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Unconquerable Sun

(The Sun Chronicles #1)

Kate Elliott (Goodreads Author)

3.99 · Rating details · 1,191 ratings · 279 reviews

GENDER-SWAPPED ALEXANDER THE GREAT ON AN INTERSTELLAR SCALE

Princess Sun has finally come of age.

Growing up in the shadow of her mother, Eirene, has been no easy task. The legendary queen-marshal did what everyone thought impossible: expel the invaders and build Chaonia into a magnificent republic, one to be respected—and feared.

But the cutthroat ambassador corps and conniv ...more

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Hardcover, 528 pages

Published July 7th 2020 by Tor Books

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May 06, 2020 Petrik rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Military sci-fi/space-opera readers

Shelves: arcs-and-review-copies

ARC provided by the publishers—Tor Books & Head of Zeus—in exchange for an honest review.

It’s quite outrageous that it took me this long to finally read Kate Elliott’s book for the very first time.

I’ve heard many good things about Kate Elliott’s books. Black Wolves, Crossroads, Spiritwalker, and recently Crown of Stars (despite this being the oldest out of the series I mentioned) are series that I’ve seen occasionally in social media. But for whatever reasons, I just haven’t gotten around to the ...more

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Feb 27, 2019 Skymarks (Rainy) marked it as to-read · review of another edition

if yall gon write genderbend alex the great yall better write genderbend hepaestion too 👀👀👀

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Feb 22, 2019 Samm | Sassenach the Book Wizard rated it it was ok

Shelves: releases-2020, tbr-2020-august

~~could Tor stop trying to take all my money? For like just one day? That'd be great.~~

Well it appears TOR heard me because WTF is that cover?
description

Actual review
Well...wasn't everything I was hoping for. I found myself pretty bored for the last half of the book. ...more

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Jul 14, 2020 Bethany rated it really liked it

Shelves: lgbtq

Actual Rating: 4.5 stars

If you like epic sci-fi with political intrigue, an interesting cast of characters, and plenty of action, then I would definitely recommend checking out Unconquerable Sun. This is pitched as a gender-flipped Alexander the Great, and halfway through the book I did a little reading on his life. It's interesting to see how this takes key events and characters from real history and puts them in a completely different setting.

Princess Sun wants nothing more than her mother's Actual Rating: 4.5 stars

If you like epic sci-fi with political intrigue, an interesting cast of characters, and plenty of action, then I would definitely recommend checking out Unconquerable Sun. This is pitched as a gender-flipped Alexander the Great, and halfway through the book I did a little reading on his life. It's interesting to see how this takes key events and characters from real history and puts them in a completely different setting.

Princess Sun wants nothing more than her mother's approval, but Eirene is not only a ruler, but a lauded military mind who is sparing with her praise. The world is complex and you are thrown right in, expected to just figure it out. And if you pay attention, you will. Sun's father is from a different race and her mother has multiple consorts. There are a number of elite families, from which are drawn the members of Sun's inner circle. Court intrigue and political agendas abound, along with military clashes with the Phene Empire. I won't say too much about the plot, but it is both intricate and action-packed. After a slightly slower stop, it feels nearly non-stop right up to the end. In fact, I might have preferred a little less action (hence the not quite 5 star rating), but I'm sure others will feel differently.

The relationships among Sun's retinue are fascinating, and how they interplay with social and cultural rules. There are a number of casually queer characters in the book. Eirene has both male and female consorts, Sun has a (frowned upon) romantic relationship with one of the women in her circle, and Persephone (another perspective character) is interested in both men and women. There are other interesting touches, like a sort of reality TV competition type thing, but more complicated and with futuristic technology. I like that this thinks through the role of celebrity in a future world. We see the plight of refugees and the ways that seemingly good policies can be used in harmful ways to the most vulnerable.

There's a lot more, but suffice to say I really enjoyed my time with this book and definitely plan to continue on in the series. It's one that I could see re-reading in the future and taking more away from it after having a better grasp on the world. I received an advance copy of this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. ...more

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Jun 02, 2020 Kes rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2020-reads

Unconquerable Sun hooked me on the premise of a genderbent Alexander the Great. And with further research, Kate Elliot confirmed that it was sapphic. Amd while the sapphic elements were there, they took the backseat to a character who one, isn’t the Alexander the Great equivalency, Sun, and two, is a complete mess of a bi/pansexual stereotype. While the plot kept me reading, the characters, the worldbuilding, and the clunky writing really made me wish that I hadn’t. But sometimes you persevere s Unconquerable Sun hooked me on the premise of a genderbent Alexander the Great. And with further research, Kate Elliot confirmed that it was sapphic. Amd while the sapphic elements were there, they took the backseat to a character who one, isn’t the Alexander the Great equivalency, Sun, and two, is a complete mess of a bi/pansexual stereotype. While the plot kept me reading, the characters, the worldbuilding, and the clunky writing really made me wish that I hadn’t. But sometimes you persevere so others don’t have to.

