, but overall I think the book stands on its own two feet and doesn’t need you to be able to recognise the references for it to be enjoyed.

The chapters alternate between the POVs of Gracia and Ceirran and we get to see each of their thoughts and reactions to events, and a glimpse of their motivations. It’s clear at several points in the book that Gracia’s POV is slightly different, that she appears to be narrating events to someone, and at times, that she is not always revealing everything to that person until she wants to.

They are both complex characters, and not always likeable I would say, though that’s not to say that it’s not interesting to follow them as they navigate their situation.

The sci-fi elements of the book are fairly light. We are obviously in space and there is advanced technology in play, not least of all the Pearl, possession of which caused civil war between Gracia and her sister following their father’s death. None of these were difficult to follow however.

What I did struggle with for quite a while was getting to grips with the world of the book. There are so many planets, cultures, peoples, languages etc., a glossary (or a notebook!) would have been handy as I felt lost to start with.

We get very involved in the politics at play in this world, the careful movements required by the players, who should talk to whine about what, what moves should be made when. There is also consideration of what makes us who we are, what is a soul, what is immortality, how can one achieve it?

This is an ambitious and impressive debut from Emery Robin which I enjoyed reading, perfect for anyone looking for politically motivated characters in an unique setting.

The Stars Undying by Emery Robin is a retelling of Cleopatra and Julius Ceasar but transforming it into space opera.

The novel is full of beautiful densely written prose Emery Robin's writing is compelling, complex and detailed.  This is not a novel to skim, it definitely required my full concentration.

The novel is split between Gracia's voice and Ceirran's in alternating chapters advancing the narrative from Gracia being usurped by her sister to the meeting of Gracia and Ceirran via being wrapped in a rug.  I was not familiar with the source material and that may have hindered my understanding to a certain extent. 

Themes of religion, belief and empire are all considered and are important to the retelling as is the idea of conquest and control.

The novel is lgbt+ and it is handled with a deft touch.

If you like well written dense prose infused with meaning then this is definitely the novel for you.  I found the pace slowed it down and I didn't really connect to the characters as much as I wanted to. I suspect that this just wasn't the novel for me but I really appreciated what was being done.

When I first heard of this sci-fi reimagining of the history of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, I was immediately desperate to read it! Having luckily received an advance copy (thanks to Netgalley and the publisher!), I would say that the wait was well worth it.

As a previous student of ancient history, I simply enjoyed re-experiencing this classic story in a new context. Although I did feel that the sci-fi elements that characterise the context as 'new' were never used to their full potential. (In all fairness, however, this opinion might be because my mind kept referencing the ancient source material while reading, firmly basing my imagination in the past rather than the future.)

Given how vast the galaxy of this novel is, I wonder if the story is easily followable if one does not already know Caesar and Cleopatra's story (not to mention Alexander the Great's). Even I had to re-read sentences at times to fully process elements of the world-building, but my familiarity with the source material helped to keep me grounded. Objectively, I wonder if it is less followable if one does not have that foreknowledge. It is impossible for me to say, of course, but a character list (and potentially some other appendices) would be a valuable addition to the book!

Nevertheless, all in all, for anyone who is a fan of ancient history who also enjoys the space opera sub-genre, I would recommend this book.

It is difficult to rate this book. The first 20% almost made me put it down entirely, but then the overall story-arc was interesting and very well thought out.

In The Stars Undying, Gracia has fled her home planet after her sister took over the throne and started a civil war on the planet. When Gracia sees an opportunity, she goes out to find a possible ally in Ceirran, who already conquered quite a few planets despite his age. Their relationship becomes more than just political and together they explore both of their planets and have to work to keep their influence over their people.

My main struggle with the first 100-ish pages was the amount of info-dumping that ocured. It is understandable that a sci-fi with different planets, cultures, people and politics will need a lot of exposition, but there was too much of it at the beginning that can definitely make someone loose interest. The writing style was also something that didn't really vibe with me. Sentences that take up almost half a page with 10 ore more comma's in them were not exceptional when the author is going over how events happened in the past or going over all the subjects our main character studied. Quite a few of the political details went completely over my head as there were just so many of them where my brain just couldn't process, let alone remember them all. The epub version I read also didn't have any spacing between paragraphs when there were jumps or flashbacks in time so it was pretty jarring at times.

The author created an extremely unique and expansive world. In this first book, mainly Szayet and Ceiao are explored and they were both incredibly immersive. I absolutely loved the concept of Szayet which is almost completely covered in water and has so many resources that are down below, but just really hard to obtain in its current predicament. I was a fan of Gracia from the start. She had a feeling for her people and enough wits to keep a planet running. Her interactions with other characters like Ceirran and Alekso were usually very engaging and gave new insights into the world an into how Gracia's view of it is constantly adapting when she gets more information. There were some moments that were really moving, especially within the interaction of Gracia and her people. If you know some of the history between Cleopatra and Ceasar, you might already guess at how this might all end, but to find out, you'll have to read it for yourself.

Taking all of this into account, The Stars Undying comes out as middle of the road for me. Some really great aspects, but also some serious hurdles to overcome.

Thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK for providing me with a review copy via NetGalley.

My thanks to the publisher and NG for an ARC of this dense book. I was excited to read it as soon as I saw this book announced, the plot sounded incredibly intriguing.

The Stars Undying is both an ambitious and confident book. I found it a calm and collected read; slow, not very action-packed, more a historical account of events of sorts. It’s a book that wants to be read slowly and a book that is unabashedly the first in a series (by the end of it, I found myself thinking, “this is a 500-pages-long introduction”). I’m definitely curious to see where it goes and to find out even more about the world.

