I was intrigued by the story and I really wanted to love this. Unfortunately, this was not for me and I could not finish the book, but the main story still intrigues me and I will give it another go at another time. I am sure other people will enjoy this way more than me.

This is a very enjoyable fantasy novel. Set in the 16th century Europe. With the civilized worlds on the brink of war.In the meantime a group of separatists depart for the last unclaimed world…..
Thank you for the advance copy,
# Netgalley, # Johnny Warthen, and # Flame Tree

I was given a free e-copy of Of Kings, Queens and Colonies by Johnny Worthen (author), Flame Tree Press (publisher), and Net Galley.

This review be spoiler free.

I would characterize Of Kings, Queens and Colonies as science fiction with space battles, new world exploration, civil war, and theology.

The story takes place several centuries in the future on planets that appear to be similar to Earth and on spaceships with sails. I did not quite understand the issue regarding to technology, but spaceships needed sails to travel but they used plasma bombs. Firearms are used but they are not technologically sophisticated, and they still use swords, knives, and bows and arrows.

Different parts of the story are shown through multiple character point-of-views. The story did not have any main characters and there are a few characters that have point-of-view for only a chapter. This story has a large cast of characters and I only connected with only a few. Due to there being too many characters, I found there was not enough page space (or screen time) to any of the characters so they could develop and enable me to empathize with any of them and interested in their arcs.

The story has two plot lines: a group of religious people trying to settle on a planet which is already inhabited by a more primitive people and a civil war between a world ruled by a prince who wants to overthrow the rule of his planet by another world ruled by a queen culminating in a civil war between the two worlds. I was only interested parts of each of the plot lines because I found each of them to slowly develop and not flow organically.

The story was technically well-written.

However, I had a difficult time reading this story. I thought some parts of the story meander and it slowed down quite a bit in the middle and end of the book. It felt there were some characters included that did not add to the story as well as some chapters that did not propel the story forward.

I rate Of Kings, Queens and Colonies 2 stars.

I would like to thank Mr. Worthen, Flame Tree Press, and Net Galley for the free ARC.

OF KINGS, QUEENS. COLONIES is the thinking reader's SciFi: Space Travel, Planetary Colonization, War In Space, plus Religion, Philosophy, Contagious Disease, Coming of Age, Gender Polarization and "forced by necessity to grow up too fast." Not too mention the fond/not fond nostalgia for "Old Earth prior to the Dissolution." A thought-provoking novel and an entertaining read.

A very different books in comparison to the usual fantasy novels.
From the first page we are brought to an unexpected, dystopian world full of major and minor problems. We get to see the stuggles in posisions of power as well as problems of common people. This world is very pecisely portrayed with many various characters who introduce us to the behind the scenes of this perfect-looking society.
As mentioned, this book is very different from the others. It focuses mainly on the worldbuilding and showing the ways of future people. What is important are the relationships between the tribes and their life in the wild as well as in the cities. It's a slow book that is supposed to introduce you to this well-crafted world and show the personalities of the characters no matter the morality of their actions.

The premise was truly promising but it was so dense that I lost interest. Maybe you'll like it, but I did not.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from Flame Tree. It is essentially the story of the Armada, which has been done as SF before, including David Drake’s Reaches trilogy. I thought this better, with more complexity. It reads a bit as fantasy, with a curious old fashioned quality that mixes spaceships and nuclear weapons with telegraphs and coal smoke. But there are science fictional mysteries at its core, including the curious solar system where the book is set. Read it for the action, the political and social themes, the conspiracies, and for the compelling side tale of a lost colony and a path for human salvation. I await the sequel eagerly.