Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit books for an advanced copy of this book. Here is my review.

This book is the first space opera that I have read in a long time. This book reminded me why I love the genre.

It is an interesting retelling of the story of Cleopatra and Julius Caeser set in a futuristic world. You do not need to know their stories though to enjoy this book. I loved the world building and the characters. It was fascinating to see how cultural views shape the interactions of the various characters.

I can't wait to read the next book in this series.

I was taken in by the cover of this book the first time I saw it and how could I resist a space opera reimagining of the story of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar. I was also very excited because this is the first physical arc I got from Orbit US and that makes it very special. And turns out it was unlike anything I’ve read in a while.

Seeing that it’s a space opera featuring a queen in (almost) exile wanting to get it back, and trying to get help from the commander of a huge empire for that purpose, I definitely expected this to be an action packed novel about war. Turns out it’s not. It took me only a few chapters to realize that I might have to recalibrate my expectations and then it was an unusual but fun read. The writing was beautiful and poetic, with lots of lingering conversations which were worded in one way but totally meant something else. This layered writing style is not something I’m used to and it took a while for me to get comfortable with it, and I still don’t know if I understood all the underlying meanings. The world building is also just too vast with so many planets as part of the empire - so many names, their languages and cultures - I don’t think I remember most of them even now after finishing the book, I just went along with it. The story was also very slow paced, with some exciting moments at the beginning and the end, but it was very slice of life for a lot of it in the middle where it felt like nothing was happening - except lots of discussions and musings on philosophy, empire, immortality, religion, god and more which I kinda enjoyed thinking about myself.

Even after reading this almost 500 page book I don’t know what I can tell you about our main characters Gracia and Ceirran. They are unreliable narrators for sure, particularly Gracia who keeps telling us that. The story is told in first person POV but as if the protagonists are narrating their story to someone (and us), and the lying was not visible at first, until the book proceeded a bit. But come what may, I still can’t deign what their motivations were and what they actually wanted. Just having an empire and ruling over it seemed like small things which they would never aspire it, but I still didn’t understand what it is they wanted, both from the world and each other. I don’t know much about Roman history and definitely very little about Caesar, but this book felt like I was getting a close look at the kind of relationship he shared with Cleopatra and Mark Anthony. Mark’s analogous here is Anita whose presence is limited but very vivid and she turned out to be another enigma I wished to know more about.

It might feel like I’m rambling but I’m truly at a loss how to review this book. If you like Roman history as well as space operas, you’ll probably enjoy this book, and maybe even understand it to the fullest extent. If you like your sci-fi books to be a slow burn thesis about the philosophy of empire and religion, then this will be right up your alley. But if you are looking for lots of fast paced action and war, you’ll end up disappointed. I still can’t say if I love it completely but I was definitely impressed, and though this almost works as a standalone, I will surely read the sequel and would love to reread this book before that.

It always pains me when I have to DNF a review book, particularly because I tend to pick and choose them according to my tastes, which should enable me to target only novels I can be sure to enjoy, but sometimes this method fails and I’m faced with a story that does not work for me.

The Stars Undying had all the potential the be the kind of narrative I enjoy, enhanced by the fact that it’s inspired by the events surrounding the fateful meeting between the Egyptian ruler Cleopatra and roman conquerors Caesar and Mark Anthony, translated into a space opera background. Princess Altagracia, the heir to the Szayet empire, has been overthrown by her own sister, who also claimed the Pearl, the computerized device that imparts to Szayet rulers the wisdom of their god. When the commander of the fleet from the empire of Ceiao, Matheus Ceirran, lands on Szayet, Gracia sees in him the opportunity to regain power by using her feminine wiles, but she soon understands that the game might be more complex and dangerous than that…

I have to admit that my troubles with this novel started from the very beginning: the author throws her readers into the thick of things with little or no background to sustain them, and if that usually does not worry me - since I do indeed enjoy a good challenge - the way in which the story flows felt both confused and confusing and I struggled to understand how that veritable avalanche of names and places and background details could form an organic picture. More than once I backtracked through the chapters, driven by the definite sensation that I might have missed some pages or sections and that some vital information had eluded me, but I failed to find any helpful clue.

The story is told in alternating chapters equally shared by Gracia and Ceirran, and here is where I encountered more problems because their “voices” lack the kind of distinctiveness that would make their individual personalities stand out: if I was distracted and failed to take notice of the character name at the top of the chapter, I had a few moments of uncertainty about whose thread I was following because I could not readily distinguish between the two identities. The fact that it took me close to ten days to reach the 40% mark before admitting defeat, is a signal that my progress through the book was an uphill, losing battle.

When all is said and done, I firmly believe that it’s more a kind of “it’s not you, it’s me” issue with this book than anything else: from what I’ve read online, the consensus is that The Stars Undying is a brilliant debut, and I don’t doubt it - it’s just not the kind of book, or narrative style, that I find suits my tastes and I truly look forward to the comments of my fellow bloggers to learn what I might have missed or misunderstood in this failed reading journey.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for this eARC.

A sci-fi reimagining of Caesar and Cleopatra had all the makings of an epic saga, and I was immediately intrigued by the premise of this book. The concept of detailing classic history over an intergalactic backdrop was fascinating, and it certainly is an epic.

That being said, I did not love this book. I went into it with high hopes, but I was left wanting more. The world building was incredibly confusing and after reading the whole book, I still feel as if I’ve read only every other chapter and that there is something missing. I didn’t feel fully interested in the story until about the 20% mark, and then my interest continued to waver as I just couldn’t make sense of it. It was beautifully written, but lacking in true explanation of the world.

What really made this confusing for me was the continual shifting in the narrative. The story is told from Gracia and Ceirran’s perspectives, which I liked, but within each chapter there were flashbacks and long thought processes that made it difficult to follow the overall arc of the story. The best parts were when Gracia and Ceirran were directly interacting, but there was a long stretch around the middle of them touring Gracia’s lands that just dragged on for so long and didn’t feel like it really advanced the story. I loved seeing the two of them banter and verbally spar with one another, but the story got bogged down by a lot of the politics, which felt unexplained.

The thing that I really enjoyed the most was the representation of queer characters! All of the main characters fell somewhere in the LGBTQ+ community and I loved seeing these reimagined versions of historical figures this way. It was very cool and incredibly well done in that aspect.

Like I said, it was written beautifully and has a really interesting premise, but ultimately I found it lacking in emotional depth and that the world building was messy. For me, this is a 3⭐️ read.

This was a bit of a slow burn for me. I found it a difficult book to get started with due to the changing perspectives and the world building. However, once this got going it was hard to put down.

This is a beautifully written psychological and political piece that faithfully captures so much of the spirit of the Cleopatra of history. This first book features the time up to Ceasar's death and I imagine the second will continue with Marc Anthony. Although the names are different, this is a seamless transition from ancient history to speculative science fiction future. Although this is presented as a space opera, there really are no battles or action scenes. Instead, this is a slow and meditative story about the relationships between the main characters and the political machinations which they must perform to survive.

Story: Princess Altagracia has grown up in a country with little money but a long legacy. The country's one treasure is the Quicksilver Pearl - a supercomputer that houses the 'soul' of the great general Alecto who had conquered her country so many generations past. The rulers commune with this general as a god and act as his prophet. In the middle of a civil war, Gracia has found herself pitted against her sister after the death of their father - with the pearl and rulership of the country at stake. Enter the Ceieo - a people of immense power and wealth. With the help of its greatest general, Gracia will take control of the Pearl and the country - forging a personal and professional alliance with the enigmatic Ceirran.

This is a very slow moving but fascinating read, with so much written between the lines and giving much to thought. The POV is from both Altagracia and Ceirran (Cleopatra and Caesar), and other than the sci fi setting and Quicksilver Pearl, reads so much as if they were in their ancient historical worlds. There are tablets, litters, and even traveling by boat to see more of Altagracia's world. At the same time, Ceirran will have to travel to other worlds to quell uprisings while Gracia keeps updated through interstellar communications. It is very difficult to articulate here in a short paragraph how well this works in the book, but it truly does.

This is not a book that panders to the reader - so much is said and then left unsaid that it is very rewarding to pay attention. It reads a lot like Altagracia is writing her biography and there are many instances where she breaks the fourth wall. This is because she is a somewhat unreliable narrator. That conceit can be extremely frustrating and jarring if done wrong - but somehow here works extremely well to add more interest to the story.

