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The Emperor's Twin
A dark space opera unfolds in the shadow of a crumbling multi-species empire driven by a nihilistic quest for power.
The central palace of Crysth is overrun; the empire has surrendered to an invading army led by Wilhelmina Ming, a traitor from its own capital city. But the invader's power source is its god—a being they worship but can no longer control after the loss of their high priest in battle. Now, both the invader and the invaded are trapped inside the palace with no way to rein in the eldritch force that has taken over—and no choice but to join together against it.
Ming's last hope is Speaker, the slain emperor's twin and former imperial steward who is somehow bonded with the deity.
A wannabe artist and writer, Speaker has been held hostage for months, forced to recount the final days of the empire in the hopes that something in these details might give a clue as to the god's desires and motives. The Emperor's Twin weaves a gripping tale of hidden truths and political intrigue, unraveling the threads of an empire’s downfall and revealing the key to confronting the malevolent force that threatens them all.
The central palace of Crysth is overrun; the empire has surrendered to an invading army led by Wilhelmina Ming, a traitor from its own capital city. But the invader's power source is its god—a being they worship but can no longer control after the loss of their high priest in battle. Now, both the invader and the invaded are trapped inside the palace with no way to rein in the eldritch force that has taken over—and no choice but to join together against it.
Ming's last hope is Speaker, the slain emperor's twin and former imperial steward who is somehow bonded with the deity.
A wannabe artist and writer, Speaker has been held hostage for months, forced to recount the final days of the empire in the hopes that something in these details might give a clue as to the god's desires and motives. The Emperor's Twin weaves a gripping tale of hidden truths and political intrigue, unraveling the threads of an empire’s downfall and revealing the key to confronting the malevolent force that threatens them all.
- GenresScience Fiction
240 pages, Hardcover
Published September 23, 2025
4 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 4, 2025
Review originally on JamReads
The Emperor's Twin is a dark space opera novel, written by Honey Watson, published by Talos Press. After the excellent Lessons in Birdwatching, Watson returns with another unique proposal, examining themes such as the quest and price behind power and the nature behind beliefs, weaving together different timelines to deliver an impactful novel that doesn't resemble anything I've read.
Wilhemina Ming has overrun the central palace of Crysth, becoming a traitor to her own empire; however, the army's power source, an eldritch force, can no longer be controlled. Both forces, invader and invaded, are trapped inside the palace; with the god taking over, they have no choice but to collaborate. Ming's hope is Speaker, the slain emperor's twin, who is somehow bonded with divinity: through his recount about the last days of the empire, they must find the desires and motives of the god, hoping to gain control again over it; a story that shows the empire's fall and might hide the key to confront the force that has taken over.
In terms of characterization, you can expect a certain rawness in how Watson portrayed the actors in our story. They are in a desperate situation, but that is far from being an inhibitor for them, pushing them to act. I feel that when we are inside Speaker's POV, there's a bit more of nuance, especially as we are in the recount of how the empire fell, and there's still a motive to keep the appearances.
The worldbuilding is another of the highlights of the novel, as the mix between technology and mysticism quite clashes as ideas, but they work really well as the backdrop for our novel, giving us an intriguing idea to explore. The pacing is in a sweet spot, keeping you pumped while wondering what you just have read (trust me, it's weird, but it's worth).
The Emperor's Twin is a great dark space opera novel, a proposal that is unlike anything you've read; if you are looking for something different and ambitious, you have here your next read. A sophomore novel that confirms Watson as a voice to watch if you want to be challenged by your reads.
The Emperor's Twin is a dark space opera novel, written by Honey Watson, published by Talos Press. After the excellent Lessons in Birdwatching, Watson returns with another unique proposal, examining themes such as the quest and price behind power and the nature behind beliefs, weaving together different timelines to deliver an impactful novel that doesn't resemble anything I've read.
Wilhemina Ming has overrun the central palace of Crysth, becoming a traitor to her own empire; however, the army's power source, an eldritch force, can no longer be controlled. Both forces, invader and invaded, are trapped inside the palace; with the god taking over, they have no choice but to collaborate. Ming's hope is Speaker, the slain emperor's twin, who is somehow bonded with divinity: through his recount about the last days of the empire, they must find the desires and motives of the god, hoping to gain control again over it; a story that shows the empire's fall and might hide the key to confront the force that has taken over.
