From Rhee’s home planet Kalu to Wraeta, a planet destroyed during the Great War and Aly’s birthplace, this world is populated by a variety of individuals who have all be impacted by this war. Interplanetary politics plays a large part. There are so many layers to Bellaza’s universe and this is one of the main reasons why I enjoyed this debut so much.

With that being said, I do need to read a sequel soon because I’d love to see these characters in the same room together. I want to put that out there because I spent a large majority of my time while reading, wondering when these characters would actually meet and was really disappointed to see that they never did. Their individual arcs do not directly intersect, but their stories do.

I want to start off by saying that the synopsis is very misleading when it comes to how the two lead characters converge. Little spoiler here to open this review, please skip the rest of the paragraph if you do not wish to see. For me, Rhoda Bellaza’s Empress of a Thousand Skies falls into the latter category. There are some books with loads of potential that never seem to find their footing and then there are the ones that you wholeheartedly believe in despite their shortcomings. She gasped for air as she tried to claw his fingers off one by one.” He lifted her off the ground and squeezed.

“From his thumb to his index finger, the length of his hand fit cleanly around Rhee’s neck. With planets on the brink of war, Rhee and Aly are thrown together to confront a ruthless evil that threatens the fate of the entire galaxy. But when he’s falsely accused of killing Rhee, he’s forced to prove his innocence to save his reputation – and his life. She’ll stop at nothing to avenge her family and claim her throne.Īly has risen above his war refugee origins to find fame as the dashing star of a DroneVision show. “Rhee, also known as Crown Princess Rhiannon Ta’an, is the sole surviving heir to a powerful dynasty.

Empress of a thousand skies series