Tim Pratt writes a lot of very cool science fiction. From his “Axiom” series (my gateway into his work) to The Doors of Sleep (which I really, really hope will become an entire series, now that there’s a sequel) to his “Twilight Imperium” novels. When I reviewed the first of these, The Fractured Void, I had no idea that Twilight Imperium is a war-without-end strategic game. I wrote, “Game tie-in novels are common these days, but not those that are so well crafted as to stand on their own merits. I picked it up because I loved Tim Pratt’s other science fiction novels (and after reading it I still have no idea what Twilight Imperium is, nor do I particularly care as long as Pratt turns out books as good as this one).” That’s even more true for The Necropolis Empire. If you, like me, are so much Not a Gamer that you’re into negative gamer-ness, just ignore that part and enjoy the book as a great science fiction tale.

Standing on its own, The Necropolis Empire falls into one of my favorite science fiction subgenres: spooky alien ruins. In this case, very, very old alien ruins from a race we’re really glad has gone extinct. Now if folks would just stop trying to resurrect their tech…

Our young heroine, Bianca, lives on one such world, a pastoral culture built on top of the aforementioned, deeply buried alien tech. Scavenged bits are useful, but mostly the farmers go about their lives…until a ship from the imperialist Barony of Letnev arrives, annexes the planet, and carries Bianca away with a rather incredulous story about her being a space princess. Bianca falls for it, though. Not only is she adopted, but rather than settle down with a nice neighbor boy, she has always yearned for something beyond her own world. That something becomes clearer when she begins changing, developing superhuman speed, strength, senses, healing, and more. The ruthless Letnev believe she is the key to finding and controlling the ancient military relics, which they mean to use to dominate all known space. Bianca has other ideas.

I absolutely love how vulnerable and how competent Bianca is. Her confidence in herself and her abilities stems from more than her new, superhuman powers. As a child, she was wanted and cherished, never coddled but given responsibilities. She grew up with permission to tackle all manner of challenges, and she’s a genuinely nice person. The Letnev, not so much. They’ve perfected arrogance into an art form.

I would be perfectly happy to see an entire series of “The Adventures of Bianca,” although I sadly fear the good folks who’ve created Twilight Imperium are more interested in promoting their game and not so much in a fascinating character who stands on her own.

Apparently this novel is a spinoff story from a popular boardgame, Twilight Imperium. If you’ve played and enjoyed the game, then you might find this information interesting – however if you haven’t ever heard of it, don’t worry as it won’t impact your enjoyment of this rollicking space opera adventure in any way.

The other issue to clear up is the fact that this is the second book in the series. As you know, one of my main hobbies is crashing midway into series – and this is one of those occasions when that tactic absolutely paid off. As far as I can ascertain, the first book was set in an entirely different part of the Imperium galaxy with a cast of different characters. I hadn’t even realised there was another book, Fractured Void until I looked up the details of The Necropolis Empire on Goodreads and while I’d like to get hold of the first book and read it as I think I’d thoroughly enjoy it – as the stories don’t overlap, it really doesn’t matter if you pick this one up without having read it.

I thoroughly enjoy Pratt’s breezy, humorous style. While space opera is a favourite genre of mine, it frequently can get very tense and serious – and right now I can do with all the fun I can get. Pratt has the knack of covering actions scenes full of violence and gore with a gung-ho bravura which didn’t diminish the stakes or the tension, but gives an extra layer of entertainment. He is an accomplished writer with a smooth writing style and an ability to write genuinely nice, sweet-natured characters that are also interesting and possess hidden depths. That’s harder to do than he makes it look. I fell in love with dear Bianca and I particularly enjoyed the vivid worldbuilding of her home planet that sets up the action, before life takes a major left turn for her.

In many ways, the story covers one of the major SFF tropes – that of a Chosen One who is singled out for a particular destiny once she reaches a certain age. What amused me is the way Pratt plays with our expectations around this dynamic right from the start of the story. And while the setup is as cosily familiar as a cup of night-time cocoa, that doesn’t prevent him from presenting us with some surprises along the way. I tucked into this one, relaxed in the knowledge that I was in the hands of a storyteller who knows his craft and would take me on a roller-coaster ride that I’d thoroughly enjoy. And I was absolutely right. This is a joy and I thoroughly recommend it for space opera fans, who like a splash of humour alongside their star-studded action adventures. While I obtained an arc of The Necropolis Empire from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
9/10

I enjoyed this, the first book in a new series from Tim Pratt. Bianca know that she was adopted after being discovered as an infant in the forest. No one had any idea of the truth of her origin until the planet is invaded by the Barony of Letnev who claim the planet as an ancient right. Bianca is discovered and whisked off planet with the intention of using her genetics to their own ends. But Bianca is a smart young woman and keeps the bad guys on their toes and wins the day.

