Kate Elliot is back and with an all-new tale. Or retelling, as the case may be. Here she's taken Alexander the Great and done something new with the core concept. She shot it into space and started playing with the genders of the primary characters.

Princess Sun is the daughter of Eirene, and living up to her legend (and expectations) has been anything but easy. Now Princess Sun is of age, and it seems like there are more plans for her than ever. All of which require her wit, intelligence, and allies in order to stand a chance at surviving.

“She could not shake the sense she was merely a potentially useful tool in her parents' personal tool kits, a piece held in reserve within the larger game they were playing.”

A gender-bent retelling of Alexander the Great? In space? Sign me up! Seriously, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book, and when I finally did I devoured it. So saying I went into it with high expectations would be the understatement of the century.

Did it live up to those expectations? Yes. Yes, it most certainly did. Unconquerable Sun lived up to the hype created by the comparisons made – and then surpassed them. This is a novel full of unique twists and turns, all while telling a story we're familiar with.

That isn't to say that Kate Elliot made it easy. All of the major players are there, but sometimes you have to look for them. There's no hand-holding here, and likewise, you cannot expect to have it all clearly laid out for you. Personally, I kind of enjoyed that extra level of intellectual depth. It isn't every day that you can find a retelling that expects you to figure out some of the components on your own.

“What my family wants harmed, I will. Even if Sun is a bitch.”

They say that there are two sides to every story. I don't think I could find a clearer example to that expression than what is here. Sun's story is not one-sided, and that went such a long way in showing the truth of what was happening.

Okay, the fact that Unconquerable Sun is also a space opera was not lost on me. In fact, that was without a doubt one of my favorite parts about this story. It made everything feel vibrant and alive once again, letting the setting, characters, and planets create organic changes as they progressed through this world (well, universe). It was refreshing in ways that I could not have expected. But then again, I do adore a well-written space opera.

I've been a fan of Kate Elliot for a while now, but I feel like Unconquerable Sun really showed what she's capable of, writing-wise. I was blown away by it and sincerely cannot wait to see what she thinks of next. Also, it did make me want to go back and read her previous works (like I have so much spare time to do that, but still!).

This book intrigued me from the cover and synopsis and it definitely lived up to its promise though there's a lot going on and it requires a fair amount of concentration to get all the details right. The word building is superb in a matriarchal society where I'm still intrigued how one woman gets another woman pregnant.
Sun is the crown princess but she has an uphill battle to prove herself particularly since her father is from one the despised enemy races that her country people do not want to acknowledge. Despite her position at court she is brash and impulsive and definitely not endowed with diplomacy. Court is a treacherous place and Sun's
intimate circle has strategies in place to guard their own and Sun's back.
Perse Lee escaped from a prominent family and unfortunately regardless of her desire to lead a low key life as an unknown person is dragged kicking and screaming back into her family and on an intersect path with Sun. As they dodge bullets and engage the enemy in an interstellar galactic battle the story gets really exciting.
I hope there is a sequel in planning because there is so much in this story that can be explored further.

Every child of a powerful leader has a lot to live up to. This is especially true for Princess Sun, sole heir of the imperious Queen-Marshal Eirene. And even after Sun proves herself with a decisive military battle, her reward is a boring victory tour. The pressures of family are even greater for Cadet Persephone Lee. Perse just wants to be a normal person, without having to navigate her backstabbing relatives, and joining the military seems to be an easy escape. Unfortunately, power and intrigue find her no matter where she goes. This space opera encompasses wide swaths of the galaxy and features a lot of action, in the stars and on the ground. The battles of Unconquerable Sun are well described and exciting. But Elliott also emphasizes character banter and political intrigue, keeping her characters well grounded and relatable. Spaceship names like Shadowfax and familiar snatches of song lyrics offer tantalizing hints about the origin of this universe, and revelations near the end of the story promise more adventures in the next novel.

