Victoria Goddard

While His Radiancy is off on adventures finding his heir, Cliopher is fulfilling his duties as the Viceroy of Zunidh and head of the government, preparing to hand the government off when he and his friend both retire. But he rather wishes he could be on adventures, too, and his misses his friend, His Radiance, the last Emperor of Astandalas, greatly.

Whew boy, where do I even start? That plot summary doesn't even come close to a true plot summary of this sprawling sequel to both The Hands of the Emperor and The Return of Fitzroy Angursell, but I had so much fun seeing how everything developed that I hesitate to give anything away. And yet, how do I talk about my reactions to the book in a review that is cohesive without abounding in spoiler tags? Well. Suffice it to say, then, that I enjoyed returning to Cliopher's story. I had thought a lot of his hesitancy about himself had been resolved in The Hands of the Emperor, but he still has some things to work through here and I did get a little impatient at points when the plot seemed to flag while he vacillated. The characters, though, are fantastic and I care deeply about them to the point where I was both laughing with delight and nearly crying when more emotional things happen to them. Getting to see Cliopher go off on an adventure of his own was very satisfying, and seeing him become the equal - not that he hadn't been, but in his own mind - of his great friend, made me so very happy.… (mehr)

This was a very easy read: Science Fiction just done, not lengthily discussed or even dissected but a fun ride of merely 10.000 words.

Elegant prose, witty dry humour and a fragment of a story that I would have been interested in reading a full-length novel about.

Five stars out of five.

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Ceterum censeo Putin esse delendam… (mehr)

This is the only sci-fi novella Victoria Goddard has written. Naturally, the fangirl has to try it.

Fun, snarky space opera detected! I am getting Lois McMaster Bujold vibes (In particular, "A Civil Campaign" and "Captain Vorpatril's Alliance"). The author knows what she is doing, and there are very clear nods to Bujold.

Some genre tropes get dissected – in school, people of this universe are told that spaceship faster-than-light engines run on “magic”. I think these teachers were probably lying shamelessly, but this is how we roll. Do I dare suppose that Victoria Goddard had read some sci-fi? 😉

Her name is Portia. The name, the name! This is such a clever and lovely literary allusion from Goddard, you’ll see why later in the story.

Portia runs a galactic courier service, sometimes off the radar, but nothing illegal, mind. She is tough – of course. She is competent – of course. She is a great pilot – of course. Also, her hobby is making spaceship engine models – origami ones. Portia, I think you have my heart.

Now she is going to a wedding of a childhood friend. “I promised Vlad I’d be at his wedding when I was ten.” Portia keeps her promises.

There are some complications on the way, such as black holes, event horizons, and Lovecraftian monsters that attack spaceships (yes!). But she makes it, no worries.

Do you want some nice quotes? Here you go:

“Portia, how did you get here?”
“By spaceship. Yourself?”

“I couldn’t think what Trev’s interests were – drinking, I’d thought.”

“...when the Generalissimo came in surrounded by a pack of leaping puppies – sorry, young men of rank and station and good clothing…”

Do you think this story will end just like it’s supposed to? Can you guess? There was one very nice little twist that I didn’t see coming, though. Awwwwww.… (mehr)