The world was a mash of cultures, but I kept seeing Asian elements in the worldbuilding. It has the Asian-vague that I see from a lot of white authors, where elements from Korean, Chinese, and Japanese cultures are plucked without context and mashed together - like when they go to a ramen shop and smell the scent of fried rice. There were also just randomly space dinosaurs. I don’t know why that bothered me so much, but it did.

The book was fast-paced with plenty of action and the political intrigue was engaging, but it felt like Kate Elliot was trying to put out a character driven novel, which didn’t work for me because all of the characters fell flat. I felt very removed from Sun and her companions because of the writing style.

Princess Sun is not the protagonist we are promised from the description. Her parts of the story are told in third person past tense - and that isn’t what I have the problem with. I like third person POVs, in fact, I prefer them over first person. The problem comes in when at 15% of the way into the book, a new, first person POV character is introduced. It was at this point that we met Persephone Lee - a series of walking stereotypes and an extremely annoying character.

Persephone is unnecessarily catty. Before she has even met or talked to Princess Sun once, she is already calling her a bitch. This felt so unnecessary and really set me off. It’s not the swearing that I have a problem with. It is the need for there to be superficial conflict between female characters when there is nothing to base that conflict off of - it screams of internalized misogyny. I hate the concept that women have to hate each other for no reason. Persephone also had a lot of other prejudices - which are only partially addressed in the book.

Persephone doesn’t feel like a real person, ever. Everything she thinks is incredibly melodramatic, she falls in insta-love with every hot person that she sees, she was somehow so incredibly unaware of anything having to do with strategy or military or fighting even though she had just spent the last several years at a military academy??? I was frustrated every moment I had to read her POV because her character wasn’t as interesting or as competent as Princess Sun, and she honestly felt unnecessary to the plot.

Also, can someone please explain why you would call a book a genderswapped Alexander the Great in space when the stand-in for Alexander the Great (Princess Sun) isn’t even the POV character????

And finally, on to what bothered me the most. This sapphic elements of this book took a back seat to a heterosexual romance based around a character who was a walking bisexual stereotype. Princess Sun and Hetty are in a secret relationship, which somehow doesn’t lend itself to any interesting drama or conflict, that is mentioned here and there, but isn’t anything significant. Instead, we are faced with Persephone’s instant lust for a man who tries to kill her. This isn’t unprecedented - Persephone immediately lusts after any hot person in her vicinity. She herself even says “I’m all about physical infatuation.” It’s a frustrating and tired stereotype that every bisexual could live without.

I was disappointed that any sapphic elements were overwhelmed by the budding relationship between Persephone and Zizou (and Zizou’s budding erection - I’m still grossed out that I had to read about “the changing contours of his body” when they were making out).

If you, like me, were planning to pick up Unconquerable Sun because you are looking for a sapphic space opera, save yourself the trouble - instead, look out for queer authors like Arkaday Martine and Melissa Scott. This book might be better suited to a different audience.
...more

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Oct 16, 2020 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2020-laser, sci-fi-fantasy, reviewcopy, read2020

I've heard this referred to as "gender-bending Alexander the Great in space" and that might be true. Court intrigue, warring families and factions that control vast planetary systems, budding romances and older political romances, characters who struggle between destiny and desire; military conquest and quantum space travel. I also had to look up some words for this one, like oleaginous.

In a discussion in the Sword and Laser group, I mentioned that in some ways this could be in the same univers ...more

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Mar 23, 2020 Pie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

4.5 stars! If "Gender-swapped Alexander the Great in space" isn't the best concept for a book ever, then it's pretty high up there, so I've been eagerly anticipating this book this since I first heard about. I was super excited when I won a copy in a giveaway from Tor and I'm glad to say it did not disappoint! It's a space opera that just FEELS large, full of fascinating, diverse characters, wild futuristic cultures (there are people with four arms! and others with glowing skin!) and plenty of d ...more

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Jul 16, 2020 Justine rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2020, science-fiction, netgalley

I'll be reviewing this book more in depth in an upcoming video -- subscribe here so you don't miss out!

I'll be honest, "gender-swapped Alexander the Great retelling set in space" was all I needed to know about Unconquerable Sun -- it immediately got added to the "most anticipated books of the year" list. Having only read, but absolutely adored, one book by Kate Elliott before, I knew she'd be able to pull of a book with such an epic scope.

Unconquerable Sun is an ambitious start to an epic new sc ...more

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Nov 19, 2020 Peter Tillman rated it it was ok

Recommended to Peter by: Linda Nagata & Martha Wells

Shelves: at-bg-pa, stalled, hist-fiction, science-fiction, on-reserve, fantasy, lost-interest, to-read-maybe, not-for-me, did-not-finish

I thought I'd kept some notes on this one before I abandoned it, not quite halfway in. If I did, I can't find them. The novel isn't "real" SF space-opera, but rather Star Trek™-like furniture for a succession battle over who will be the next Emperor/Empress of everything. It's pretty well-written, but I lost interest after awhile. It sat on the shelf until my library copy came due, and I'm writing this note just to say: it wasn't for me. The advertised "Gender-swapped Alexander the Great" busine ...more

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Apr 25, 2020 CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian rated it really liked it

Shelves: 5-stars, american, fiction, queer, bisexual, own, science-fiction

I don't know what hour of the #Readathon it is now, I got sidetracked by a last minute social distancing visit. But I finally finished this book, which I loved! One of my fav reads of 2020. An incredibly intricate, deftly weaved space opera with a majority queer cast. Action-packed and fascinating women characters who are not made likable or palatable. Very cool world-building too! Oh yeah this is a gender-swapped retelling of Alexander the Great. More later, gotta keep reading! ...more

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Jul 02, 2020 Holly (The GrimDragon) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-sci-fi

"It rises out of the sea like the huge cables of a giant suspension bridge have gotten loose and are lashing this way and that, cutting through wind and waves. Each cable is a living neck, bronze and glossy, and each neck ends in a vast horned head. Their jaws aren't quite big enough to bite our boats in half, but if even one of the necks slams down full force onto our boat it will crush and sink us."

Kate Elliott, pen name for Alis A. Rasmussen, is an author that I've been meaning to get into, w ...more

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Jul 21, 2020 wishforagiraffe rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2020, audiobooks

Everything I expected and more. Longer RTC.

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Apr 11, 2020 Kopratic rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

If there’s one thing you should know about me and Alexander the Great retellings/re-imaginings, it’s that Unconquerable Sun is the only one I’ve ever read. My AtG knowledge is severely lacking. But now I feel I at least know something. Alexander the Great was an interplanetary and intergalactic conqueror. (Did I get that right, your historianlyship?)

Anyway, your literatureship, I just want to say that…wow I loved this book. There are multiple perspectives that each offer something unique to the If there’s one thing you should know about me and Alexander the Great retellings/re-imaginings, it’s that Unconquerable Sun is the only one I’ve ever read. My AtG knowledge is severely lacking. But now I feel I at least know something. Alexander the Great was an interplanetary and intergalactic conqueror. (Did I get that right, your historianlyship?)

Anyway, your literatureship, I just want to say that…wow I loved this book. There are multiple perspectives that each offer something unique to the story. While we’re rooting for Sun, the book doesn’t paint the enemy’s perspective as completely evil. For the enemy’s perspective, we even get letters from the character to her mother.

The multiple perspectives do a great job of subverting expectations, whether for the characters in the book or the reader themself. Those living weapons with no thoughts of their own other than to obey? Nope. They have a rich history and culture. The girl who comes from a powerful family must also be just like her parents and relatives, right? LOL.

And while she doesn’t get her own POV, there’s a character called Tiana who is the best. I love her quips, and her character arc (well, all the characters’ arcs tbh) was really good.

The worldbuilding was also done fantastically. There’s one place we visit where people live in a polluted tent city. It reminded me of living near a similar environment. It resonated with me, personally, because I thought the book did a great job of showing the reality of a place like that without demeaning it or making a value judgement on it.

Everywhere we visit just feels alive, not simply a background painting. To put it cheesily, the sets felt like characters in and of themselves.

It feels like we only got a little taste of the worlds. We see a training academy, enemy spacecraft, oceans, palaces, etc. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not a lot. But it’s so fleshed out that it feels like so much more. It’s incredible.

While the book doesn’t directly use LGTBQ+ labels (at least I don’t remember seeing any), those themes are very prevalent. It’s not focused on or made a big deal either. It’s just a part of the characters’ lives. And it’s a completely normal thing in their society.

Basically, Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott is one of the best books I’ve read this year. I’d been looking forward to it since at least May-June 2019. And wow, it far exceeded expectations. The book is big, but it was so easy to read and get lost in. So yeah, I guess this is more just a complete gush.

(I received an e-ARC from the publisher. This review was originally published at The Fantasy Inn blog.) ...more

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Jul 15, 2020 charlotte, (½ of readsrainbow) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: space, adult-lit, m-lgbt-side, favourite-authors, i-put-the-b-in-lgbt, lgbt, 4-stars, dystopia-sci-fi, f-lgbt, lgbtq-authors

Listen and learn, my unconquerable Sun.

On my blog.

Rep: lesbian mc, bi mc, bi side character, mlm & wlw side characters

Galley provided by publisher

The first Kate Elliott book I ever read was Cold Magic a good few years back, and that book, and the series as a whole really, firmly cemented her as one of my favourite authors. The next one was Black Wolves (and yes, I am still incredibly bitter there won’t be a sequel to it, with that ending!), which I loved just as much. So, obviously, I ha ...more

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Sep 09, 2017 Sana marked it as anti-library · review of another edition

Genderbend Alexander the Great as space opera? Tor knows my reading preferences \O/

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Sep 29, 2020 imyril rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Politics, warfare and personal drama. Accomplished space opera with delightfully non-Western trimmings in spite of its Macedonian inspiration. Closes out its key arcs (so can be read as a stand alone) whilst neatly setting up characters and conflicts for future books.

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

Provisional 4 stars until I reflect and figure out where I stand through my review

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Nov 15, 2019 Alison rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

YES. Could not put this down, and I immediately wanted to give it to all my sci-fi loving friends so I can talk with them about how great the reimagining of Alexander the Great’s story is, how well the gender-swapping works, and how phenomenal the space opera setting & pacing is in this book.

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Jan 31, 2021 Lindsay rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

The Republic of Chaonia is a powerful interstellar society ruled by the queen-marshal Eirene. Her court is a mess of intrigues, with the various conflicts that the Republic faces seemingly only a distraction from political power plays from just about everyone.

Eirene's daughter, princess Sun, has just returned from a victorious military campaign only to be sidelined with a show tour on the Republic's outskirts. When Sun and her retinue discover that they're under surveillance and their informati ...more

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Jan 08, 2021 Victoria Rose rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: space-opera, lgbtq, sci-fi, badass-ladies

I saw many reviewers and readers were excited about "gender-swapped Alexander the Great in space" as a pitch for this novel, but as a reader with exactly zero knowledge of Alexander the Great I wasn't pulled in by the hype this built. But, give me a strong willed, relentless, unconquerable woman any day of the week and I'll be happy.

The story follows Princess Sun, the unconquerable woman in question, who has grown up in the shadow of her mother, the battle-scarred and incredibly fierce Queen Ma I saw many reviewers and readers were excited about "gender-swapped Alexander the Great in space" as a pitch for this novel, but as a reader with exactly zero knowledge of Alexander the Great I wasn't pulled in by the hype this built. But, give me a strong willed, relentless, unconquerable woman any day of the week and I'll be happy.

The story follows Princess Sun, the unconquerable woman in question, who has grown up in the shadow of her mother, the battle-scarred and incredibly fierce Queen Marshall Eirene. As heir, Sun must ensure she is accepted by her people of Chaonia, and every day battles for recognition of her strengths despite her terrible temper. Meanwhile, Chaonia is years deep into war with the Phene Empire after Eirene has finally managed to make peace with the Yele, another race.

This novel is extremely plot driven. There are a lot of races, people, politics, ships, and concepts to keep straight in your head as you read, and Elliot seems to take pleasure in forcing you to scramble to keep up. The plot itself is extremely fast paced after the first quarter, and truly, I really struggled following what was going on at times. I don't mind using context to come to conclusions, and I don't mind flicking back a few pages now and then to check something - but the lack of context and the incessant torrent of information was challenging and not always enjoyable. As a plot driven story featuring some huge "twists", I felt that this style of writing and communication didn't work. On more than one occasion I was aware that something dramatic was happening, but failed to realise the full implications until some pages later, since it took me so long to dredge up the right information. This being said, I eventually found a good rhythm while reading - I glossed over a lot of the details in favour of enjoying the pace, the drama, and the action of the story and found it to be enjoyable overall. The action sequences were entertaining and suitably over the top for a fun space opera.

Another thing I did like was Sun - I loved her as a character even though I felt she was a little flat. I loved her relentlessness, her audacity and her drive, her incomparable wit and intelligence in the face of serious danger. But for all this entertainment, she didn't feel much like a real person. This was also the case with her companions, who were fine enough but never really got to shine on their own, since the pacing of the story leaves no room for character led moments. Zizou, a prisoner of war who Sun takes into her care, was the most interesting character of the group and I felt he had the most impactful arc, but still his screen time is fairly short.

For those hoping to read a sapphic romance, Unconquerable Sun may not be a satisfying read. Sun has a secret female lover in her companion Hetty (not a spoiler, since it's clear early on) but this relationship is very much on the sidelines for the entire novel. Much more emphasis is placed on Zizou's romance with another character, Persephone, which was in my opinion a much less interesting relationship. Persephone falls in insta-love with Zizou despite him literally attempting to throttle her, so I was checked out of that entire romance early on. It's a shame because I cared so little for Persephone and was desperate throughout the entire book to read more about Sun and Hetty, how they came to love one another so deeply (in comparison to Persephone and Zizou's lust) and how they navigated their relationship in secret.

On the whole, the world building is somehow extremely detailed and also frustratingly vague, the rocket-fuelled plot is challenging but entertaining, and the main character is everything I wanted while also having no depth of personality. It's a novel of paradoxes which ultimately has left me disinterested in reading any following instalments. ...more

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Sep 30, 2020 Lou rated it really liked it

Unconquerable Sun is the first instalment in bestselling science fiction writer Kate Elliott's stunning new space opera series, The Sun Chronicles, and spins a refreshingly original yarn. Princess Sun has finally come of age. Growing up in the shadow of her mother, Eirene, has been no easy task. The legendary queen-marshal did what everyone thought impossible: expel the invaders and build Chaonia into a magnificent republic, one to be respected―and feared. But the cutthroat ambassador corps and Unconquerable Sun is the first instalment in bestselling science fiction writer Kate Elliott's stunning new space opera series, The Sun Chronicles, and spins a refreshingly original yarn. Princess Sun has finally come of age. Growing up in the shadow of her mother, Eirene, has been no easy task. The legendary queen-marshal did what everyone thought impossible: expel the invaders and build Chaonia into a magnificent republic, one to be respected―and feared. But the cutthroat ambassador corps and conniving noble houses have never ceased to scheme―and they have plans that need Sun to be removed as heir, or better yet, dead. To survive, the princess must rely on her wits and companions: her biggest rival, her secret lover, and a dangerous prisoner of war. Take the brilliance and cunning courage of Princess Leia―add in a dazzling futuristic setting where pop culture and propaganda are one and the same―and hold on tight: The Sun Chronicles is the space opera you’ve been waiting for.

