This is a historically inspired space opera, which I was really intrigued by and I thought it was very interesting. It took me a while to get into, however, with some (in my opinion) unnecessary complicated prose and world-building.

If you loved Memory Called Empire - you’ll love this more. If you wanted to love Memory Called Empire but couldn’t - you’ll love this more. This book examines an empire in its splendor and blindspots with richness of thought and subtlety in its delivery, and great trust in the reader, and it does so via the story of CLEOPATRA AND CAESAR IN SPACE - a thing I personally didn’t know I needed, but am pleased to have discovered. The thing is — this book understands the assignment. It knows how to deliver a retelling of great legends from history in fiction while giving them a life as their own story. It simply GETS IT. The worldbuilding is just the right mix of fresh and novel settings and recognizable references to locations and power dynamics; the events both belong in the story and in history; the characters feel larger than life and just the right size to full the shoes of the historical figures who they represent.

I really enjoyed it: even when I had questions, or reservations, the book pulled me along, lulling me with its cadence, charming me by the charisma of its characters (I had a particular soft spot for Cierran). It’s definitely the kind of book I will remember and inevitably think about when considering other SFF reimagingings of historical events, or narratives looking at the luster and appeal of empire from the sidelines of it.

Thank you #Netgalley for an arc of#TheStarsUndying. What a great debut!

I got a free copy from Netgalley all opinions are my own.

DNF 6% or after 3 chapters.

I usually try to give books or ARCs a chance, but I just couldn't force myself to read more.
This has got to be one of the most boring and confusing books I've ever picked up.
I literally had no idea what was going on, and the writing style is utterly atrocious.
I don't want to be a hater, but I absolutely hate the writing style.

I know that this is an ARC, but it just reads as a draft to me. A really poor first or maybe second draft.

I really don't understand how this book has so many good reviews, when in my opinion, this book sucks. Sorry...

This book was something that I wish I had waited to read. I truly believe it could be 5 stars if I fully got to enjoy it. But either way it was amazing. Its unlike anything I've read which is rare these days

The Stars Undying is a a fascinating and complex novel, one that marries both science fiction and Ancient mythology into a richly detailed world. There are a lot of parallels here to both Cleopatra and Julius Caesar, and perhaps that's hardly surprising given these two are the inspiration for the story that follows.

The plot see-saws back and forth between dual perspectives, the first comes from Princes Altagracia, who has lost everything. After a bitter civil war with her twin sister Alectelo, Gracia flees and seeks the help of a powerful and wise man who just so happens to rule most of the Swordbelt Arm; Matheus Ceirran.

The commander of the Interstellar Empire of Ceiao is accompanied by his right-hand woman Anita, who doesn't exactly take kindly to Gracia's unconventional approach to seeking help. However, Gracia's ties with Ceirran ultimately entwine their fates together and as the pair play a deadly game of mental chess, trying to suss the other out, Anita waits in the wings, ever watchful - and ever vigilant.

What soon ensues is an intriguing narrative that takes on two complexions - one from the perspective of Ceirran and the other from Gracia. Both are actually pretty unreliable narrators with Gracia even nonchalantly throwing out a couple of big lies to lead us into believing a certain truth, only to then whip that back with a surprise chapter that contradicts this. I'm being careful not to spoil anything here but the final part of the book does such a great job capturing this, reframing what we've seen across the book.

Although this has been dubbed as a space opera, this is much less a swashbuckling adventure of laser battles and daring dogfights in space and much more a politically charged drama. The second part of this story in particular screeches to a halt, revelling in its slow and - ever so often -laborious pace at times, with a lot of politics to boot.

As the story moves across to Ceirran's home planet (which is basically Rome, let's be honest) it brings with it a lot of political backstabbing, power plays, council meetings and long-winded discussions and parties. In essence, we're told about events happening around the galaxy rather than shown.

Where this book really excels though is with its characters. Emery Robin has crafted a really fascinating narrative here and both Gracia and Ceirran are complex, flawed and unpredictable players in this game. There's also Alekso and Anita who make up the four main players of this tale, but the latter is the real stand-out here. The way Anita is written is fascinating and we see her from both Gracia and Ceirran's perspective, and she constantly evolves and surprises across the 500+ pages.

The Stars Undying is one of those books that's likely to find mixed reactions from many that read this. It's really well written no doubt, but the writing style relies on long paragraphs for worldbuilding as well as a lot of name drops. In fact, when the story moves across to Ceirran's home, the sheer number of ministers and officials that crop up can be quite overwhelming.

The ensemble is pretty diverse across the board and there are some pretty steamy sex scenes in here too, but ultimately they feed back into that idea of power. Power is the central theme of the story and you can feel that through both Ceirran and Gracia's chapters. The gravitas of their actions, echoing that of Caesar and Cleopatra from our own history, is so well constructed and understanding what drives the pair will have you itching to pick up a history book and learn more about ancient history.

The Stars Undying is a complex and at times difficult book to get through. This is not one advised to binge through, given the detail put into its characters and worlds. This is one you need to savour over time, although that taste may be more acquired than some may be comfortable with. The middle of the book does sag quite a bit but thankfully a strong opening and closing act makes it worth persevering with. The Stars Undying is not perfect, but as a debut novel, this is a worthy venture and certainly worth reading.

7.5/10

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown for providing an eARC to review!

I have read A Memory Called Empire and The Traitor Baru Cormorant and found them complex but not inaccessible - this book on the other hand felt like all the pages setting everything up got cut and we were just thrown right into the middle. This could definitely work for some people, but I was finding it way too difficult to keep the characters straight and work out what was going on. I think I'll try again in a physical copy but this book is definitely not kind to those new to the genre.

Was I here for space Cleopatra? Absolutely. Was I here for a book that was more about politics than story? No, not really. I felt about this book pretty much how I felt about A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine. Emery Robin is a talented writer, with a lot of knowledge whose book just talks itself to death.

Dnf at 50%

So, this wasn't for me. If you're looking for something complex, well-thought-out that requires paying very close attention and thinking, rather than excitement and action, this might be your cup of tea.

I don't like dnf'ing books. I just did not see any point in continuing it. I don't care about a single character. There's a lot of jumping back and forth between characters at the beginning. I only started processing what was going on about 20 percent in. Out of everything, the most interesting part to me was the worldbuilding, which wasn't really explained. If I'd describe my experience reading this in one word, it would be boring. I don't think I've ever felt this indifferent about a book. It is nicely written and complex, It just didn't draw me in.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

This was a difficult one to rate for me, a novel that brought insight and detail in equal measure to confusion and lulls. Emery Robin's debut novel The Stars Undying is a sci-fi reimagining of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar's relationship and political power struggles and deftly demonstrates both the author's obvious skill for character and their - at times debilitating - connection to this period of history.

Gracia is the heir to the throne of Szayet (oh boy am I gonna butcher names in this review), a partner kingdom to Ceia (Rome), that was established by Alekso Undying (Alexander the Great). Each monarch of Szayet wears a religious object that contains the soul of Alekso, manifested as an AI and raised to godhood, and commands their people in consort with the Pearl. When Gracia and her twin sister come to blows over the nation's throne, the chance intervention by Ceian Commander Ceirran (Julius Caesar) and Captain Ana (Mark Antony, serving butch dyke goals) changes the course of history on the planet and the empire.

This part of the narrative is really tight and clear and - while it contains omissions that come into play later - fills the first ~150 pages effectively in a pacy, character-led fashion as we alternate between Gracia and Ceirran's perspectives. What then follows is, well if you know your Roman history you have the general idea.

Although, ironically, this kind of became my issue with the back half of the novel - there were so many in-depth allusions and references to events and figures from the lives of Cleo and Jimmy that I would often be reading a scene and be entirely unclear who the person was meant to represent/were they meant to represent someone/what piece this played in the larger story. The assassination conspirators are the biggest culprits for this - despite there being a clear half-dozen characters in the Ceian council, I found them rather bleeding all together as 'against Gracia and Ceirran' in a generic fashion. Other reviews say this book rewards thoughtful and attentive readers and that may well be the case, but when I feel like I have to take notes to follow the motivations of side characters I struggle to stay invested.

On the other hand, sometimes Robin makes substantial deviations for historical events but doesn't foreground these successfully. The blossoming relationship between Gracia and Ceirran was hard to swallow for the first few hundred pages because I didn't realise until halfway through that Ceirran is in his thirties, opposed to his fifties like Caesar. When using history as such a necessary guide to interpret context from the novel's events, such changes need to be really clearly outlined to allow the reader to internalise these as they go. (While I didn't find the core romance especially effective on a personal level, their mutual political relationship felt really strong and I *loved* how normalised queer relationships were in the book.)

There's lots more I could say about this novel - the picturesque details of the world and the baffling array of languages and peoples, the underused device of Alekso's AI and the slightly strange ending - but if the concept 'Cleopatra in space' appeals to you and you're a patient readers, The Stars Undying is worth your time.

Five Reasons to Read This Book

One. Butch lesbian Mark Antony. This alone should be reason enough to read. Those four words, the first and most important reason you need to pick this book up. Must I add more to this point? Surely not.

Two. If you enjoy books filled with political twisting and turning, then this is the book for you. In fact, the politics are central to it all, really. I mean, as you might expect if you know anything about history when it comes to Caesar, Cleopatra and Antony. You might suspect some of what’s to come, but this is a book where that doesn’t matter—you’ll enjoy it just as much if you have some idea of what’s going to happen as if you have no clue. (Although, you might appreciate some of the foreshadowing more.)

Three. This is more a retelling of history than the play, Antony and Cleopatra, but I still think it’s one that stays true to the themes of the play (and, I suppose, history, if you can call those “themes”). I mean, it’s a retelling that really gets its hands dirty when it comes to delving into the history and understanding the why of what happens, and that shows in the book too.

Four. This is a book where you finish it, and then you sit for a moment, and you think oh shit that’s what that meant. It’s a book with layers, that you only realise when you go back and think on it. You can read it reasonably quickly, sure, but you need at least five working days to process everything, and even then you’ve probably missed something. It’s one you’ll want to reread once you’re done, if only to see how everything looks now you have the knowledge of the end.

Five. Who doesn’t love a good unreliable narrator? No one? Excellent! Because this delivers. And yeah, you know these narrators are unreliable from the start—they even tell you so themselves, after all—but still somehow you get sucked into the story and the next time they say “so that was a lie”, you find yourself a bit surprised anyway.

I absolutely loved The Stars Undying!
It was an amazing sci-fi retelling of Cleppatra and Julius Caesar.
The book was beautifully written and I really loved the characters!
Also the world building was phenomenal!
This is definitely a new favourite book!
I highly recommend everyone read this!
Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.