I really enjoyed this book, but it took me a while to read because so much happens! I generally prefer series to standalones, but in the case of this book in particular I am glad there will be follow-up books, because the world, characters, and various relationships between said characters introduced in this book are so nuanced and amazing, they deserve far more time to shine. Note that I didn’t say ‘to be developed’, and that’s because Unconquerable Sun didn’t present half characters or barely filled in shells, instead taking the far harder and more narratively satisfying step of dumping the reader into a full-fledged world, that I have faith will be further built on in future novels.
I enjoyed the futuristic touches that gave the book a classic sci-fi feel, and also the technology driven elements of the world that could easily have swung the book towards fantasy—the behaviour of banner soldiers, the way Sun stays in touch with her companions, and the beacons in particular come to mind as examples of this. Fantasy was my first love, but sci fi is a nice change of pace sometimes, and a great way to get a heavier dose of philosophy or examination of real world issues in my fiction.
Speaking of, Unconquerable Sun doesn’t shy away from examining the implications of things like a monarchy, or the inevitable cracks in a system that disenfranchised people will fall through. Tiana as a character has exactly zero chill in calling Princess Sun in particular out on her responsibility for, and I whole-heartedly love it. I’m all for an escapist powerful/royal character who is inexplicably on the side of the underdog—it’s not realistic, but it’s nice. Thanks not quite entirely to Tiana (Persephone, Solomon and Apama also have various moments of calling the reader’s attention to a sharp power imbalance), Unconquerable Sun creates a more realistic world, with grey areas and economic and social inequality, and the way those in power have a responsibility to their constituents to leaven the negative effects the systems they are responsible for would otherwise have on the most vulnerable in the community.
The seeming lack of discrimination on the basis of sex, gender and sexuality in this book was also refreshing. I love the trend (I don’t know if it’s recent, but it is to me) of alternate worlds being created without certain modern day prejudices, not to deny their existence (the xenophobia in this book added a touch of realism and important commentary on such a harmful issue, without in any way condoning or glorifying such beliefs) but to provide a template of what such a society could look like. I loved it in The Priory of the Orange Tree and Phoenix Extravagant, and I loved it here.
I also had a bit of a feminist chuckle at the Phene custom of all officers being addressed as ma’am as a manner of tradition, and I have to admit that a ruler being influenced by their newest conquest would have been flat out distasteful if it had been yet another lecherous king character, I quite enjoyed the representation of women as frankly sexual beings represented in various characters within this series. Seeing Sun striving for the approval of her emotionally distant mother was a great flip-of-the-script of traditional heroic male characters, and I loved her father being the one to maintain and strengthen his power through subterfuge and sexual wiles.
There were so many characters in this book that I doubt I’ll have time to praise all of them that I liked and appreciated, but know that not a single character represented in this book fell flat for me. Persephone was probably the character I enjoyed most, and I was really happy to read a character that isn’t miraculously brilliant at every skill that becomes plot-relevant. I was a little surprised that a certain character’s death didn’t effect wither her or Sun more deeply, but given the length and complexity of the novel already, perhaps the section of the book dealing with said death were all that could reasonably be allowed.
Alexis’s musical skills and fame seemed a little exaggerated in this book, and in fact the entire Idol Faire sub-plot is one I think the book could have done without. That being said, the inclusion did allow for some commentary on the power, protection and costs of having the world’s eyes on you, which I imagine could come into play even more in future novels.
Sun herself was not my favourite character of the book (I think that’s got to be either Persephone or Tiana), but she was a solid hero character, with her relationship with her companions and parents unique enough to make her an interesting character, and a solid choice for the lead.
Apama was a great way to keep the Phene from becoming a faceless dehumanised enemy; Solomon and his extended family are pure gold and need more page time; Jade Kim and Admiral Manu allow for great comedic relief and also need to come back in future books; it was great to see someone not overcome by heroics and maintaining their martial skills in Candace; and anyone who doesn’t like Tiana can fight me right here.
In all seriousness, this book was a big, action-packed rollercoaster of a novel, with a great cast, interesting world, and commentary on all sorts of issues (Refugees! Sex work! Religion! War!) and if you’re looking for a nuanced space opera with a ragtag crew of people going on adventures, Unconquerable Sun is for you. I swear this isn’t the only sci-fi book I compare things to, but this series would be good for fans of Yoon Ha Lee’s Machineries of Empire series. Fans of the political machinations of NK Jemisin’s Hundred Thousand Kingdoms novels or the social justice focus of AJ Hartley’s Steeplejack will also find plenty to enjoy, and the gender politics also reminded me at times of Anne Bishop’s original Dark Jewels trilogy.

I cannot say enough good things about this book. What a ride! The absolute definition of "epic", as befits a story centered on a gender-flipped Alexander the Great. Sun is an astonishing hero: charismatic, decisive, brilliant, sharp. The cast that surrounds her is equally grand, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of all of them in the future. I particularly enjoyed the wily Persephone and the handsome Alika (not enough books give their characters epithets).

The writing in this book is as bold as Sun herself. Elliott has taken some risks in the way she handles the various POV characters, but IMO they pay off. You feel, deeply, the soul-deep shifts between each of them, rather than merely placing the camera behind another person's head.

It's also stuffed to the brim with easter eggs for classics geeks, which I enjoyed tremendously.

Before I get into the detail: Unconquerable Sun is incredible. It blends tightly written heart-pounding sci-fi action with sharply observed and complex characterisation, in a richly detailed universe. It had me turning pages at 2AM, wanting to know what happened and not wanting the story to end. If you’re a fan of military sci-fi, this is for you. If you’re a fan of politics, intrigue and family drama with the occasional bout of lasers, this is for you. If you enjoy exploring a soaring worldscape, filled with fascinating institutions and a deep cultural background...this is for you. That may seem like a lot, and it is - this is a cracking story, which takes each individual element, themselves wonderfully done, and blends them into something on a whole new level.

Again: Unconquerable Sun is incredible.

Part of that is the personalities at play. Sun herself is equal parts empathetic heroine and ruthless political player. She clearly cares for her companions, will laugh with them, stand with them in their trials, and avenge their deaths. But Sun is equally willing to eliminate a potential threat, to take drastic action quickly, and to rely on her skills to ride out the consequences of her actions. This is an intelligent woman, no doubt, forceful and driven and determined - but also one with a temper, and perhaps a little too keen to take what she feels she needs, rather than wait for it to arrive. But the energy and the drive and the ambition, tempered with that ruthless streak and a visible intelligence, mean that all of her time on the page absolutely sizzles.

The other central point of view is Persephone, one of the children of a family that bears Sun and hers no friendship. They’re powerful, vicious, and determined that in any given power struggle, they’re going to come out on top. Persephone, however, has flown the coop, setting out with an assumed name and a can-do attitude in order to make a name for herself somewhere far, far away from the family business. This...does not go entirely to plan. Persephone is a study in contrasts with Sun. She’s incisive, quick witted, but more contemplative. A decent shot, but willing to stand beyond her leader and offer good advice.Able to compromise, but perhaps not compromise her principles. The pair are fire and ice, and they make an absolutely dazzling pair.

There are others represented here too - including the enemies of both women, and those they might think of as antagonists, but who may have other motivations. But I’d suggest they hold the central dynamic, and that the sparks between them are a marvel to behold. Others - like Sun’s companions, who act as her honour-guard in whatever trouble she falls into - are given enough room to manoeuvre that they feel real, and I have a special place in my heart for the implied history between the Queen, Sun’s mother, and one of Persephone’s family, which just simmers with old loyalties and newer grudges. The characters are alive, is the point. They walk the stage with passionate intensity, and quiet humanity.

That stage spans star systems. Linked together by artificial lines that allow faster than light travel, empires and republics sprawl beneath the light of a great many distant suns. We hear some of the history of Sun’s home, and those of its nearest and dearest aggressors. They are, after all, what informs the conflicts occurring right now. It’s a rich and vivid history, and, I can’t lie, one I want to hear more about, as soon as possible. There are little details scattered around the text, building a history of these worlds in the background, alongside the more up front information. There’s a lot to unpack, which is wonderful - and the story gives us splashes of history, colour and context as it goes along - never enough to be overwhelming, but always enough that we feel informed. I’d really like to hear more about the ancient history of these polities, and how they shaped themselves to where they are now - but in the end, all I can say is that the world feels lived in, feels real, feels true.

