How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse

 How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse by K. Eason, 416 pages.

Rory Thorne is the princess of an inherited monarchy which is also a space corporation. She's also a direct descendant of Sleeping Beauty, and as the first girl born to the line in centuries, she receives thirteen fairy blessings on her naming day. Some are grace and harp skills, but the most dramatic is the ability to see through any lies and flattery. 

When her brother is born she is no longer the heir, and before too long learns that the political role of daughters is often as bargaining chips for marriages. She's shipped off to the space station ruled by her betrothed (who doesn't seem to be around) to wait for the two years before she comes of age and gets married. And if some extremely shady stuff is going on with the regent? Surely she can't be expected to just ignore it.

I really, really liked this book. I was expecting a space opera with sort of fairy tale aesthetics, and was very impressed with how much the author committed to this book truly being both fairy tale and science fiction. I also really liked Rory. She plays a little against type for the archetype of the strong, brash heroine by actually listening to and genuinely respecting her mentors, which I found very refreshing. This book was a whole lot of fun while also having the ability to take it's serious moments seriously, and overall it's something even better than the fun, silly book I was expecting. Also apparently Rory is a space pirate in the second book and oh boy am I excited to read THAT.

The Sympathizer

 The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, 371 pages.

The narrator of this political thriller is a communist double agent implanted with a Vietnamese general at the end of the Vietnam war. The story follows him as he flees Vietnam with the general after the fall of Saigon and begins living in a refugee community in California, where political maneuvering continues to happen.

For all that this book is a Pulitzer Prize winner I am sad to say I did not care for it at all. I would think it would be hard for a thriller to be boring, but that is the only word I can use to describe my experience of it. Even events that would normally be very exciting or tense were rendered anything but by the very detached and meandering narrative voice. I'm sure there must be redeeming factors for people to like this book so much, but I personally definitely had a hard time finishing it.