The Truthspoken Heir (The Stars and Green Magics #1)
by Novae Caelum
My Rating: 5 stars
Genre: Science Fiction
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: FF
Blurb:
Two shapeshifting heirs, one interstellar kingdom. When royals can be anyone else including each other, who will rule?Arianna can impersonate anyone in her star kingdom, keeping nobles in check as the Truthspoken Heir. But Arianna’s shapeshifting powers fail her when she’s attacked at her betrothal to a rival prince, her title torn away.
Dressa never wanted to be the Heir, but she has a crush on the beautiful prince, and someone needs to hold the kingdom against plotting nobles.
One sibling cast out, one sister in the fray, and enemies all around. Can they steer their kingdom from the coming storm?
Fans of Ancillary Justice and Winter’s Orbit will enjoy The Stars and Green Magics, an ongoing space opera serial with diverse main characters, epic worldbuilding, and strong romantic undertones. The Truthspoken Heir collects episodes 1-36, the complete first season, as well as three extra beginning episodes.
My Review
I really enjoyed The Truthspoken Heir, it’s a great science fiction book with plenty of intrigue. There are scheming nobles and royals who can change their appearance. I really enjoyed spending time in this world and reading about the various characters and getting to know them. The plot is intriguing and I kept wanting to read more and see how everything would play out. The stakes are high as the fate of the kingdom hangs in the balance as well as high personal stakes. There are twists and turns that I didn’t see coming and I was excited to see it all play out.
The story focuses mainly on Adrianna, The Thurthspoken Heir, and her sister Dressa. When Adrianna gets attacked and is no longer able to perform her duties, Dressa has to step up. Truthspoken can look like anyone and she’s to impersonate Adrianna. The kingdom is on unstable ground and the king in this case called the Seritarchus who rules it all is trying to keep everything together. Not everything goes according to plan, new plans get created and I loved seeing it all play out. I bought the second book before I even finished this one and can’t wait to see how the story continues.
While the story starts with Adrianna and Dressa’s point of view, later we get to see more different point of views. I liked getting to know the characters and I liked how every character had their own unique personality and view on the events. It made the whole plot unfolding even more complex, with characters acting a certain way, but then their point of view showed more of what they’re really going through. And some characters knowing things the others didn’t. It made me appreciate and understand why everyone acted the way they did and I got invested in seeing how they all get through this. There is a hint of romance and I am quite excited to see how it plays out, the set up was interesting with an arranged marriage and when Adrianna falls away Dressa having to take her role as heir and place in the betrothal.
The world building is subtle, but very well done. I liked how each chapter started with a quote from a letter, song or publication from a character. Often these quotes had some relation to the chapter, but I also thought they worked excellent at bringing the world alive and adding some information and point of views the reader wouldn’t have otherwise. The political intrigue and political system was interesting to read about and I liked slowly learning more of the world. I thought the shapeshifting was super interesting with how the Truthspoken can change their appearance and personality to become someone else. There also is a bit about green magic, which was interesting as well.
To summarize: The Truthspoken Heir is an exciting science fiction read filled with intrigue. I liked reading about these royals who try to keep scheming royals at bay and influence the fate of the kingdom. There are some great twists and turns I didn’t see coming and I loved seeing the story play out. There are chapters from point of views of various character with the focus on the two sisters Adrianna and Dressa. I liked reading about the different characters and I liked how everyone had their own personality and view. The world building is subtle, but really well done and I enjoyed learning more of the world, the magic and truthspoken as the book progressed. I liked the hint of romance and I look forward to seeing how it develops. This book kept my attention from start to finish and I look forward to book 2!
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