The story is a whirlwind of espionage, intrigue and high-octane action sequences. The story gives us an empire writ large, with knives out in the streets, blood in the gutters, and the sparkling of beam-weapon fire in the graceful dance of starships overhead. This is a glorious space opera, filled with personal conflicts, with love and tragedy in equal measure, with starships sweeping between solar systems in epic geometry, and soldiers face down in the mud. It’s a soaring epic, this narrative, but focused by its strong characterisation on the human element. In summary, this is a smart, fast-paced work of space opera, and one which will keep you turning pages long, long into the night.

This was a DNF for me. I found it dry and really hard to connect with the characters. Though I will give it a star rating because it is required of NetGalley, I will not cross post, since I was unable to finish the book.

Review posted on Goodreads
Review to be posted on Book of the Gay one June 23
Review to be posted on Instagram in early July - will update review with link
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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.

[review will appear in Booklist] In this exhilarating series opener, Princess Sun is eager to follow in her mother’s footsteps and continue making the Republic of Chaonia a major player among the star systems connected by an ancient network that allows efficient space travel. Surrounded by loyal companions drawn from the leading families of Chaonia, Sun has the ambition and the team she needs to succeed in a place where constant surveillance--often in the form of popular entertainment broadcast Channel Idol--is the norm. But the queen-marshal seems unable to give her daughter praise, much less a military command. When one of Sun’s companions is killed and replaced with his sister Persephone, subsequent events indicate multiple levels of intrigue and treachery targeting Sun and her family. Sun, Persephone, and the rest of their group have the opportunity to prove themselves when a daring attack from a rival power hits very close to home--if they survive. Elliott has created an addictive, character-driven space drama featuring well-defined characters who are all extremely good at what they do, resulting in a stirring found family narrative grounded in competence. Told from multiple viewpoints, Unconquerable Sun’s fast-paced narrative includes high-stakes space battles, political intrigue, clones, secret biological projects, assassination attempts, sea monsters, rivalries, lovers, creepy telepaths, criminals, and antagonistic empires in one intricately plotted and irresistible package. Fans of Lois McMaster Bujold, N.K. Jemisin, and epic adventure will find this a candidate for instant re-reading as soon as the last page is turned.

ARC provided by the publisher—Tor Books—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 them. Then Unconquerable Sun, the first book in The Sun Chronicles, appeared, and I decided to read this one first before finalizing my decision to read Elliott's backlog of books. I knew pretty much nothing about this book other than that it’s been continuously advertised as Gender-swapped Alexander the Great on an interstellar scale, and it ended up being a wonderful book that surprised me in many ways.

“Rule of Sun, Rule One. Never show weakness because the moment we show weakness, we will die.”


Princess Sun grew up behind the shadow of her mother, Eirene. This is a difficult task for Sun because Eirene, the legendary queen-marshal, has accumulated tons of achievements in her life. Eirene has expelled invaders, and most importantly, she has built Chaonia into an incredible republic. It is not an easy task for Princess Sun to live up to her insanely high expectations, things are made worse when noble houses schemes to have Sun removed from her position as an heir to Eirene. Sun has to fight off these threats to her life by relying on her wit, charisma, and companions that consists of her biggest rival, secret lover, and a dangerous prisoner of war from Gatoi.

“What my family wants harmed, I will. Even if Sun is a bitch.”


Upon reading the first few chapters of Unconquerable Sun, I honestly thought that this novel wouldn’t work for me. I really wouldn’t call this book an easy read; Elliott won’t hold your hands, it’s up to the readers themselves to divulge the meaning behind each name and terminologies through the contexts and narratives provided, and there was a LOT to take in. Do note that I’m not too knowledgeable on the story of Alexander the Great; I don’t know how that affects my enjoyment. Plus, I’m also much more well-versed in an epic fantasy than space opera; names and terminologies tend to be much easier for me to learn in epic fantasy, so this situation might not apply to you. I eventually became used to the in-world names and terms, and when the story exploded in the quarter mark of the novel, the actions never let up from there, and the rest of the book was filled with events I found myself entertained in.

“What does honor mean if it is just a word used as a currency in trade?”