Described as a GENDER-SPUN ALEXANDER THE GREAT ON AN INTERSTELLAR SCALE, this is a thrilling adventure set in a rich universe full of political intrigue, non-stop action and space battles galore. Elliott's prose flows beautifully and grabs you by the throat which is where you stay for the entirety of the story. With richly-imagined and wonderfully immersive worldbuilding, a fast-paced and exciting plot, and a cast of engaging and interesting characters, this is a compulsive, entertaining and endlessly fun space romp. Despite a twisty, drama-filled story nothing is taken too seriously, and you are in for a truly raucous ride through this stellar, sprawling universe. Elliott never forgets that most people read for escapism and provides us with just that. It has more than enough for you to get your teeth into, with plenty of action taking place, and a central figure who is not only ballsy and independent but who gives a nod to diversity too. Bravo! Highly recommended. Many thanks to Ad Astra for an ARC. ...more

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Jul 07, 2020 Robyn rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalleys

'Unconquerable Sun' is an action-packed, plot-driven novel, at the expense of its characters. Fans of epic space opera that bounces from action scene to action scene without pause will get a real adrenaline rush from this – but for those who need to connect to the characters to care about the story, this becomes more of a slog through over 500 pages of a confusing mess.

It is pitched as a gender-bent Alexander the Great in space. I adore Greek and Roman history and mythology, and I’m a huge sci-f 'Unconquerable Sun' is an action-packed, plot-driven novel, at the expense of its characters. Fans of epic space opera that bounces from action scene to action scene without pause will get a real adrenaline rush from this – but for those who need to connect to the characters to care about the story, this becomes more of a slog through over 500 pages of a confusing mess.

It is pitched as a gender-bent Alexander the Great in space. I adore Greek and Roman history and mythology, and I’m a huge sci-fi fan, so this sounded right up my street. Alexander the Great is a historical figure I’m less familiar with, but I know enough to see the parallels between him and his equivalent in this book – Princess Sun. Weirdly, however, Sun doesn’t feel entirely like the main character. This book contains multiple point-of-view characters – as many epic science fiction stories do – but while Princess Sun’s perspective is told in third person past, another character, Persephone, gets sections told in first person present. This gives the impression that Unconquerable Sun is about her, with the other characters merely lending a different perspective. Persephone is a promising character but also exceptionally irritating, and her sections being told in a different perspective disrupts the story’s flow.

The main issue I have with the story is how flat the characters are. As I read, I’m constantly being told what the characters are feeling, but never shown it. None of the feelings feel authentic, and I can’t fathom any of the characters motivations. Princess Sun is angry at her parents for treating her like a child and not believing in her ability – but if this wasn’t explicitly stated on the page, it wouldn’t be clear. Persephone is desperate to escape from her family’s clutches and make a stamp as her own person – but it’s never entirely clear why. She also falls instantly in lust with almost everyone she meets, which is irritating to read about and an unnecessary distraction from the plot. Zizou is actually a great character, and the only one to make me feel something, but vastly under-utilised. Princess Sun’s Companions feature prominently, but there are so many of them it’s very difficult to remember which one is which – especially as the reader is told so little about them beyond their names, so they never evolve into fully-fledged characters. It’s difficult for struggles and deaths to be impactful when the characters didn’t feel alive in the first place.

The setting and backdrop are intriguing. The Chaonian’s, led by Princess Sun’s mother Queen Eirene, have been at war with the Phene for generations. The Chaonian’s have military might – with military intelligence led by the Lee family – but the Phene have superior technology and the allegiance of the Gatoi, beings engineered to be the perfect soldiers. However, a few Gatoi have switched sides – one of them Princess Sun’s father, making her half-Gatoi and in many respects an unsuitable heir to the throne. The descriptions of the different cultures – Chaonian, Gatoi, Phene – and technological advances are very interesting, but never really developed. The story never slows its pace enough to allow any kind of explanation or worldbuilding. This mostly works, but there are sections where this becomes confusing and the story becomes difficult to visualise. The book takes place on such an epic scale that full description would probably put the page count somewhere upwards of eight hundred, but it might be worth it to make sure that the reader actually understands what’s going on.

The plot is the novel’s highlight. Most of the book is spent with the Chaonians, with occasional glimpses at the Phene’s plans through Apama – an intriguing character who deserved more screentime. There are tangled webs of secrets and lies, betrayals, assassinations, and frank invasions, and the plot never takes its foot off the throttle. I think this would work 100x better as a film than a book – so much happens that would be incredible to see on screen. It’s harder to take in via written format.