In terms of characterization, you can expect a certain rawness in how Watson portrayed the actors in our story. They are in a desperate situation, but that is far from being an inhibitor for them, pushing them to act. I feel that when we are inside Speaker's POV, there's a bit more of nuance, especially as we are in the recount of how the empire fell, and there's still a motive to keep the appearances.
The worldbuilding is another of the highlights of the novel, as the mix between technology and mysticism quite clashes as ideas, but they work really well as the backdrop for our novel, giving us an intriguing idea to explore. The pacing is in a sweet spot, keeping you pumped while wondering what you just have read (trust me, it's weird, but it's worth).
The Emperor's Twin is a great dark space opera novel, a proposal that is unlike anything you've read; if you are looking for something different and ambitious, you have here your next read. A sophomore novel that confirms Watson as a voice to watch if you want to be challenged by your reads.
November 15, 2025
The follow-up to Watson's 2023 debut Lessons in Birdwatching, Ming & Xar's conquest is almost complete. They have seized the 40k-esque Palace Ship of the empire, and while the latter spends his days trying to cleanse the ship of eldritch god beasts, the former toils away trying to extract knowledge from their prisoner known as "Speaker." Filled with the trappings of the first - eldritch, unknowable notreal deities and demons, body augmentation, space politics, ridiculously inefficient ritualistic governance, and a lot of space semen - Watson continues the weird, orgistic space opera of the former novel but further complicates it with the alternating perspective of someone not clued into what the hell is going on.
Like the first novel, my favourite part of this is it's playfulness with the temporal elements of it's narrative. Things are described after they've occurred, as they occur, before they occur; things are mentioned as having occurred but are shown later in real-time at later points of the novel; events are told that could occur, but didn't occur in that way. As the unknowable, notreal, doesn't-exist god of contradictions, deconstruction and amalgamated contorts and undulates through space & time, the narrative does too. And so too does the knowledge and expectations of the different characters involved. Ming believes she knows what's going on, but what she knows and what is revealed twists and contorts around her. Xar doesn't really believe things can be known, but he is shown things that dazzle and confuse. Speaker comes to learn the truth of events they believed they knew, and also realising they cannot know anything at all. It's a mess of doubts, confusions, certainty and surprises that is just as messy as the godbeasts that overrun the Palace Ship.
It's shorter than I would've liked. It felt a little cliffhanger-y in the end, but also in it's own sick & twisted way, an apt finale for the ever-certain-arrogant demon Ming.
There is so much semen in space though.
Like the first novel, my favourite part of this is it's playfulness with the temporal elements of it's narrative. Things are described after they've occurred, as they occur, before they occur; things are mentioned as having occurred but are shown later in real-time at later points of the novel; events are told that could occur, but didn't occur in that way. As the unknowable, notreal, doesn't-exist god of contradictions, deconstruction and amalgamated contorts and undulates through space & time, the narrative does too. And so too does the knowledge and expectations of the different characters involved. Ming believes she knows what's going on, but what she knows and what is revealed twists and contorts around her. Xar doesn't really believe things can be known, but he is shown things that dazzle and confuse. Speaker comes to learn the truth of events they believed they knew, and also realising they cannot know anything at all. It's a mess of doubts, confusions, certainty and surprises that is just as messy as the godbeasts that overrun the Palace Ship.
It's shorter than I would've liked. It felt a little cliffhanger-y in the end, but also in it's own sick & twisted way, an apt finale for the ever-certain-arrogant demon Ming.
There is so much semen in space though.
December 24, 2025
Too many fictions treat space colonialism as something transcendent. But this universe knows that even in space, colonialism is rapacious, unforgiving and rapey. Worlds are destroyed, and the bedroom is not a safe space. Can’t wait for the next chapter, even if the author is a golden knights fan.
November 13, 2025
DNF…. Couldn’t get through it. Never take a book recc from twitter accounts.
December 10, 2025
I couldn’t put this one down, a very original sci-fi!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews