Cloak of War - Rhonda Mason

The bloody tournament to determine the new empress of the intergalactic empire may be over, but for Reinumon, the battle is just beginning. To free her home planet from occupation, Kayla must infiltrate the highest reaches of imperial power. But when a deadly nanovirus threatens to ravage the empire, it will take more than diplomacy to protect her homeworld from all-out war. 

My thoughts:

It is getting intense in this one. The arena fights are over, Kayla won as her princess persona and now the real princess is in a coma so Kayla has to keep the charade up.

Kayla, well she is a fighter, obviously. And she does not have it easy. She had no choice than to fight in the arena. She has to pretend to be the princess. All because of who she was. And it does make me dislike the princess and the ones doing it to Kayla. She just wants her family and her country back.

It's not always easy to know who the bad ones are here. Yes I get that the princess has her plans, and she does want Wyrd space to be free. So she does get that the Empire is bad. But the way she does it, not cool.

There is a lot of action. Bad guys, conspiracies, space travel, a big bad virus, yes like I said things are heating up. And it did make it an interesting ride.

I tried to check since it does give me a YA feeling, but no one had placed it under YA, so I am unsure. But it really works both as adult and YA. Adult for the kick-ass stuff, YA because of the simpler way of it all.

It was good, fast paced and kept me entertained.

Cover
Ok

Paperback, 352 pages
Published October 25th 2016 by Titan Books
The Empress Game Trilogy #2
Sci.fi, space opera
free in exchange for an unbiased review

Behind the throne - KB Wagers

Hail Bristol has made a name for herself in the galaxy for everything except what she was born to do: rule the Indranan Empire. 

When she is dragged back to her home planet to take her rightful place as the only remaining heir, she finds that trading her ship for a palace is her most dangerous move yet. 

My thoughts:

There were many cool things about this book. Ohh let's make a list!

First we have a kick-ass gunrunner, smart, sassy, and she is actually a runaway princess. And now heir to the throne, ohh drama!

Second it's sci-fi, which is always cool. Not so much space-ship stuff, mostly land and tech stuff (I like that)

Third, this empire is one ruled by matriarchs. Go girlpower! Of course that is not perfect either since men do not get the same chances as women, but as a storyline I love it. Women are all in charge. It's interesting.

Fourth cool thing is the culture, it's Hindu, yes other things too, but the first settlers must have been from India. As in religion, manners of speech, dress, just a nice mix of things. Of course someone who actually knows about India might not like it, but for me; this is the future. Things have surely gotten mixed up on the way there. They are on a planet far far away of course. And you have to think that other cultures have blended in too. I just liked what I got. A mix of things, where one thing showed more.

The story is, someone is after her, since her family is dead. Who wants to bring down the empire? And she will not rest until they are found. Of course now she is also to be Empress, a former gunrunner. A well known criminal. Oh I like it.

Conclusion:

Action, politics and I do look forward to the next one. She will keep the Empire on its toes.

Cover

First I was no, now I am yes

Kindle Edition, 432 pages
Expected publication: August 2nd 2016 by Orbit
The Indranan War #1
Sci-fi
NG