That being said, I think this book was full of controversies and in the end it just manages to hit the middle ground. The worldbuilding was interesting, the differences between the cultures just as well, the same goes for this story being a space opera retelling of Cleopatra and Cesar. To break it down a bit:
- As far as this book goes as a retelling, if you only know Cleopatra and Cesar vaguely, hardly at all, this book is not a strong retelling and you barely notice it being as such. If I hadn’t known beforehand that it’s a retelling, I most likely wouldn’t have noticed the similarities (ashamed to say that I don’t remember enough from history class about them). I can imagine this book being good on a different level if you know the histories more; on its own, just as a sci-fi novel, it’s alright. It’s as good as any book that’s first in a series, but I think that if you go into it thinking you’re reading just another sci-fi novel, it will be a bit dense and hard to get through. There were moments where it was obvious the author was alluding to something that happened in the story of Cleopatra and Cesar, and I just wasn’t getting it (this was slightly frustrating, but didn’t make the book less enjoyable).
- The world this book is set in is very interesting! The execution of it, however, seems unbalanced. A lot of time is spent telling us about part of the cultures (especially religion, the differences between the cultures re: religion; a bit of politics, a bit of war), but there are things you might want to learn about them that just aren’t there. I think that the majority of sex scenes and the ridiculously long “honeymoon” could easily have been substituted with telling us more about what Gracia’s and Ceirran’s people are like.
- The characters somehow managed to be both complex and flat (but perhaps I was not reading the book right). For Ceirran I didn’t particularly care for, so I will leave him out of this – and in any case, this book was more about Gracia than him. Gracia was definitely a strange character. She and the relationship with her sister had the potential to be devastating; in the beginning especially, as Gracia talks a lot about her. But she ends up being forgettable, hardly important to the plot and after the first few chapters, barely mentioned again. Gracia also works hard to become the ruler, the leader, and we spent quite a while reading about this being important for her – only for her to leave her world to go on a trip with Ceirran. What happens with Szayet in the meantime?

And all of this being said, I realize it may sound as if I didn’t enjoy the book – I did, very much so. I’m looking forward to the next part when it comes out. What I enjoyed the most in the book was the narration. Gracia isn’t just putting down her account, but is obviously writing it all *to* someone. When the cracks start appearing and when the wall breaks and we get to know who she is talking to, that was a moment in the story I would like to experience again. Rounded up, that part added a lot of flavor to the entire book, making you re-examine several parts of it. It made new questions appear, and I hope to get answers to them in future sequels.

The story of Cleopatra and her interactions with the Roman Empire, but in SPACE? Yes please! This was a bold and immersive story that really suckes me in, with so many twists that at times I wasn't sure exactly what was real!

My only gripe is that the changing POVs were sometimes hard to follow - I think the character's voice weren't distinct enough. Otherwise a brilliant book!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

It took a while to fully appreciate "The Stars Undying". The author obviously has a clear and solid view of this world and story but, for me, it didn't click until about halfway through. It's worth sticking with as it's an absolutely brilliant read once you "get" things clear in your mind. There is some great writing, too. I'm looking forward to seeing what Emery Robin comes up with next.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

Man this was so dissappointing! I had to DNF this book 10% into the book. I really thought the book would be an amazing scifi adventure, heavily rooted in the cleopatra story. I love Cleopatra and a good space opera so it sounded like a match made in heaven.
Unfortunately I was unable to grasp the story and understand the characters, not really their motivations but truly whose perspective I was reading from. I couldnt distinguish the two sisters. Nor was there any chance in narration style or perspective which made it impossible for me to continue. I am so sad to say this book and the writing style just wasnr for me.

Aunque me gusta explorar otras mitologías o sucesos históricos que sean desconocidas para mí, siempre resulta agradable volver a terrenos más conocidos que nos resulten cómodos, como este retelling de la historia de Cleopatra de manos de Emery Robin, aunque en este caso se limita a su relación con Julio César, imagino que la parte de Marco Antonio quedará para futuras entregas. En el libro ya aparece su personaje, esta vez encarnado en mujer, pero su participación sin duda alguna será más importante en un futuro.


The Stars Undying juega muy bien sus cartas al situar el relato en el espacio, pero manteniendo muchos acontecimientos reconocibles para el gran público, sean apócrifos o reales. La escena de la alfombra, el enfrentamiento con su hermano por la sucesión o su visita a Roma. Pero también introduce cambios que son muy atractivos como cambiar a su hermano por una hermana gemela, con todo lo que ello conlleva.

Sin duda, la mayor aportación de la autora es la inclusión de la perla, una inteligencia artificial que supuestamente almacena el alma y la personalidad de Alejandro Magno, referencia imprescindible en la dinastía ptolemaica. En el planeta Szayet, el equivalente de Egipto, se le considera un dios y al portador de la perla, su Oráculo. Robin juega mucho a dejar a la interpretación del lector si nos hallamos realmente ante la personificación de Alejandro o ante una inteligencia artificial que se hace pasar por él.

Cuando entra en escena Matheus Ceirran, el Julio César de esta realidad, todo lo que estaba en un equilibrio bastante precario, acaba patas arriba. La relación entre Ceirran y Altagracia es pasional e intelectual a la vez, un duelo de personalidades y ambiciones muy atractivo. ¿Es la búsqueda de la inmortalidad algo posible y deseable?

The Stars Undying tiene varios niveles de lectura, dependiendo del conocimiento que de esa parte de la historia tenga el lector. Pero creo que es perfectamente disfrutable sea cual sea ese nivel, lo cual es un punto a favor de la propia obra.

Por desgracia, ahora nos toca esperar a la siguiente parte de la saga Empire without End, para saber cómo continúan las existencias de los personajes.