Tim Pratt is an award-winning author and he does a good job here. It's a fun book that draws on SF standards, especially echoing "Hitchhikers Guide" with a whiff of Heinlein.

Although this is the beginning of a series, it is a self-contained book with a clear ending. That's a nice change.

The Necropolis Empire is another new space opera novel by author Tim Pratt (The Axiom, Doors of Sleep). It's the second novel of his that's actually a tie-in to the board game, Twilight Imperium, after last year's "The Fractured Void". I have no background knowledge of Twilight Imperium, but still really enjoyed The Fractured Void, which featured that combination of fun dialogue, funny characters and situations, and general space opera that I really enjoyed in Pratt's "The Axiom" trilogy ("The Wrong Stars"). That book also ended with a potential sequel hook, and so I was curious to see if that would be followed up upon when I saw Pratt was writing this one.

And the answer is no - this is entirely a stand alone novel compared to the last one (only one character returns from The Fractured Void) although it is still a very enjoyable one. It's not quite as fun as The Fractured Void mind you, because our main protagonist and the side protagonist, from whose perspectives two thirds of the novel take place, are entirely earnest and good natured, and so the fun antics of the book come entirely from the main bad guys. The result is a well crafted if fairly typical space opera novel, with some twists you will see coming a mile away, but it's enjoyable enough that you could do a lot worse, and Pratt's prose and dialogue remains excellent.


------------------------------------------------Plot Summary---------------------------------------------------
Bianca Xing has spent her lifetime on a planet forgotten by the galaxy, gazing up at hte stars, and wishing there was more for her life than simply continuing her family's farm or romancing the boy she doesn't really care about. She can't help yearning for the stars...or particularly for an area in the night sky in between three specific stars she can't help but stare at, night after night.

And then her planet is annexed by the Barony of Letnev, and Bianca is told by one of their officers that she is secretly a space princess from their race. And so Bianca finds herself going out into the stars after all.

Of course, Bianca is no dummy, and she knows that space princess story is utterly bunk. But the real reason why the Letnev want Bianca is even stranger than she could have imagined as she soon realizes as her body adapts to space in the most peculiar ways, leading her on a journey that could change the galaxy forever.....for good or for bad.
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The Necropolis Empire is a pretty classic space opera story - girl from a planet who wishes to go to the stars, is clearly special in some way connected to something out there, gets the chance for adventure to fulfill her destiny and has to make a choice at the end that will save or doom the galaxy....yadda yadda yadda. You will see a lot of the plot twists coming well before they occur - and to Pratt's credit, he makes his heroine Bianca pretty self-aware, so it's not like she or the reader is expected to be surprised by any of it all.

And well, the characters themselves are pretty fun and enjoyable, which makes even the most predictable journey well worth taking. As our heroine, Bianca is the typical girl who dreams of more, but as mentioned earlier she's also fairly self aware of when things are too good to be true, and her unique genetics give her physical and mental capabilities that allows her to surprise even herself, which makes her very enjoyable to follow and see what she'll do next. She's not really unique as a character archetype, but she is done very well, is fun in dialogue, and is easy to root for as that girl who wants more but also doesn't want to hurt anyone else in getting it. Then there's our secondary protagonist, Heuvelt, a human guy who was from a rich privileged family and went out on a life of adventure...only to get into trouble, get betrayed by the man paid to be his friend, and now finds himself searching for a way to get back to adventure with his two alien companions. It takes him a while to cross paths with Bianca, such that his small points of view beforehand often feel pointless, but he's enjoyable still as a sardonic and sarcastic viewpoint on this world.

And then there's Severyne, the Letnev captain who returns from The Fractured Void, who serves as our 2nd most prominent point of view character and one of our major antagonists.* Sev is a lot of fun, the member of the disciplined strict heirarchy military faction, the Barony of Letnev, who is very sarcastic and self aware of how ridiculous things can get, and is willing to play with that to get what she wants. Her dialogue and situations, especially with her subordinates, is what makes up the bulk of this book's humor, and it's incredibly enjoyable. If Pratt does write a third book in this universe, I hope she returns again, because she's probably the highlight of this one, and the other two characters aren't bad, they just aren't quite as fun.