Unconquerable Sun is very heavy on its action sequences. Excluding the first quarter of the book, everything else was non-stop actions with almost no breather in-between. From deceptions, deadly politics, close-quarter combat, and large-scale space war, this novel has everything a military space-opera enthusiast loves to read. The constant exposure to battles and wars with tons of names/terms to remember did hinder the pacing of the book for me at times. Thankfully, the characters really pulled through for me. Sun is a well-written character; her determination and strength to win are inspiring. That being said, although Sun is the titular character, I did find myself feeling more invested in the other POV characters: Persephone Lee and Zizou. The chemistry between Sun and her Companions were the definite key points of the book to me. I love reading all of them trying their best to cooperate and overcome their differences despite each of them coming from a different background, and I found their banter with each other utterly enjoyable to read.

“Holding on to my grudge isn’t worth it. In this world we can’t afford to lose the companions who have our backs. Everyone makes mistakes; everyone succumbs to pressures, many of which are out of their control.”


Considering that this is the first time I read anything by Elliott, I can’t judge whether her prose has improved from her past books or not, but I love the choices of words she implemented into her prose. Elliott also uses a storytelling device that’s different than the standard. Sun’s and Apama’s POV chapters are written in the third-person past tense; Persephone Lee’s POV chapters are written in the first-person present tense; Zizou’s POV chapters are written in the third-person present tense. This is quite a rare combination of narration choices to encounter in a single book for me, and although I didn’t see the necessity of doing it, I found the actual reading experience itself refreshing and engaging. As I mentioned earlier, the POV chapters in this book that utilizes present tense ended up being my favorite chapters to read compared to the one that uses past tense—the one I’m much more familiar with. The most important question to ask about these is whether they’re well-written or not, and I have to say that they were. Also, this is purely coincidental, but somehow the previous upcoming book I just finished—The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart—reading uses a similar kind of switches in POV.

“Don’t diminish your accomplishments, but don’t boast of them either. The evidence of your deeds is the only trophy you need.”


Unconquerable Sun may be a bit challenging to get into at first, but once you’re in the 25% section of the book, you will most likely find that persevering through the difficult sections worthwhile. Great diverse characters, massive in scope, complex and richly detailed world-building, Unconquerable Sun is a must-read for military sci-fi/space-opera readers. I definitely look forward to reading more of Kate Elliott’s backlog now while I wait for the next book in the series. I still don’t know whether I’ll read Crown of Stars or Black Wolves next; I was thinking of getting the entire Crown of Stars series in paperback (the cover arts are gorgeous) to read, but then I found out that each book will cost me around $22-30 each. In total, that means I have to spend at least $150 to get the entire set; this is way too overpriced for a mass market paperback collection for me. I might end up going the Kindle route for Crown of Stars eventually or maybe—despite the discontinued state of the series—read Black Wolves, which I already own now, instead.

Official release date: 7th July 2020

You can pre-order the book from: Amazon | Book Depository (Free shipping)

The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions

Fascinating characters in a richly-detailed far future, with an exciting plot. This has elements of military science fiction, both space battles and small-unit work, but it is also heavy on political intrigue and family dynamics. As is characteristic of Elliott's work, it begins slowly, with a plethora of characters and a proliferation of details. But it rewards the wait.

Recommended.

This was honestly incredible, and I loved practically everything about it. The multiple perspectives give the reader an in-depth look at the world, while the characters themselves all stand out. Something I really appreciated were the more light-hearted, joking moments. Ti, especially. She's probably my favorite character. The richness of the worldbuilding truly shines. We really only see a glimpse of a much more massive galaxy/universe, but wow. The different creatures, people, cities, and places we see are incredible. Because of the muti-perspective outlook, we're able to get a more in-depth look at everything and what it all means to them. Also because of different perspectives, we see that everyone -- even people whom others treat as mere tools, and even someone on the enemy's side -- is multifaceted. A final note: This is never explicitly mentioned, but it's worked into the story so well. Sexual orientation appears to be fluid in this world, and I appreciate that because it's an extra layer to already great worldbuilding. So yeah, this was well worth the read.