I feel I should also mention that this is marketed as an LGBT book, and it contains plenty of diversity, with relationships between all genders entirely normalised. Princess Sun is in a stable relationship with another female-presenting character, which seems to have great potential at the start but never becomes as prominent as the beginning hints at. The representation is generally done very well – with the exception of Persephone, who falls into the trope of bisexual or pansexual character who falls in lust with everyone.

Overall, a book that fans of fast-paced, plot-driven science fiction will adore, but those who like fully-fledged characters will struggle to connect with. Unfortunately, it isn’t my cup of tea. ...more

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Sep 29, 2017 Tova marked it as to-read

I really don't know very much about Alexander the Great, other than he really liked wearing Persian pants. But if this is anything like And I Darken, which I love then this will be good. ...more

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Sep 26, 2020 Katie rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc, lgbtq, 2020, net-galley, sci-fi

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.

I admit, the start of this book was pretty rocky for me. The first two or so chapters that introduced Sun and her dad were great, but after that, I just found the first 30% an absolute slog. Partially, it had to do with the absolutely ham-fisted worldbuilding. I’m one of the weirdos that doesn’t mind authors info-dumping, but author’s attempting to disguise info-dumps through characters asking other characters questions th I received a copy of this book through NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.

I admit, the start of this book was pretty rocky for me. The first two or so chapters that introduced Sun and her dad were great, but after that, I just found the first 30% an absolute slog. Partially, it had to do with the absolutely ham-fisted worldbuilding. I’m one of the weirdos that doesn’t mind authors info-dumping, but author’s attempting to disguise info-dumps through characters asking other characters questions they should definitely both know the answer to? One of my biggest pet peeves. And it just happened over and over and over again. The other factor was how distant the characters felt. Shit goes down in the first 30% and there was just no emotional impact for me at all. Unconquerable Sun has actually become one of the few cases where I’ve had to check the extremely stellar Goodreads reviews to keep myself from just straight up DNF-ing the book.

After about the first 30%, the action kicks into high gear and the book becomes one battle leading into another into another. Just how I like my space opera. Elliot definitely demonstrates her skill in writing combat because in this book alone there are small five-man skirmishes, land battles coordinating multiple sets of troops, all the way up to full scale space battles. I found each battle extremely engaging and well laid out.

For the characters, I unfortunately can’t say I liked them all. While the book is advertised as a gender-bent space-Alexander the Great, the book doesn’t so much as tell a story about her as it does around her. Sun, our Alexander character, has competence, arrogance, and brashness is spade and she was unfortunately also the character that got the least amount of character development. Instead, this story is told through Sun’s Companions, sworn…companions(?) from the seven houses that make up Sun’s Chaonian Empire.

In particular, we follow Persephone, a recent military academy graduate who finds herself forced into Sun’s Companions after a series of circumstances. Frankly, I found Persephone the least interesting and most annoying to read of all characters. To me, she has that similar template to a lot of edgy female YA lead with the snark and self-hate but thankfully a little more personality to back that up. She grew on me a little by the end, but anytime I read one of her chapters, I just wanted to get back to Sun. Hell, any of the other companions, hackerboi James, the Honorable Hestia Hope, or actually-a-kpop-idol Alika, would have been a much more interesting character to focus on than Persephone in my opinion.

The writing for this book is an ambitious mix of serious space-opera and an almost… Percy Jackson form of humor, mixed in with what I can only describe as Kpop stan fervor. Netizen squeeing reactions would honestly not be amiss in this book. As Sun goes about fighting battles and dodging court intrigue, the adventures of her and her companions are being filmed for some bizarre cross between something like American Idol, idol competitions like the Produce series, and America’s Funniest Home Videos, as a way to demonstrate her actions to the people. While I think the concept was interesting, I don’t think the execution fully hit the mark. The jumps between Sun and friend’s running for their lives to this seemingly irrelevant show was so clumsy imo.

Worldbuilding-wise, I think this book shines. Elliot has developed a complicated political system between galaxy powers Chaonians, the Yele, and the Phene, and added some truly interesting factors into space travel and mind controlled soldiers. Ignoring the fact of how the world was introduced to the reader, the actual worlds are rich and extremely satisfying to delve into. The Chaonian Empire in particular is an interesting mix of East Asian (primarily Chinese?) and Greek-inspired cultures. Characters eat deep friend sesame balls and rice cakes, and listen to Teresa Teng of all people. What I enjoyed most was that many names came with tonal marks! Which means for a Chinese speaker like me (okay that’s a bit of a stretch) I don’t have to guess at which tone a character’s name is supposed to be! I will say that the Greek/Chinese don’t feel like they fully mix (linguistically the two languages are nothing alike) and that the Asian aspects do feel somewhat decorative at times.

Overall, I rate this book a 4/5. While I had my hang-ups in the first 30%, I loved the fast-paced action-filled latter half. I fully admit to knowing absolutely nothing about Alexander the Great or his story, so I can’t speak to the accuracy, but I enjoyed both the worldbuilding and the characters

Old reaction:

4/5 - the first 1/3 was a slog to read through with all the hamfisted worldbuilding and distant characters, but once the action picks up it becomes a delight to read ...more

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Sep 10, 2020 Lady H marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: tbr-scifi

yesssss i can finally add this book to my TBR without suffering that other cover

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Jul 16, 2020 Claire rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020, female-lead, female-author, scifi

I was initially dubious about the premise - a gender swapped Alexander the Great in space - but I should not have doubted one of my all time favourite authors. The story is much more than that bare synopsis. The outline and names may owe much to that mighty comet who blazed across Greece, Asia and North Africa but Sun and her companions are their own persons. Furthermore I am in love with, and in awe of, Kate's writing style which is so distinctive and yet becomes clearer with each novel.

This fi I was initially dubious about the premise - a gender swapped Alexander the Great in space - but I should not have doubted one of my all time favourite authors. The story is much more than that bare synopsis. The outline and names may owe much to that mighty comet who blazed across Greece, Asia and North Africa but Sun and her companions are their own persons. Furthermore I am in love with, and in awe of, Kate's writing style which is so distinctive and yet becomes clearer with each novel.

This first instalment (of three) takes us up to and past Phillip/Eirine's marriage to Cleopatra/Manea and Alexander/Sun's subsequent exile and reinstatement. Given that the books are roughly based on the events of the life of Alexander a broad outline can contain no spoilers and Alexander really did hurl a cup at Phillip's wedding, and Phillip really did subsequently slip over. Alexander did have loyal companions, one of whom was an actor. Broadly the Phene are the Persians and the Chaonians/Macedonians. It's fun to spot the parallels and pick out where the naming inspiration came from for history geeks but you also don't need to know anything at all about this period to enjoy this book - it merely adds an additional spice (and Kate also loves to describe food such as sweet buns, yum).

However this is Space Opera and there are many additional delicious threads being woven around the historical plot, such as the mysterious failure of some of the Beacons used for FTL travel between systems, neuro-enhanced soldiers, mysterious and creepy Riders, and long lost former home worlds. In addition there are delightful space battles, politicking between both the enemy nations, and internal power struggles. And there are some amusing but not overdone nods to contemporary culture along with some subtle commentary on situations such as the treatment of refugees, and racial politics. The characters too are well-drawn and distinctive with Persephone (Ptolomy?) taking first place in my affections currently.

The characters are broadly split between male/female, there's no real gender bias that I could see, indeed the gender of some of the characters is not totally explicit. Nor does there seem to be any particular conventionality to relationships - Sun and Hetty hide their attraction not because of their gender but because of the political implications. There's no actual sex scenes but no shortage of frank talk.

I can't wait to find out what happens next. ...more

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Apr 28, 2019 Sabs marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: excited

i have LONGED FOR a genderbent alexander the great for almost a decade give it to me!! give me all the gay!!!!!

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May 25, 2020 Travis rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Amazing. Full review to come.

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Oct 25, 2020 Ale rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley, the-sun-chronicles, amazing-female-heroines, contemporary-author, female-author, women-of-genre-fiction-2020, favourites, would-read-again, lgbt-literature, sci-fi

In a lot of ways, this book ticked all the boxes before I’d even turned the first page: gender-swapped Alexander the Great space opera with politics, intrigue, mystery and loads of action? Sign me up right away! Like with a lot of authors, I was familiar with Kate Elliott’s titles, but I hadn’t read any of her works. I’ve had Black Wolves on my TBR for a long time and I keep eyeing the Crown of Stars series (starts with King's Dragon) as it would definitely scratch a very particular itch for me. In a lot of ways, this book ticked all the boxes before I’d even turned the first page: gender-swapped Alexander the Great space opera with politics, intrigue, mystery and loads of action? Sign me up right away! Like with a lot of authors, I was familiar with Kate Elliott’s titles, but I hadn’t read any of her works. I’ve had Black Wolves on my TBR for a long time and I keep eyeing the Crown of Stars series (starts with King's Dragon) as it would definitely scratch a very particular itch for me. Now, having experienced her writing through Unconquerable Sun, it’s just made me want to read more of her works!

Queen-Marshal Eirene has done what no one thought possible: expelled the invaders and built Chaonia into a republic to be feared and respected. Her heir Sun longs to be as successful in military action as her mother - and she seems to be on the right track, until it becomes apparent that the ruling houses of Chaonia have a very different goal in mind. As Sun realises her very life may be in danger, she needs to be rely on her wits and skills, as well as the help of some unlikely companions, if she is to succeed and more importantly, stay alive.

The book, admittedly, starts off quite slowly. There is a lot of scene-setting, though Elliott also doesn’t explain all of the terms and political structures and instead expects you to pay attention and figure it out yourself. It’s not really all that complicated, admittedly, at least if this isn’t your first foray into political space operas but even if it is, I would say in the first 50 or so pages you’ll be able to figure out who’s who, where the power lines lie and what’s about to go down. I can see how this would put off readers, especially if the premise doesn’t capture you immediately, but I definitely recommend powering through it, because it’s worth it.

