HOW THE MULTIVERSE GOT ITS REVENGE by K. Eason – Review #SciFiMonth

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge by K. Eason
Series: The Thorne Chronicles #2
Published by Daw Books on October 27 2020
Genres: Adult, Science fiction
Pages: 416
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: An enjoyable but slightly uneven sequel in K. Eason’s imaginative Star Wars inspired space opera series.

Last year I was surprised by how much I loved How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse, so I was very excited to read the sequel. And for the most part, I enjoyed it. Rory Thorne was more upbeat and character focused, and I thought those things were mostly missing in the sequel. Revenge is a darker story that has a more tightly focused setting and whose plot leans more towards political maneuvering and impending war. I have to admit I missed the sparkling “personality” of the first book, and I didn’t think the pacing was as good. However, having said all that, I do think it was a successful conclusion to the duology, and I thought Eason managed to wrap up her big, sprawling story in a satisfying way.

And do beware of minor spoilers for the first book! The sequel takes place two years after the events of Rory Thorne. Rory, formerly the Princess of the Confederation of Liberated Worlds, has given up her title in lieu of a less complicated life, i.e. traveling through space with her friends Jaed, Zhang and Thorsdottir and looking for salvage opportunities on abandoned ships. Back on firm ground, Rupert, the former Vizier, and Grytt, Rory’s former bodymaid, are now living a life of ease on Lanscot. One day, Rupert gets a concerning message from a fairy (one of Rory’s fairies from the first book) who tells him that Rory might be in danger, and so he arranges a flight on a ship and heads out into Confederate space.

Meanwhile, Rory and her friends have found a derelict ship, and they’ve decided to board it to see if there is anything good to salvage. The unexpected discovery of what proves to be an unusual Tadeshi weapon puts them on a dangerous path: a xeno race called the vakari are enroute to intercept the weapon, which if used could have dire consequences.

With Rupert headed for the impending conflict to rescue Rory, and Rory and her friends standing between a lethal weapon and a murderous alien race, it will take all of Rory’s Princess skills of negotiation to survive.

Revenge continues to build on Eason’s fascinating idea of arithmancy, an interesting combination of magic and hard sci-fi, although in this book the emphasis is definitely more on the “hard” aspects with the science front and center. For those who haven’t read the first book, arithmancy is the ability to access different layers of reality with one’s mind and use computer code to create hexes (or disable them), unlock doors, and do all manner of sneaking around. Arithmancers like Rory and Jaed can also see and read auras, and although this ability sounds really cool, like most magic, it takes a physical toll on the person involved. In this book we meet a new alien species called the vakari who are far superior at arithmancy than humans are, and I loved seeing Rory and Jaed struggle with the fact that they are being outwitted (Rory, being a former Princess, has a bit of an ego!)

Because the characters are scattered across space, more or less, we didn’t get the cohesive ensemble story that I enjoyed so much in the first book. However, on a positive note, this gave us a chance to get to know some of the side characters more, and I have to say my favorites this time were without a doubt Thorsdottir and Jaed. Rory is still a main character, but I didn’t like her storyline as much in this book, since she’s more embroiled in politics, and that wasn’t nearly as interesting as what was going on with Thorsdottir and Jaed. Jaed was Rory’s “sort of” romantic interest in the last book, but apparently she gave him the dreaded “let’s just be friends” speech (off page), which leaves Jaed open to other pursuits. Thorsdottir and Jaed spend lots of time together in this book, and I loved their interactions and slowly blossoming something–I won’t call it romance, but it felt like a slow burn and I loved it. I would seriously love a Thorsdottir and Jaed story in the future!

As far as negatives go, I would say my biggest disappointment was the resolution of the weapon and everything that happened when it was discovered. I really don’t want to spoil things so I’m going to be vague, but let’s just say that I absolutely loved the idea of it, and the fact that the weapon is sentient (sorry, small spoiler!), and the fact that the weapon and Thorsdottir have some very cool interactions. But I wanted more, and it sort of felt like the weapon’s storyline fizzled out at the end, even though things were more or less resolved. 

Once again Eason frames her story by having a “chronicler” relate the events. It didn’t bother me much in Rory Thorne, but for some reason, this time I had more trouble with the formality of the prose and the frequent interruptions by the chronicler. This really is a great story with lots of interesting characters, tense political situations and plenty of action, but unfortunately these positives are sometimes buried in the tedious “asides” that the chronicler loves to throw in. I did happen to read an interview with Eason recently that said she got her inspiration from the narration style of The Princess Bride, which actually explains a lot, but I do wonder how the story would read without so much filler.

Ultimately, I did end up enjoying How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge, and I actually loved the way Eason wrapped everything up. At least for the ending, I thought the narrative format actually worked, as it gives the story a definitive ending, even if it’s implied that Rory and the gang still have many more adventures ahead of them. This is only a duology, however in that same interview, Eason says she’s already working on another story set in the same world, but this time in the future with different characters. I have to admit I’m intrigued!

Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.

Read my review of How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse