How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse

The Thorne Chronicles #1

by K. Eason

The Princess Bride meets Princess Leia in this snarky-smart space opera that puts a feminist twist on classic fairy tale tropes.

Princess Rory Thorne must use the fairy blessings gifted to her at birth to change the multiverse—or possibly destroy it.

Rory Thorne is a princess with 13 fairy blessings, the most important of which is to see through flattery and platitudes. As the eldest daughter, she always imagined she’d inherit her father’s throne and govern the interplanetary Thorne Consortium.

Then her father is assassinated, her mother gives birth to a son, and Rory is betrothed to the prince of a distant world.

When Rory arrives in her new home, she uncovers a treacherous plot to unseat her newly betrothed and usurp his throne. An unscrupulous minister has conspired to name himself Regent to the minor (and somewhat foolish) prince. With only her wits and a small team of allies, Rory must outmaneuver the Regent and rescue the prince.

How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse is a feminist reimagining of familiar fairy tale tropes and a story of resistance and self-determination—how small acts of rebellion can lead a princess to not just save herself, but change the course of history.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, Audiobook, Space Opera, Space

416 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 8, 2019

Reviews

[Miranda Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Whatever happened now, Rory was on her own

Rory Thorne is (quite literally) blessed.

The Thorne family line has only had males for the last 200 years...but thanks to her mother's wish for a daughter, Rory was born.

And with that...came certain obligations.

"Nevertheless, Majesty...You must invite the fairies...so that they may bless her. You know. Beauty, kindness..."
"The boys do all right without that nonsense."

And so the fairies came, each bestowing something wonderful until the thirteenth fairy pops in and cuts off the twelfth fairy.

The thirteenth fairy said this: "I curse you, Rory Thorne: to find no comfort in illusion or platitude, and to know the truth...

The twelfth fairy tries to mitigate the effect and with that, Rory grows up.

She has a little brother (who's awful. Simply awful), her dad dies (not actually a huge deal) and her mom takes over the kingdom (lots of long hours).

Then, the war breaks out.

"Sometimes it doesn't look like much, but there's always a choice."

And as the years go on, Rory realizes that her mom can't handle it much longer...so she concocts a plan - to get hitched to a neighboring king (a few planets over) and she has a vague notion on how to wiggle her way out of an actual marriage.

However...things don't go to plan.

Someone is planning a murder, someone is planning an usurping and someone is setting their sites on Rory.

It's going to take a whole lot a bravery, a bit of courage and a smidge of luck to make her way through this one.

Happily ever after was for children's stories.

Okay. So.

This one had a lot of good bits.

I liked the idea of it - a futuristic retelling of Sleeping Beauty's descendants with other fairytale aspects sprinkled in. It made for an intriguing backdrop and quite a lot of potential.

If I'm being totally honest, Rory was a pretty good main character (overpowering powers aside).

She was thoughtful, independent and resourceful. She was a tad bit too reflective and speculative but it wasn't overwhelming.

The actual book plot...contained disappointingly little destruction of the multiverse.q

I was expecting a lot of twists, turns, fights and heart-pounding action.

Instead, it was more of a spider's web of political intrigue and subtle power plays. It wasn't bad...just not particularly gripping all the time.

Also, was anyone else annoyed by the "curse"?

The thirteenth fairy "cursed" Rory with always knowing the truth...followed by the twelfth fairy "mitigating" that by making Rory always find a way out of bad situations.

I really would've liked to seen an actual curse...cause the "curse" as it stands is probably the most useful thing Rory could've possibly gotten - other than a literal blessing of (essentially) always succeeding.

I wanted to see more struggle! Hardship! Something! Anything!

Instead, we got an overpowered heroine with a guarantee at winning in the end...though, to be fair...that's most YA out there (ha).

The ending picked up though, and rounded out the book wonderfully. I am intrigued enough to pick up book 2!

With thanks to the author and the publishing company for a free copy in exchange for an honest review. All quotes came from an uncorrected proof and are subject to change upon publication.

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[emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

This just wasn't for me.

Nothing particularly wrong with it. Nothing really right with it, either, in my purview.

And...I'm comfortable leaving it at that. Yeah.

That's the review.

Bottom line: Not everything can be for everyone!

---------------
pre-review

no matter what i tried, i couldn't get myself interested in this book.

and i tried, like, 3 things.

review to come / 2.5ish

---------------

challenging myself to read as many review copies as possible this month because i'm addicted to projects!

