There are few archetypes as exquisite as a wonderfully written royal. The rogue, the runaway, the wrathful. Whether it’s in a fantasy kingdom or catapulting through the stars this character is truly *chef’s kiss*. Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell is just the latest addition to make good on that promise. This debut is bursting with romance and the escapism of a good space opera.
Winter’s Orbit follows Prince Kiem, who has a reputation for being utterly disappointing and the Emperor’s least favorite grandkid. He’s created this scandal-prone reptation that I can’t help but find charming. The best he can do for his family is become used as a pawn to strengthen ties between them and a new vassal planet. The Emperor does exactly that, and so Prince Kiem is commanded to marry Count Jainan. Now, where Kiem is a space rake, Jainan is softer, quieter. Jainan is a recent widower of an entirely different prince, and to make matters more complicated, he is a suspect in his late husband’s death. As the princes get closer, can their union become more than a peace treaty between an empire and its vassal planet?
Buy the Book
Winter’s Orbit
Here’s a list of five other Science Fiction and Fantasy novels with royals that will abscond with your heart.
A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown
If, like me, hate-to-love is your bag, look no further than A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown. This debut fantasy takes its inspiration from West African folklore and creates a rich and magical world. Malik and his family are refugees looking for a new life in the prosperous city of Ziran. But when an evil spirit abducts his younger sister, Malik offers to do anything to get her back. The only thing he was to do is kill the new queen, Karina. His best chance to get close to her is by entering in the Solstasia festival competition.
But Karina has problems of her own. After her mother’s murder, she’s thrust into queendom, and she has no idea if she’s cut out for it. In a moment of desperation, she makes a deal to resurrect her dead mother. Naturally, there’s a high price for her, too. The heart of a king. Luckily for Karina, she offers her hand in marriage to the winner of Solstasia’s competition.
I love Malik. He is a perfect example of a soft, loveable hero. But I want to shine a light on Karina. MY GRRL. She takes the reins of her destiny and makes things happen. This is not someone you want battling against you, and yet, the best moments are when she and Malik are realizing that may, just maybe, in the process of needing to kill each other, they might have caught feelings.
Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik
We’re still in a pandemic so, escape way, way out of this world with Jessie Mihalik’s Consortium Rebellion trilogy. Book one, Polaris Rising follows a space! princess! on the run, as well as the outlaw she strikes a bargain with. Leia and Han vibes can commence from here on out. In Polaris Rising, Princess Ada chose to flee instead of accepting a political marriage. For two years, she’s survived on her own but then she’s caught and thrown into a cell with an alleged murder called the Devil of Fornax Zero. Infamous for having killed his squad, this space rake might be her only way to escape. When her jilted ex ruins everything by intercepting her ship bound for Earth, Ada makes a deal with the Devil. Literally. This rebel princess is everything I love from a heroine. The romance is ~hot~, the dialogue is snappy, and the series is complete and ready for you to binge.
Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott
I do not use the phrase “I would read this author’s grocery list” lightly. But when it comes to Kate Elliott, that is applicable. Kate Elliott’s latest, Unconquerable Sun, gender-remixes the ancient Greek ruler Alexander the Great in Princess Sun, a girl who has come of age under the shadow of her fierce mother. Sun has a legacy to contend with. Her mother, Eirene, is the fierce queen-marshal who expelled invaders and turned their land into a republic. But, as her family’s enemies scheme to rid Chaonia of its heir, Princess Sun turns to unlikely allies to survive. Among them are her biggest rival, her secret love, and a dangerous prisoner of war. What I love about Sun is that she’s a cunning sci-fi heroine who is imperfect, and all the better for that. Elliott’s space opera is so detailed that you can see all aspects of the cultures and politics she’s created, which makes for excellent tension.
A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy
If you want a little less romance and more along the lines of family drama, then A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy has the murderous royals for you. Amanda Joy’s debut follows two sisters who must battle to the death in order to determine which of them will rule the Ivory Throne. A River of Royal Blood follows Eva, a princess born with the magick of blood and marrow. This kind of magick hasn’t been around for generations of Myre’s Queendom, and it’s the source of the rivalry. This kind of murderous family history gives rise to corruption, so much so that assassins are on Eva’s trail. When so many people want you dead, you have to turn to someone for help. That help arrives in the form of a fae prince who helps Eva wield her ancient magick. But even harnessing this skill may not be enough. Eva’s lineage is built on familicide. Is power worth the love she still has for her sister?
Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco
If you’ve been missing the paranormal romance subset of fantasy, then Kerri Maniscalco’s Kingdom of the Wicked might scratch that itch. It has witches from Italian folklore, a quest for vengeance, and romance with a dark prince of hell who feels like an embodiment of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. In Kingdom of the Wicked, twins Emilia and Vittoria are streghe (witches) who live secretly among humans. When Emilia finds Vittoria’s body dead and desecrated she will do everything possible to get the justice her sister deserves. Here comes Wrath, one of the Wicked princes of Hell. He claims to want to help Emilia and that he’s been instructed to solve the other murders of women on their island. I mean, “trust me” feels like famous last words when such a dark prince is involved. Emilia isn’t ready to trust, but her relationship with Wrath is such a simmering slow burn. They want to kill each other and also kiss, which is my favorite kind of conflict. Emilia has witnessed the worst thing that could have ever happened to her sister, and she’s smart in being wary of trusting Wrath. For starters, his name is Wrath… But for this prince of hell, there is more to him than meets the eye.
Zoraida Córdova is the award-winning author of the Brooklyn Brujas series, The Vicious Deep trilogy, and Star Wars: A Crash of Fate. Her short fiction has appeared in the New York Times bestselling anthology Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View, and Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women and Witchcraft. Zoraida was born in Ecuador and raised in Queens, New York. When she isn’t working on her next novel, she’s planning a new adventure.
To (probably mis)quote Charles Stross: Another name for a monarch is hereditary dictator.
@1, An absolute monarch that is. The queen of England for instance seldom gets a chance to dictate anything as far as I can tell.
Oh! *squeaks happily* I hadn’t realised The Course of Honour (its original title on AO3) had finally been published, probably because I didn’t know the writer’s real name till now. I love that story. Kiem and Jainan are such beautifully-drawn characters, and the less major characters aren’t neglected either. Well, I’m going to have to grab Winter’s Orbit, then! I’ve re-read the original so many times I know bits of it by heart, so I’ll be interested to see how involving a publisher and probably an editor may have altered it (though it does, thankfully, sound like it hasn’t changed out of recognition).
#1 – as Lmaclean implies at #2, monarchy and absolute monarchy are not the same thing at all.
Queen Elizabeth II is essentially a figurehead in many ways, though her family do do a fair bit for tourism and charity. She doesn’t have the kind of power a dictator would, and one could only be misled into believing she does by ignorance. Queen Victoria was closer to the idea, but even she didn’t have absolute power.
The control of the monarchy in mainland Britain has dwindled quite a lot over the course of the last millennium. It’s an interesting facet of British history to analyse how and why that happened, and not something even we citizens generally focus on at school (the furthest back we tend to study is briefly touching on 1066 and skipping half the Plantagenets to get to Richard III, unless you concentrate on British History as a subject at A level).
The irony of this discussion thread when it has been revealed over the weekend Queen Elizabeth had been using something called “Queen’s consent” to hear about potential laws being drafted and lobby for changes to laws that impact her negatively, such as modifying a financial transparency law in 1973 to allow her to create a shell company to hide wealth.
@1 The Stross quote may be
“A princess is the larval reproductive host in the life cycle of a parasitic hereditary dictatorship”
from Dark State.
Gosh, there’s a certain killjoy air in this room. …
Repeat after me: “One can revel in space princesses and princes while also deploring monarchism in real life.” I know it’s a mouthful, but do try; it will add so much enjoyment to your life.
King Randor and Queen Marlena, OTP4Eva! The very picture of an enlightened monarchy and who deeply love each other all the way into middle age. They even coped with the abduction of their daughter, and they have this utter twit for a son who keeps vanishing everytime there is trouble.
I’ll say this for monarchy, especially absolute ones, at least claiming to be chosen by God to be rulers is better than being the best psychopath the board could pick for CEO. And they don’t lie about being chosen by people instead of by corporate donors.
Gordon r dickson Call him Lord.
Arkady Martine A memory called empire.
It would be remiss not to mention Kell and Rhy Maresh of the Shades of Magic trilogy by V. E. Schwab.
Rod and Sally
Aliette De Bodard Fireheart Tiger
@7 What book or series is that from I don’t recognize the names? How about Gregor and Leisa and Miles and Ekaterin in Civil Campaign by Lois McMasters Bujold. Lord Vorpatril’s Alliance in the same series is also fun.
@13
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, original Filmation version.
Here is one of the best couple of episodes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGYL3X5kK_0 [The Randor and Marlena stuff starts properly around the 4:30 mark.
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmfzKotk2hE
and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hzm8LsIDOk 17min mark
And many others of course.
Princess Laurana Kanan from the Dragonlance books. Be it facing down an enormous dragon to save her people or standing against her people’s prejudice and isolationism, there’s no more heroic and impressive royal character in SFF.
The al Qahtani and Nahid children in S.A. Chakraborty’s Daevabad trilogy are all great. Especially my boy Muntadhir.
The feisty Princess Leia and her mother Queen and later Senator Padme Amidala?
Princess Lianna of Edmond Hamilton’s The Star Kings?
The somewhat psychopathic Prince Roger Macklintock?