Bonds of Brass
2020 • 304 pages
Ratings11
Average rating3.3
15
Ratings11
Average rating3.3
A young pilot risks everything to save his best friend—the man he trusts most and might even love—only to learn that his friend is secretly the heir to a brutal galactic empire. “An exciting space opera full of action and adventure that explores the bonds of loyalty and love, and what happens when they are stretched to their limits.”—Rebecca Roanhorse, Nebula and Hugo award–winning author of Trail of Lightning Ettian’s life was shattered when the merciless Umber Empire invaded his world. He’s spent seven years putting himself back together under its rule, joining an Umber military academy and becoming the best pilot in his class. Even better, he’s met Gal—his exasperating and infuriatingly enticing roommate who’s made the academy feel like a new home. But when dozens of classmates spring an assassination plot on Gal, a devastating secret comes to light: Gal is the heir to the Umber Empire. Ettian barely manages to save his best friend and flee the compromised academy unscathed, rattled that Gal stands to inherit the empire that broke him, and that there are still people willing to fight back against Umber rule. As they piece together a way to deliver Gal safely to his throne, Ettian finds himself torn in half by an impossible choice. Does he save the man who’s won his heart and trust that Gal’s goodness could transform the empire? Or does he throw his lot in with the brewing rebellion and fight to take back what’s rightfully theirs? Praise for Bonds of Brass “Skrutskie’s Bonds of Brass is a high-octane galactic adventure replete with heart, drama, and a keen edge of pain.”—Caitlin Starling, author of The Luminous Dead “Full of breathless action and dazzling characters, Bonds of Brass is space opera at its most exciting.”—Adam Christopher, author of Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Town
Series
3 primary booksThe Bloodright Trilogy is a 3-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2020 with contributions by Emily Skrutskie.
Reviews with the most likes.
Bonds of Brass sounded like a lot of fun: space opera with a prince in disguise whose best friend/crush had no idea about his identity until others try to assassinate him. And it is fun and generally fast-paced with all that going down in the first 20 pages, but I didn't find the characters compelling enough for it to be a book that really stuck with me. (Plus the further I got into the book, the more I felt that Ettian could do so much better than the friend he's in love with, whose charisma and good qualities seemed stronger in Ettian's memories than in the present.)
But I did like Wen, Ettian, and their friendship and it did keep me interested enough to finish reading it, although I doubt I'll be reading the sequel.
Full Review on My Website
This was a fun ride. I'm sometimes overwhelmed by sprawling space operas, so this interplanetary story with a small but mighty cast of characters was a welcome relief. I drew several parallels to Pierce Brown's Red Rising series (apart from RR's expansive cast) – propulsive pacing, an absorbing narrative, and a charming underdog looking to topple his subjugators. Ettian's personal journey and evolution of loyalty is quite compelling. Author Emily Skrutskie unspools his story slowly and pulls on his allegiances from several different directions.
The tone of Skrutskie's prose is casual yet sharp, which is always a nice combination and makes for a pleasant reading experience. I tend to gloss over extended space battle scenes, but her descriptions of space flight and aerial dogfights are vivid and engrossing.
Despite a lull in pacing and some rushed story beats in the back half of the novel, I enjoyed this to the end. I'll be interested to see how the future books play out, especially with what unfolded in the final few pages.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.
this book is so good
“it doesn't seem possible that in a galaxy where empires rule entire systems, where city-ships wage war, where annihilation is a threat that can be made good on, there's room for something as small, and tender, as a boy's gentle hand on my throat”
Y E A H
i would like to own this book in hardcover. thanks
this was a lot of fun and i definitely can't wait to read book two. i probably would have rated this 4 stars, but i flagged a little in the middle and actually ended up putting down the book for like three weeks because i was a bit annoyed with how angsty it was feeling from the main characters pov. as much as i understand why, it just grated on me a little at a certain point. i also felt incredibly ambivalent to the side character introduced to make it a trio, which felt like a miss for me. that being said, the pacing was pretty non-stop and high energy, and i really enjoyed the plot and setup happening and will definitely read the next book. while it had a lot of similarities to a certain fandom pairing, it also was it's own fun story, and just felt a lot like a homage rather than just. published fanfic, lol. also that ending, damn.
