Kate has a reputation around here for writing big, complex, character-driven Fantasy novels. Whilst she has written Science Fiction before (the Jaran books, for example), this is her first foray into adult SF for a while.
The plot and characterisation is allegedly based upon Alexander the Great the polymath of Ancient Greece who became King of Macedonia and who eventually ruled most of Asia by before he was aged thirty. You don’t need to know anything of that ancient history for this gender-flipped futuristic incarnation, but parts of the story make more sense if you have an idea.
In terms of the bigger picture, Princess Sun is the daughter of Queen-Marshal Eirene, the ruler of a Macedonian-like Republic of Chaonia whose rule has led to an expulsion of previous occupiers Yele and their alien Phene (as in Phoenician?) compatriots. Although the young Sun is successful at the start of the novel in the Battle of Na Iri she defeats the Phene Empire, her domineering mother barely recognises her efforts. Eirene clearly dislikes her child, and Sun veers between being determinedly independent and trying to gain her mother’s affection.
The result is a court at Argos in Chaonia that rivals Game of Thrones for political intrigue, Machiavellian machinations and back-stabbing treachery. The world of eight courtly houses that Sun and Eirene inhabit is harsh and brutal, with Sun as prospective successor to Eirene being both an instigator of action and a victim of circumstance. Her life is continually monitored, she has permanent bodyguards and the media latch onto her every move. Like Alexander, Sun is surrounded by a group of her peers who aid her through life. Known here as ‘Companions’, they are a varied group of the elite whose ranks are made up of Sun’s relatives and the siblings of the rulers of other Noble Houses. Whilst some are clearly loyal to Sun, it is apparent that some are there simply because it keeps Sun’s enemies in check.
One of Kate’s strengths in her writing is her characterisation, and she doesn’t disappoint here. Whilst I might quibble with the book’s title (If Sun is ‘unconquerable’, where’s the tension in that?), this book plays to the author’s strengths in that for all of its science-fictional trappings it is a character- focused book. The story is told partly through the actions of Sun, whose complex nature, intelligence and charm develops a pleasing complexity to her character. Whilst at times Sun’s self-awareness and opinion of herself lends towards arrogance, Kate does well to show the admiration and loyalty that such a charismatic leader can engender.
Sun’s Companions are also nicely varied too. Hetty, Sun’s lover, is loyal and Sun’s confidant. Ti is the humble and initially rather gauche ‘cee-cee’ (servant) who is contracted to serve the group. There’s even a little fun with Alika, the shy and sensitive, yet gifted musician who is the book’s equivalent of a Pop Idol contestant (although here it’s called Idol Faire.)
Most of the story is told through the perspective of Companion Persephone Lee, who at the beginning of the story is reluctantly taken out of military training to take up a position in Sun’s entourage as a member of the influential Lee House. Perse is unsurprisingly Initially grudging towards Sun and the situation she is forced to be part of, but as much of the story is about the consequences of actions outside Perse’s knowing, these revelations through the novel lead to Perse respecting and eventually wanting the admiration and respect of Sun.
The retaliation by the Prene after Na Iri leads to a massive counterattack in the Aspira System and on Chaonia, the consequences of which involve Sun and her group and take up most of the second half of the novel. To counterbalance things, we are also given snippets of a life from the other perspective as we are shown what happens to Apama at Sabao, one of the four-limbed Phene trained and sent into battle as a lancer pilot. It is surprisingly sympathetic to their cause and suggests that in war there are similarities in view, even when the perspectives are different.
In-between these two cultures are the Gatoi, a sort of Predator-like super-soldier, enhanced with neural tattoos that make them fearsome warriors. They have been auxiliaries for the Phene Empire and, despite Eirene’s relationship with Sun’s father, Prince Joao, are therefore now one of Chaonia’s fiercest enemies. Sun is also intertwined with this because she is half-Gatoi and half-Chaonian herself, allowing her to both understand the worlds of Chaonian court as well as the rituals of the Gatoi.
The inclusion of Zazou, a captured Gatoi soldier who becomes familially bonded to Sun, creates another complication. Not only is he amusingly a source of lust for one of the group, it later becomes apparent that he may be Sun’s secret weapon in the Phene/Gatoi attack.
With all of these disparate elements eventually combining, overall Unconquerable Sun is a rip-roaring Space Opera which plays to the genre’s strengths. With an interesting background history, complex and diverse characters and a pace faster than many, Unconquerable Sun is bold, nuanced and generally engaging, a romp that kept those pages turning after a steady start. More in the mould of Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan series than say, Peter Hamilton, this was as good as I had hoped it would be – a well-written thoroughly enjoyable read with enough twists and turns to keep most fans of Space Opera interested.
Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott
Published by Head of Zeus, October 2020
ISBN: 9781 800 243 200
528 pages
Review by Mark Yon