*As noted before the jump, there's no need to read The Fractured Void before this, as the most its referenced is in a few off hand comments by Sev, and Sev's character is perfectly established on its own here without any foreknowledge.*

All this takes place in a world that clearly will be more familiar to those experienced in the board game, but even if you're not, you'll enjoy the various parts of this world that are introduced. So yeah, the plot isn't particularly surprising, but it's well done, the characters are solid, and the dialogue - especially Sev's - is a lot of fun, so you could do a lot worse than to pick up this novel, even if it would hardly be one of the first space operas I recommend.

I very much enjoy Twilight Imperium (though I haven't played the newest edition), and this brings back happy memories of games played with friends. I didn't realize there were novels, so I'll have to go back and read the first one, but I'm always excited for stories that extend a universe!

While there were some points I was a little worried about, they wrapped up nicely by the end, and with the cast of believable characters this book doesn't disappoint. It's a fun coming-of-age/adventure story similar to Firefly, and I really enjoyed the read.

Thank you, Aconyte Books, for providing this title to me!

When I requested this book I didn't know it was related to a game. Honestly, the book is a good selling point for it because I love tabletop games and this one was right up my alley.

Off the bat I'm giving the book three stars. It was an enjoyable read. Like I said, I didn't know it was related to a game. None of that mattered. I didn't need anything explained to me so it made sense. The writing and the story handle that perfectly well which was impressive.

As for the story itself? It's interesting enough to be fun. We're introduced to a young girl named Bianca who wants to travel off of her homeworld. And she has a destination in mind: the empty space between three specific stars.

Bianca isn't an ordinary girl and I found myself relating to her wanderlust. When I was her age I wanted to go and travel, see the sights. She was fairly well written. All of the characters were.

When it came to the scifi element, I would recommend this to people who like sci-fi with no hard and fast rules. We've got wormhole gates, huge spiny ships and none of it needs explaining. They work, they function how they're supposed to and you don't get bogged down with a bunch of tech talk that could take you out of the story.

The cast features humans and aliens. The cast is diverse in that regard. Bianca is adopted but her adoptive family's last name is Xing. To be honest, I don't remember if she was described in any way that would make it apparent what her race was.

So, I spent the entire story picturing her as white. If she was described in any way that changes that, I simply don't remember.

All in all, it's a story about a girl finding her place in a huge galaxy and her destiny.

I will sat that because of what Bianca is, she felt a little too perfect. Conflict came in the form of her being very trusting or the crew she was with. She never really suffered. Even if she was the way she was, I still wanted to see her struggle. And grow from it.

She doesn't really grow much. She's just a sweet trusting kid who ends up with a lot of power.

Don't come to this expecting anymore than a fun sci-fi ride. No immense growth, not a lot of depth. Just space and fun.

I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The book drew me in and kept me engaged to the last page. It's a well written book, with many twists and turns throughout. Looking forward to sequel.

(Thank you for Netgalley and Acontye Books for giving me early access to reading this book. All my thoughts are my own.) I really enjoyed reading this book. I haven’t read much sci-fi, but this book has made me want to read even more Sci-fi books. The character development throughout the book was good, as you could see the gradual change throughout the book. As I was reading this book I was surprised at the twists that occurred throughout the book. I enjoyed the writing style as well, as when I was reading it, it never felt like the pace was slow. I always managed to read 5 to 7 chapters at a time. I have hope there will be a second book as after that ending I want to see what happens next.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for providing me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am so glad I picked this book up. I really enjoyed the focus on science and the huge cast of characters that did not get lost in the story. I highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and the published for this giving me a copy in exchange for a fair review.

The Necroplis Empire is second of a game-related series following the Fractured Void. It features a recurring character from the first book, the arrogant and creative Barony captain Serveryne, whom I enjoyed in both books. I assume the game is serious but I feel I feel Tim Pratt is playing the books a bit for laughs and certainly with over-the-top characters (caricatures?). It is a quest adventure, featuring an innocent girl who is more than she seems. There is an intertwined plot featuring a down-on-their luck space crew, which ultimately joins up with the heroine.

I am a sucker for Tim Pratt and think he writes some of the smoothest, wittiest dialogue in the SF/Fantasy genre. This is no exception. And I laughed aloud several times. His prose is readable and I sailed through the story.

That said, this is middle of the road game fiction. Simple plot. Non-human characters who seem human. A young adult feel, though mixed with occasional adult language.

I almost gave it four stars for the author but ultimately the simple plot and mediocre world building detracted from the clever prose.

Bianca Xing is a foundling who dreams of getting away from her life on a farm and going to the stars. Her wish comes true when an alien race called the Letnev arrive on her backwater planet to annex it for the Barony of Letnev. They tell Bianca that she is the daughter of a rich man and she needs to come with them to claim her vast fortune.

Bianca quickly learns that she was lied to and has to escape the Letnev. She manages to escape with the help of her new friend Sev and a crew of smugglers. Together, they search for Bianca's origin. What they find is so much stranger than Bianca ever dreamed.

I loved this book. The world building is fantastic! I cared what happened to the characters. Great book! I hope to read more books by Tim Pratt.

I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Twilight Imperium book The Necropolis Empire by Tim Pratt, published by Aconyte Books, so here is the honest review I promised in exchange for the book.

So here is an important disclaimer which is always important to put out there first. I have a casual work contact with Asmodee to demonstrate board games for them in stores and at conventions. Asmodee being the parent company of Aconyte the publisher.

I am going to try my best to not let that cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.

What is Twilight Imperium
Twilight Imperium is a much beloved strategy board game published by Fantasy Flight Games that’s currently in its 4th Edition.

First thing to know, it’s very long, my pal Drew, one of the owners of the amazing Meeple Perk, tells me it’s an 8 hour game as a minimum!

Secondly it’s an epic space opera, set in the power vacuum left behind by the decline and collapse of the Lazax Empire, as various races and factions vie for dominance and to become the new galactic superpower.

The Story
The story is about a young girl, Bianca Xing from a remote farming world, whom has spent a lifetime yearning to leave her provincial planet and travel to the stars, but she has a yearning to travel to a certain part of space.

But when her world is annexed by the Barony of Letnev, she is whisked away, told she is the daughter of a scientist of ancient renown, and the heir to a great fortune. But in actual fact, she has a hidden secret hidden within her DNA, secrets that could change the course of the galaxy.

Teaming up with Dampierre a determined Letnev captain, and a crew of treasure hunters turned smugglers, she goes on an adventure to the edge of known space to discover the home world of an ancient civilisation.

This was a big improvement on the last story and in all honesty I expected this to be a continuation of the last story, but its a totally different one with only two recurring characters.

This worked better because there were fewer obvious clichés and it just felt a lot more natural.

Conclusion
As with the Fractured void, this is a fun and enjoyable space opera, just my taste and this is exactly what I needed to read.

There was humour and the clichés that were there, were very well done.

I really struggled to put this book down and was awake until 3am two mornings running because I was just enjoying it so much.

I am really not sure what else to say, its a great read, and even if you have no background knowledge of the game or universe, this is utterly entertaining and wonderful to read.

I know Tim is a great writer and I know I had some mild criticism of his last book, but this seems to have acknowledged all of that, and gone on to produce a better book that takes the good qualities of that and knock it up several notches.

I expected this to be a straight sequal to the last book, but this was a totally different story and it really feels like Tim is doing a lot of world building here, that is really deep and most of all, fun.

More please.

5 out of 5

Pratt has is quite prolific and a good bet if you like his type of sci-fi. This has a big cast, good tech, and is interestingly told, and includes a little humor. Recommended.

I really appreciate the ARC for review!!

I would like to thank the author and publisher for kindly providing an electronic review copy of this book.

"The Necropolis Empire" by Tim Pratt is a fun space adventure. The story starts with the heroine Bianca Xing on a backward plant longing for a more interesting life. Her wish is soon granted as her planet is invaded by the militant Barony of Letnev, and she finds herself in mysterious circumstances as a "guest" of the Barony as she finds herself zooming across the galaxy as an integral part of their search for the mythical lost riches of the mythical planet of Ixth.

The plot involves farmers, rogues, soldiers, massive living robots, forgotten but still present ancient races with god-like technical powers, spaceships, wormholes, and super-powers. This is an entertaining and humorous science fiction adventure tale.