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A review by thebakersbooks
How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse by K. Eason
5.0
4.5/5 stars — a clever and heartfelt space opera with a fairy tale twist
Rory Thorne—princess, diplomat, and arithmancer—continues the tradition of Leia, Cimorene, and Winter while carving her own place in the collection of stubborn, smart royals determined to better life for more than just themselves. K. Eason's How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse is a wonderfully convoluted story populated with characters so three-dimensional they feel like people you've known for years. A voicy third-person narrator cements this book's spot among my favorites.
That narration (the story is told from an omnipresent third-person POV) merits another mention of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, of which Princess Cimorene is the main character. The narrator is a historian recounting the events of the book, but with witty insight and dry humor that remind me of that and other favorites, including Good Omens and The Good Place. The omniscient third was the perfect perspective for this book, adding texture and tension as it switched between characters and spanned the time from Rory's childhood to her present teenage years. It also worked well to impart worldbuilding details and background in logic-sanctioned infodumps, so to speak.
And the worldbuilding and multiverse history are deserving of every mini tangent the narrator takes from Rory's story. There are fairies who bestow gifts and/or curses, but they're more like aliens. The humans in the kingdom of Thorne originated on Earth, and still have ceremonies and customs that are throwbacks to ones from the "homeworld." There's magic...but don't let an alchemist or an arithmancer hear you call it that. I enjoyed the amount of structure applied to the arithmancy; the author establishes rules and consequences, as with every good magic system, but also goes beyond the "it works because it's magic" handwaving you get in some stories. "Magic" has predictable limits and capabilities, and the reader can understand them well enough to make leaps of intuition based on what they've learned. None of the arithmancy the characters use feels like deus ex machina. Rory is an arithmancer, but not the most skilled one in the book. Her success tends to stem from creativity and determination.
The only thing that bothered me about this novel (and the reason for my .5-star deduction) was the very end. The climax and most of the conclusion were excellent, but then the "...After" epilogue section felt like it tried to do too much. Particularly since I think this is the first in a duology, the later book could likely have woven those events in more smoothly.I also have mixed feelings about the implication (at the end of the main story, not in the epilogue) that Rory and Jaed loved each other. It was one thing for Jaed to love the person who helped him escape his cruel family and lonely circumstances, but it didn't seem like Rory was invested as more than an ally verging on friend yet.
Finally, a few tidbits I loved! 1. In the very first chapter, there's the phrase "the name Rory could function for all genders." Not necessarily groundbreaking in a book where alien species with more than two genders exist, but I'm much more likely to trust an author who acknowledges right away that gender is a spectrum rather than a binary. 2. The Regent-Consort (Rory's mother) and the Thorne Vizier have a bit of a 'Queen Clarisse and Joe' (from The Princess Diaries) thing going on, and it's very cute. 3. The Kreshti ferns, which change color based on the aura (emotions, basically) of those near them. Those were a particularly cool detail, and I loved how Rory eventually used hers to her advantage.
I give this book my highest recommendation, particularly to readers/viewers who've enjoyed space operas along the lines of Star Wars, Firefly, and the Dune series. This has all the intricate, knife's-edge politics of Dune with none of the questionable tropes; all the excitement of Star Wars and Firefly with a better grasp on the idea of what it means to be a strong female character. I'm very excited for the next Thorne chronicle!
content warnings: death of a parent, familial abuse, suicide bombing
** I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. **
Rory Thorne—princess, diplomat, and arithmancer—continues the tradition of Leia, Cimorene, and Winter while carving her own place in the collection of stubborn, smart royals determined to better life for more than just themselves. K. Eason's How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse is a wonderfully convoluted story populated with characters so three-dimensional they feel like people you've known for years. A voicy third-person narrator cements this book's spot among my favorites.
That narration (the story is told from an omnipresent third-person POV) merits another mention of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, of which Princess Cimorene is the main character. The narrator is a historian recounting the events of the book, but with witty insight and dry humor that remind me of that and other favorites, including Good Omens and The Good Place. The omniscient third was the perfect perspective for this book, adding texture and tension as it switched between characters and spanned the time from Rory's childhood to her present teenage years. It also worked well to impart worldbuilding details and background in logic-sanctioned infodumps, so to speak.
And the worldbuilding and multiverse history are deserving of every mini tangent the narrator takes from Rory's story. There are fairies who bestow gifts and/or curses, but they're more like aliens. The humans in the kingdom of Thorne originated on Earth, and still have ceremonies and customs that are throwbacks to ones from the "homeworld." There's magic...but don't let an alchemist or an arithmancer hear you call it that. I enjoyed the amount of structure applied to the arithmancy; the author establishes rules and consequences, as with every good magic system, but also goes beyond the "it works because it's magic" handwaving you get in some stories. "Magic" has predictable limits and capabilities, and the reader can understand them well enough to make leaps of intuition based on what they've learned. None of the arithmancy the characters use feels like deus ex machina. Rory is an arithmancer, but not the most skilled one in the book. Her success tends to stem from creativity and determination.
The only thing that bothered me about this novel (and the reason for my .5-star deduction) was the very end. The climax and most of the conclusion were excellent, but then the "...After" epilogue section felt like it tried to do too much. Particularly since I think this is the first in a duology, the later book could likely have woven those events in more smoothly.
Finally, a few tidbits I loved! 1. In the very first chapter, there's the phrase "the name Rory could function for all genders." Not necessarily groundbreaking in a book where alien species with more than two genders exist, but I'm much more likely to trust an author who acknowledges right away that gender is a spectrum rather than a binary. 2. The Regent-Consort (Rory's mother) and the Thorne Vizier have a bit of a 'Queen Clarisse and Joe' (from The Princess Diaries) thing going on, and it's very cute. 3. The Kreshti ferns, which change color based on the aura (emotions, basically) of those near them. Those were a particularly cool detail, and I loved how Rory eventually used hers to her advantage.
I give this book my highest recommendation, particularly to readers/viewers who've enjoyed space operas along the lines of Star Wars, Firefly, and the Dune series. This has all the intricate, knife's-edge politics of Dune with none of the questionable tropes; all the excitement of Star Wars and Firefly with a better grasp on the idea of what it means to be a strong female character. I'm very excited for the next Thorne chronicle!
content warnings: death of a parent, familial abuse, suicide bombing
** I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. **