In all, I greatly enjoyed this book (despite being one of those people who love the pew pew type of space opera novels). It is both an easy and a challenging read but one where the characters breathe their historical counterparts. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

The Stars Undying was a intriguing concept that didn’t quite hit the mark in execution. The concept of a space opera inspired by the lives of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar grabbed me right away. The world Robin created in this book was a fantastic setting, the drowned world of Szayet and the sprawling empire of Ceiao. Unfortunately, the characters did not grab me as the world did. First person narration is not my preference, doubly when there is more than one narrator. The voices of the two POV characters were not distinguished enough from each other to tell who was speaking if not for the names at the beginning of each chapter.;

The prose was enjoyable to read, well written but not flowery. Part four and the ending did intrigue me enough that I will likely pick up the second book in the series. Overall a decent debut and I will see what else Robin puts out in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Stars Undying is a queer sci-fi reimagining of Cleopatra's life. Full of drama and betrayal, both romantic and political. A very fun read regardless of how familiar you are with the actual or other fictional versions of Cleopatra.

Emery Robin is clearly a talented writer and has put a ton into the world building. That said, I did find it confusing. All the names of people, planets, languages were too much to sort through, especially in the beginning. I loved the idea of a Cleopatra retelling but I'm not very familiar with the story, which probably didn't help my confusion. I was intrigued enough with the story and the author's writing is good enough I will would read something by Emery again.

DNF’d at 50%.

I feel like this book started really strong, but it just couldn’t keep my attention. Every part of the story - writing style, world building, characters - was fascinating at first, but didn’t last beyond the first third, when it felt like the entire plot of the book had already happened.

-The characters were intriguing, but none of them but Ana made me care enough about them to keep following their story (and Ana was yeeted off-planet so I couldn’t even look forward to hearing about her). Alecto seemed pretty cool, and I suspected there was going to be at least one story twist concerning him, but I didn’t care enough to read another 200+ pages of Gracia and Ceirran being boring and horny together.
-The world building was really rich, but quickly became overwhelming and a little confusing when several planets/civilizations/languages were not really put into context.
-I really liked the writing style for the most part, though there were moments during Gracia’s narration when she would break the fourth wall in a very informal voice that was very jarring.

I didn’t realize when I first started the book that it was a reimagining of the history of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar, but when I started having issues with the book and looked into other reviews, I quickly realized where my problems stemmed from. The character’s actions did not seem to belong to them. They were just playing parts in a story that had already happened. Gracia and Ceirran’s affair happened waaaaaaaaayyyyy too suddenly and didn’t seem to fit either of their personalities. It was really jarring and honestly made me less interested in both of them. Their tour of the planet absolutely killed what little forward movement was left in the plot, but they had to do a tour together because Cleo and Caesar maybe went on a tour together. The political details were too dependent on my knowing the detailed history of Caesar’s Rome and Cleopatra’s Egypt. Without that historical context, the book’s political landscape didn’t make as much sense. Ceirran’s politics were just Caesar’s politics, and weren’t pieced together to form a character outside of ‘Caesar in space’. Ceirran and Gracia’s philosophical debates felt like they were just popular philosophical debates of the time, and there’s very little that is more boring in a book than philosophical debates between two characters that aren’t even interesting to me.

I imagine the rest of the story would have followed along with history, but at this point, I’d rather just read the real history of Rome and Egypt and not get a reskinned sci-fi version that lacks context and presents me with characters that are less interesting than their real world counterparts.

In the end, this book wasn’t for me. It started off strong, and maybe it ended strong as well, but unless I skim through the molasses slow middle and the uninspired characters, I’m never making it there.

HIGHLIGHTS
~be careful of pearls and wine
~unreliable narrators ftw
~gods vs AIs
~a rather important carpet delivery

When I opened The Stars Undying and read the first page, my heart leapt: it instantly gave me the same vibes as the Teixcalaan books. Now that I’ve finished it, I would say that The Stars Undying is in some ways a more approachable Teixcalaan – much less baroque and byzantine, but still possessing a proud and regal grace all its own.

<she taught me to navigate like star charts those who made up what she called the quality of our city: how to distinguish between money and power, how to foment a grudge or end one, how to appease or to leave hungry.>

The Stars Undying is inspired by – or is maybe a retelling of – the story of Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, and Mark Anthony, and there is plenty here to delight anyone who went through a Cleopatra phase (don’t try saying it was just me, I know full well it wasn’t!) Altagracia – Gracia – is a character very worthy of Cleopatra’s legacy; powerfully intelligent, intoxicatingly magnetic, dedicated to her people, and made up of equal parts cool ruthlessness and inexhaustible passion. Ceirran makes a very convincing Julius Caesar. I know a lot less about Mark Anthony, but his reincarnation Anita is a fierce, fiery, feral creature that might have been my favourite character in the entire book.

There are plenty of Easter eggs for the Cleopatra enthusiasts – none of which can’t be appreciated by someone not familiar with Cleopatra’s story/history, so no worries there. But my favourite definitely has to be the pearl – there’s a(n almost certainly fictional) tale of how Cleopatra once dissolved a pearl in wine and drank it, and here in Robin’s debut, the substance called quicksilver pearl (which is utterly destroyed if it comes into contact with alcohol) is a massive part of the plot and worldbuilding. I was (and remain) completely delighted with it, with the way that Robin drew from the lore around Cleopatra for The Stars Undying and spun it into something wildly new!

Other parts of the worldbuilding didn’t quite work for me – if I sit and think about it, I’m very confused about the level of technology; it feels more like Robin was building an aesthetic rather than multiple planets and their cultures. But crucially, that didn’t actually bother me while I was reading. Stars Undying is the kind of book that drags you under like a riptide; you simply can’t look away from the glorious, blazing cast for long enough to nitpick literally anything. Their charisma doesn’t just mesmerise the characters sharing the pages with them; it’s more than strong enough to hypnotise the reader too, and Robin makes it look effortless.

Which. I mean. Kudos!

<Inside my chest, my heart turned and caught the light.>

Because this book is all about the characters. Gracia and Ceirran are a binary star system, each a radiant, glorious celestial body in their own right, now locked together in an orbit almost too bright to look at. In fact, if I can get very nerdy for a second: the two of them are a cataclysmic variable, a sun and white dwarf bound together, the latter feeding off the former. Specifically, they remind me of ZTF J1813+4251, whipping around each other dizzyingly fast, distorting the galaxy around them with their gravitational waves.

But the thing about cataclysmic variables is that they’re not sustainable; one body is feeding off the other. One will eventually come apart. The title of this book may be The Stars Undying, but one of these incandescent stars is going to die – literally or metaphorically – so the other can blaze all the brighter.

Robin’s skill is in keeping you from being able to tell which is which; is in depicting the passionate struggle of Gracia and Ceirran as they trade roles back and forth. They can’t escape each other; I don’t think they even want to. But they are both simply too much more than the rest of us mere mortals to be able to coexist forever.

(As a side-note? Robin mentioned on Twitter that The Stars Undying was very much written as a Jewish book. I’m not the person to go into that – I don’t know nearly enough about Judaism – but in retrospect? Oh, yes, and oh, wow!)

When I picked up The Stars Undying, I didn’t know if it was meant to be a series opener or a standalone, and the ending felt, to me, like a standalone ending. Which left me unhappy, because as a standalone, Stars Undying just didn’t satisfy. However, I’ve since learned that it will, indeed, have a sequel, which changes things – negates just about everything I didn’t love about it, for one! So I’m not going to talk about those ‘flaws’, because they’re not flaws at all given that this story is not over.

Gods. It’s not over. I have chills. And am looking forward to the sequel with equal parts dread and anticipation and freaking yearning.

You can read the first two chapters for free on io9, and preorder it in all the usual places – which you very much should!

4.5 - thank you SO much to Orbit for sending me this ARC!!

I really struggled for the first 50-100 pages of this book, which is more of a me problem than the book - I don't read a ton of space operas and often find them hard to get into. This one, however, really wasn't very 'space-y' - the vibe is much more ancient empire.

Once I was in, I was IN. The writing is gorgeous and the narrative style so unique. The romance?? Incredible.

I know basically zero about Cleopatra and Caesar aside from the very basics, so I have no idea if that enhanced my reading experience or if I would have enjoyed it even more knowing the story. After a brief google, I see excellent potential for a sequel.

Just a very unique read that really sucked me in, and so fun to read something so different!

I was very keen on the description, and I really wanted to like it.

The title and the cover pulled me in. I was excited about a queer space opera inspired by Cleopatra, Caesar & Marc Anthony, I love science fiction AND history, so I was ready to be enchanted. And yes, the language is lovely, but for me it was often too verbose, to the point where I felt distracted by it all.

The favourable comparisons to Ancillary Justice and A Memory Called Empire, kept me going a bit longer than I would have otherwise, but ultimately, this one did not live up to that for me. I wanted to sink into this, but unfortunately couldn't get into it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for the opportunity to read this e-arc.

This character-driven, introspective space opera would be a great read for anyone who wants to sink into gorgeous prose and take their time with complicated characters--especially for readers who are already well versed in the lives of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar. The writing is absolutely beautiful, and the book contains a wealth of easter eggs for those with the background knowledge and interest to hunt them out.

I tried so hard to like this book - the synopsis sounds so intriguing! Cleopatra and Julius Caesar in space sounds right up my alley, I absolutely LOVE space operas and history retellings. However, I just couldn't get into the story and I ultimately DNF-d. The language is too flowery, which took me out of the story and I couldn't focus on the characters or the plot. Maybe I'll try again at some point because it does seem worth reading, but for now I'm throwing in the towel.

I received this book as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

Oh absolute slay. To be honest i dont know a lot about history so i can´t judge accuracy but this is such a juicy, fun book., very complex and TONS of fun.

I feel like I can generally get my bearings pretty quickly in a new fantasy world but *pinches bridge of nose* it took me so long to finally parse out who was who and what was going on. I will definitely say after the turning point in wading through the confusing bits of the story, it does pick up and become a much more fun read. The premise of this book was very unique, and I was super excited to read it (this was definitely one of my most anticipated reads of the year) but I just ultimately didn't really love this. The dual narrative/time jumping just really didn't work for me here, and it led to some strange plot...wrinkles and, though I can see what the author was intending, the enormity of the world-building was also just too much. I loved the retelling aspect of this story, and I loved the climax/fall-out, but the set up was just too confusing/there was too much going on in the vastness of the world for me to really feel tethered or connected to the story. I would love more from this author, though, because their writing ability and creative choices (in general) were fascinating.

This book was confusing for me to read. Each character has their names so similar that I had a hard time trying to distinguish whose who

While I had the initial struggle to get my bearings on who is who and what is what, I am glad I persevered. I have a feeling that this story will be richer for the reader who is familiar with eastern European history, but it is definitely accessible to the others.
This is a politically charged drama that takes place in space, and while it is a little slower in the middle, the end recovered well enough for me to look forward to book two. This is recommended for a niche audience that loves their historical figures represented in modern literature.
Detailed review to come.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly, I want to say, this was one of my most anticipated reads of this year. I was highly looking forward to it and it sounded like everything I could want (i.e. Cleopatra & Caesar story retold in a sci-fi and futuristic setting). This just sounded amazing.

Unfortunately, I am putting aside this book at 20% complete. Here are my likes and dislikes.

What I Liked: The idea and world of this story is VERY unique. It's imaginative and extremely creative. The lore/mythology of Alectelo and the God is intriguing. The MC's are unique and I was enjoying the retelling of their different histories and how they came to be in the current present.

What I disliked: Throughout my reviews, two features I look for most (my pet peeves if you will) are a structured and well-defined timeline and a fluid story (i.e. cut out any unnecessary scenes/words to help the story flow). This particular story is dual narration and had me jumping around from past and present, without notification or marking it. What marked my last time picking this up, I read about a character who was alive in the beginning of a book, but had somehow died...? The characters are talking about her death, and I can't even recall reading about it? This fact was just lost to the story timelines, and probably the wordiness as well. While I see the effort that the author is trying to make to really give FULL world development, she is here creating an actual universe of multiple planets and star systems. And while I'm sure it's all important, too much of it is so confusing to the readers. I think the world building either needed to be simplified or spread out a little more throughout the story.

Truthfully, I may try to pick this back up. I want to like it and read it fully.