And then, about a quarter of the way in, things really kick up into another gear and there is barely any room to breathe. For fans of military sci-fi, this will be an absolute delight: from large scale space battles to close quarter combat to more politics, deception and intrigue, Unconquerable Sun absolutely doesn’t let up. The shifting points of view were also really well done, in my opinion, giving you glimpses of more than just Sun and her Companions (but whose chemistry is brilliant and they easily became some of my favourite secondary characters) and fleshing out the world and its inhabitants. And the universe feels truly lived in: there is the political aspect yes, but Elliott spends a lot of time making sure you understand the economic aspects, the cultural ones including religions and how they all play a part in the world. Everything makes sense, from the use of pop culture as propaganda (something I definitely enjoyed seeing!) to the relationships between characters, the setup of each House and their internal political struggles too. It genuinely meant that I felt sad turning the last page of the book, because I didn't want it to end and now I have to wait for the second book to come out!

Elliott also makes use of three different narrative devices: a standard third person past tense, a first person present tense and a third person present tense to capture the three main POV characters. Initially, the change in perspective was unexpected and I wasn’t entirely sure why she had decided to go that way, but with hindsight, I think it works really well. It’s refreshing, it breaks up the narrative without falling into the trap of being distracting or annoying (or at least it wasn’t for me). The chapter titles also throw back to the way that ancient Greek epics were written, which I found to be a nice touch.

I’m honestly so excited to see where this goes next. It’s a big, expansive universe, it’s full of intrigue and danger and if you’re on the hunt for your next military space opera, then this is definitely one you should consider picking up!

Many thanks to Head of Zeus and NetGalley for a copy of this book ...more

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Sep 08, 2020 Mark rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

I’ve been growing a bit bored of epic fantasy recently and reaching for some space opera that was not purely military sci-fi. Something that has the expansive world-building feel of say Game of Thrones, with great characters, gripping intrigue, cool tech and was ‘alien’ enough that earth – if there ever was such a place in this universe – is a so distant a memory as to be irrelevant.

Unconquerable Sun is what I have been looking for. I loved this book. It is fantastic.

Now I have read Kate Ell I’ve been growing a bit bored of epic fantasy recently and reaching for some space opera that was not purely military sci-fi. Something that has the expansive world-building feel of say Game of Thrones, with great characters, gripping intrigue, cool tech and was ‘alien’ enough that earth – if there ever was such a place in this universe – is a so distant a memory as to be irrelevant.

Unconquerable Sun is what I have been looking for. I loved this book. It is fantastic.

Now I have read Kate Elliotts other works before, I was even a beta-reader for her in the distant past when I worked at a genre specialist bookshop – and I enjoyed those books, but I think this is my favourite.

I first heard she was writing it on Twitter when Kate described it as a gender swap on the story of Alexander the Great, set in space. Sounds cool, right? Well, you have no idea.

Imagine Steven Erikson’s Malazan books in a sci-fi setting, and you get an idea of how dynamic the world-building is. Genetically engineered strains of humanity take the place of aliens in this universe, and I much prefer that to green-eyed… people. It’s a refreshing change to imagine it’s our advances in science and technology that creates different classes of humans, rather than finding ‘life’ in other parts of the universe. Then the whole emancipation of gender, gender-roles and titles (although, if I am honest, at times confusing) further stretches the reader’s boundaries and indeed presents a universe that is very much a possibility. Elliott brings such a breath of fresh air to the genre that it sets this book a benchmark that other sci-fi authors should definitely take note of.

Even if you only have a passing understanding of the story of Alexander the Great, you will still have an idea of the scope of this novel. Unconquerable Sun is exciting, fast-paced epic, expansive and most of all, relevant. If you are looking for Peter F. Hamilton sci-fi by way of Steve Erikson, mixed up with some of Ann Leckie’s brilliance and Anna Smith Spark’s gritty edge, then look no further. Unconquerable Sun is it.

This review was first posted on my website. ...more

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Jul 05, 2020 Kayla (krakentoagoodbook) rated it really liked it

Shelves: giveaways-won

I really enjoyed this! This is such a cool concept, and I'm excited to see where this story goes.

I liked all of the characters for the most part! Princess Sun is certainly more aloof, but she has some badass moments. Persephone, our 1st person POV character, was probably my favorite. I thought she was clever and the most relatable of the characters. Finally, Apama, our other POV character, was quite interesting! She's one of the Phene, which is a species that generally has exoskeletons. However, ...more

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About Kate Elliott

Kate Elliott

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As a child in rural Oregon, Kate Elliott made up stories because she longed to escape to a world of lurid adventure fiction. She now writes fantasy, steampunk, and science fiction, often with a romantic edge. She currently lives in Hawaii, where she paddles outrigger canoes and spoils her schnauzer.

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