ARC 1: spaceman of bohemia
ARC 2: in search of us
ARC 3: aerialists
ARC 4: the sound of drowning
ARC 5: unleaving
ARC 6: the other side of luck
ARC 7: romanov
ARC 8: the storm keeper's island
ARC 9: gut check
ARC 10: when force meets fate
ARC 11: sisters in hate
ARC 12: before i disappear
ARC 13: big time
ARC 14: stolen science
ARC 15: have a little faith in me
ARC 16: invitation to a bonfire
ARC 17: the splendor
ARC 18: how to be luminous
ARC 19: the little women cookbook
ARC 20: while we were dating
ARC 21: the lost girls
ARC 22: wait for it
ARC 23: your life has been delayed
ARC 24: a million things
ARC 25: the royals next door
ARC 26: the love hypothesis
ARC 27: we light up the sky
ARC 28: the printed letter bookshop
ARC 29: on location
ARC 30: how rory thorne destroyed the multiverse

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, rounded down because I am annoyed by the plant-as-mood-ring gimmick. Cranky botanist rant: I can't see why or how a plant would have evolved to respond instantly to human moods. Plants don't exist for the convenience of humans.

Otherwise this book is good fun - a bit heavy on the tell and light on the show (again, see plant-as-proxy-for-emotional-state-of-characters), but by the halfway point, I was invested in its characters and outcome. I couldn't quite escape the sense it considered itself a little cleverer than it actually was, but I smirked at a number of zingy one-liners. I would pick up a sequel stat if it were out.

Review to come, maybe.

[Michael Mammay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is big, wonderful space opera with realistic, complex characters. Rory Thorne is, of course, foremost among them--a cross between a young princess Leia and Sansa Stark--but the secondary characters are so well drawn that they almost steal the show. That's not quite right--they don't steal the show--they create the show. The world and its politics are complex and twisty in the best way. Informed by history (it doesn't take much to see the shadows of Scotland and Ireland in the Lanscottirs) this book is a must for fans of intricate, well-devised political drama. In space. Because everything is better if you set it in space.

[Allison Hurd · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this for my GR-to-real-life book club! I forgot we'd picked it, so it was good that was quite quick haha. My general feelings are this was fun, but didn't do anything new--in fact, it kiiinda felt like it was "trying to be different" but wasn't well versed in the genre, and so it just failed the same ways as things that failed 20 years ago.

CONTENT WARNING: extreme misogyny, lots of erasure, psychological torture, medical experimentation.

Things that were fun:

-Modern fairy tale. Real fairies with real fairy wishes! In space!

-Spunky teenage princess. She likes fish and programming! She's pert and clever!

-Mentors. She had 2 mentors! They were good ones!

Things that didn't work for me:

-The setting. This was pure fantasy. The scifi element was just window-dressing. There's magic and fairies and princes and princesses, and instead of running to castles they ran to space stations. Well, except there were also castles, so yeah.

-The plot. Hinky AF. Super convenient, no real hardships or consenquences, everything solved with classic "teens are smarter than dumb adults" type logic.

-Lots of meandering. Several CHAPTERS of this book were unnecessary to the "destroying the multiverse" thing, and let me tell ya, I'm not even sure we really got to the destruction.

-The fairy tale. So, this takes the Disney versions of stories and sandblasts some of the paint and trademark off. We do not engage with the ur myths, their resonance in our culture, nothing like that. Just the cliches, none of the substance.

-The MC. Sigh. Okay, so. She's a princess gifted by fairies with certain traits like courage, and kindness. Except she's... not actually at all kind. She's sometimes "nice" in that she knows she's supposed to feel bad, so she does the hurtful thing and then apologizes. She's sometimes willing not to throw people under buses, or stab them in front of their family but we don't really engage with what kindness or courage is, and she is often neither.

-The inconsistencies. Like above, we're told a lot and shown very little to make us believe it.

-Chronicle storytelling. This is very trendy with the narrator insertion. This can be fun and whimsical, or it can get preachy and obvious. I'll let you surmise which one I found this to be.

-The "feminism." Oy. So listen, I'm'a rant here about our job as feminists. Skip unless you want to join in. Sometimes, as a woman, you're just done with men. I get it. You love 'em, you don't want them all to disappear, (...maybe), but some days it's like they all conspire to make you angry. I understand. But this felt like it was saying the goal of strong women is to break men? And boy is that not the takeaway I have, personally. Furthermore, it feels like this author is asserting that the exceptional woman finds a way to use the power "allotted" to her to do bigger and better things and...yikes! YIKES! That is what ALL oppressed groups do. Constantly, exceptionalism not needed. You use the tools you have to make life tolerable. That's not like a brave statement. In fact, I feel it betrays a lot of the women who've come before. Also, really focused on the privilege of wealth, conventional beauty, whiteness, etc. We don't engage at all with why there's still gender inequality, with gender inequality in times where it's clear gender isn't a binary, and there are different sapient species presumably with some to add here.

tl;dr: it felt trite, tired, and exclusive.

-The "end." Super fucking convenient, summary ending unrelated to anything we've been building up, and I don't think it answered even the title of the book, let alone the questions I was left with at the end.

-The audio version. This book should be eye-read. There are parentheticals every couple sentences. The narrator tried her best, but that's an uncomfortable thing to have to narrate.

Sorry friends. It was sweet, it was simple, it was escapism, but it smacked too much of white lady feminism for me and read like fanfic of [insert any other romance-centric princess story from the past decade here.]

[Rincey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe 3.5 stars?

Pros: "The Princess Bride meets Princess Leia" is pretty accurate, it is a really fun story, I like Rory as a character a lot. It is supposed to be book one in a duology but it does stand on its own so you can read it without needing book 2.

Cons: Mostly the writing style and construction. It is written as a historian recording the details of this event and a LOT of the chapters end in similar ways (Rory thought X, Y, and Z were going to happen. She was only right about one of those) and the beginning of the chapters were all history and world building, which is fine but not my personal thing. But these two styles were repeated so much I got over it about 2/3 of the way through

But, I'll probably still pick up book 2

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

All told, I thought this genre-mixing fantasy/SF YA was pretty enjoyable. Rory was a little firecracker and her fae gift of always being able to hear the truth was an old but good twist in what was otherwise a large galactic empire royal mess, complete with nuptials avoidance and taking down an empire from within.

But honestly? I just loved the title. It predisposed the hell out of me enjoying what was otherwise a somewhat predictable tale of *captured princess saves herself*.

Voice was fun, the surroundings a light mix of magic and space opera, and it is enjoyable enough to keep ongoing. So I shall.

[laurel [the suspected bibliophile] · Rating 4 out of 5]

There wasn't a girl born to the Thorne line in 200 years...until Rory. Cheated out of her queenly inheritance by a much younger brother, Rory is shipped off to a marriage alliance that will end the war between her nation and that of her enemy. But trouble is afloat in the Free Worlds of Tadesh, and it's up to Rory and her people to figure it out and stop it. Save the prince. Avoid a marriage. Easy right?

Damn I loved this.

It was very much The Princess Bride meets Sleeping Beauty in space with a dash of the Vorkosiverse and comedy of manners, and I was THERE for every single minute of it.

I loved the narrative voice—of the omnipresent narrator and their storytelling tone. I loved all of the good guys—Rory especially but also the Vizier and Gryt and particularly Thorsdittor and Zhang.

The stakes are very high, with a very evil Regent (who is evil precisely because of his mastery of bureaucracy), and much of the politicking was just delightful. I also liked the magic element, which added a nice fantasy element (I love science fantasy novels).

It reminded me very much of Bujold's middling Vorkosigan books, with slapdash humor built around etiquette and manners and the breaching or observing thereof.

This definitely isn't for everyone (see: narrative voice, slowish plot), but if you delight in comedy of manners type books and love science fiction, this just might be the book for you.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

[celine · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book has the coolest title ever so i am forgiving the obvious flaws in exposition, and gimmicks that wore halfway through.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

An effort to blend fairy tale with political space opera that sometimes works, but fails to maintain consistency or pacing and ends in a muddle.

Rory Thorne is the first daughter to be born to the Thorne Consortium's ruling family for generations. At her naming ceremony thirteen fairies bestow their gifts on her, guaranteeing that she will have an interesting life. When she's a teenager she's to marry the Prince of the Free Worlds of Tadesh to seal a peace between the war between the Tadeshi and the Consortium. Only the current Regent of Tadesh has other sinister plans.

With this sort of setup I was expecting some sort of adventure with a fairytale structure. What this is instead is an extremely tense castle (space station) political drama with lethal stakes where the one note that gets played on is that the Regent completely underestimates Rory at nearly every turn. For large swathes of the book very little happens, and elements of the story that are supposed to be momentous, like Rory befriending the younger son of the Regent, are just really dull. And when the story eventually starts to move (in the last few pages) the reader is shown the consequences of the politics here, and this reader in particular wanted to read about those happenings rather than what happened here.

Not that this isn't a good plot for an SF novel: one of the best books of 2019 was almost exactly this plot only done so much better (A Memory Called Empire).

[Lata · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must have been in the mood for the silliness and the somewhat meta aspect of this take on a traditional fairy tale of a princess who has to get married to an opposing country's king to cement peace, but which is transposed here to a space setting. Having not yet read The Princess Bride (yes, I know, I'm getting to it!), I can't comment on this book's similarity to that classic, but I'll just say I found this entertaining with its capable and intelligent princess, Rory, with her smart and dangerous bodymaid Grytt and advisor Rupert. This was a good salve for the tension of the week with its humour. This isn't deep, but it kept me amused.

[The Captain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahoy there me mateys!  The lovely cover drew me attention and the quirky premise hooked me.  This is the first book in a duology that has fairy tale tropes but takes place in space.  And, seriously, it so worked for me.

The tone (kinda silly) and storytelling style (omnipresent narrator) did take some getting used to but I was quickly drawn in.  The story follows Rory who is the first girl born to the Thorne line in 200 years.  Court custom dictates that the fairies be invited to her naming to give blessings.  But no one actually expected them to show up!  Of course one of the 13 fairies is insulted and gives Rory a "curse":

I curse you, Rory Thorne: to find no comfort in illusion or platitude, and to know truth when you hear it, no matter how well concealed by flattery, custom, or mendacity.

Talk about awesome.  Though, of course, always knowing the truth doesn't help when immature or lacking wisdom.  But dang it it fun to read about how Rory and those around her have to deal with this particular issue.  The author makes a fantastic choice to have the actual thoughts show up in italics before hearing what the people say out-loud.  SO lovely and wonderful.  It never got old.

The other highlight were the strong female characters throughout.  There is Rory herself who ye can't help but cheer for.  Then there are her protection squad.  Gryt, the body-maid, is particularly wonderful.  Snarky, clever, and part cyborg.  The other two soldiers, Thorsdittor and Zhang, also rock and I was glad to slowly get to know them.  On the opposite side is the (male) Vizier who makes a nice counterbalance to Gryt and deals with the magical side of things.

The only two things I didn't really love were the historical asides of the narrator and the romance element.  The romance element was extremely mild and fine but could have been left out.  Those things aside, I LOVED the unexpected ending.  It was surprising and fun and I really want the next book.  It is scheduled to come out at the end of October.  I can't wait.  Arrrrr!

Is yer Captain's word not enough (though it should be)?  Matey Tammy @ books,bones&buffy has this to say about the book:

Probably the most surprising thing about this story was the way Eason combines rollicking space opera with fantasy and fairy tale tropes. It’s a combination I’ve seen before, but never done in quite this way. On the fantasy side, we have royal courts and princesses who have to wear ball gowns with corsets and follow strict protocols. And on the sci-fi side, the story is set in a “multiverse” full of planets and moons, space shuttles, and such familiar SF elements as drones, ‘bots and mecha implants. Tying these together is arithmancy, a wonderful blend of math, computer hacking and magic. Arithmancers can send their minds deep into the aether and use hexes to manipulate computer code.

[Kristin B. Bodreau · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so much fun! Sure it had some of the drawbacks that a lot of these types of stories have. Over-simplified explanations, far less bloodshed than this type of war/political maneuvering would likely entail, and a couple somewhat 2D characters (including the bad guy.) But who cares!? There was a plucky princess, a lovable disenfranchised second son, kickass ladies, snarky but indulgent older guardians, fairy gifts and magic! PLUS it all happens in Outer Space! Add to that the snarky banter and delightfully acerbic narrative voice and I’m a happy camper.

[Jamie Dacyczyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

2024 reread: Read the audio again, because it was available. This is a note to my future self: go back to reading this one on paper. Last time I did the audio, it had only been about a year since reading it on paper. This time, it's been about four years, so I didn't remember enough of the names for me to process this well on audio. I already knew the gist, but I still lost the plot a few times. I am rounding this back down to 4 stars, because now the fern thing really started to annoy me. Between the ferns showing everyone's emotions, and Rory's fairy gift telling her what people are really thinking anyway....it felt like a bit too much inside knowledge. Keep some things mysterious. Besides that, this is still a fun fairy tale-esque space opera with a writing style that I enjoy.

2020 reread: Listened to this on audio in preparation for reading the sequel. My original review remains accurate; I really enjoyed the narrative style, though it's hard to say why. Normally I cringe away from over-embellished writing, but this was done in a way that makes you feel the author's eyes twinkling at you as she tries to keep a straight face. Like...faux-pompous? So it feels funny in that way that won't admit to itself that it's being funny? Ugh, I can't figure out how to describe it. Anyway, loved the narrative style, still not a fan of the ferns. As for the audio: the narrator was good, but I don't know if I'd be able to keep track of the names on audio if this were my first read. Fine for a reread.

Original review: 4.5 stars! Ok, ya'll, I REALLY liked this book, and I almost never like books set in space. That's not the kind of sci fi I typically dig. Let me see if I can form coherent thoughts to explain why I loved this one so much!

Ok, so this is basically a fairy tale set in the future. A princess (Rory) is born, and her parents decide to invite all of the fairies in the, uh, space-realm to the princess's naming. As we all know, this never goes well (they allude to Rory's great-great-something-grandmother having a run-in with an angry fairy and sleeping for ages), and this was no different. Basically the bad fairy cursed her to always see through lies to the truth, no matter how veiled by flattery or whatever. Honestly, this wasn't THAT much of a curse, since it helped Rory a lot through most of the plot in the book.....

Anyway, Rory is basically betrothed to a prince in a neighboring space-kingdom, when a robot assassin blows themselves up, killing both Rory's father and the prince's father. Her mother (who is from a third space-country) becomes regent-Consort to rule until Rory comes of age, and the other country becomes ruled by a Regent who finagled his way suspiciously into power. Rory's trusted tutor and her body-maid suspect that this Regent may have been behind the assassination, and thus political intrigue ensues. Rory gets sent to live on a giant spaceship/city controlled by the Regent as part of a peace treaty between the three countries. There, she and her companions try to get to the bottom of the Regent's plotting and....

Hold on, I'm explaining this SO terribly. It's too complicated for me to sum up easily without basically explaining the entire plot.

Just know this: this is a sci-fi space book that's less about lasers and aliens, and more about court intrigue. Most of it takes place on board the spaceship, so despite the potential for Star Wars level action since this is IN SPACE, it was actually pretty contained. Again, way more about the political dealings of the court.

What really made this book great for me was the narrative style. I found the writing witty and occasionally hilarious, told in a way that was somehow wordy but also engaging? The best way I can think to describe it is like if Bill Bryson wrote a space opera. I guess? I found myself wanting to write down every sentence or turn of phrase that I found delightful, but soon realized that that would be an exhausting task. Just trust me: reading this was a delight. I'm not even sure if I can judge the plot or the characters properly, because I was too enamored with the writing style. (I think the line that really caught my attention near the beginning was when the young princess was glaring at someone, and her stare was described as "unripe" because she was too young to have full effect yet. Why that struck me as such a perfect word, I don't know, but I loved it.)

Now, I do have to talk about the TWO teensy things that made this NOT QUITE a full five stars for me. 1. Aside from the initial talk of fairies in the beginnings (and mentions of Rory's lie-detecting fairy gift throughout) the fairy tale aspect of the story didn't carry quite as strongly through the rest of the book as the beginning made it seem. I'm going to mark this under my "retold tales" shelf, but it doesn't really emulate any particular tale that closely. 2. There were ferns (yes, plants) that Rory and her mother each had that changed color to reflect the feelings of the nearest person. This was initially just one of those alien-life-form quirks...but it frankly started to feel a bit redundant after a while. We already know what emotions Rory is feeling (and we can guess at her mother's pretty easily), so having a fern turn various colors felt a bit overused very quickly. I'm not really sure what this added to the story.

But, ASIDE FROM THAT, I loved this book. I love some good political machinations, and I love a wry narrative style. Definitely going to be adding this to my own library.

UPDATE: And the sequel is about to come out!

[Mogsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2019/11/05/...

Not surprisingly, the first thing to catch my eye when I saw the publisher blurb for How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse was this little nugget: “The Princess Brides meets Princess Leia.” And now that I’ve finished the book, want to know how closely that description fits the reality? Well, pretty damn close, actually. This rollicking genre-bending adventure reads almost exactly like a fairy tale set in space, with an overload of fun, unique twists on the classic tropes we know and love.

Once upon a time in a space kingdom, there lived a king eagerly awaiting the birth of his son and heir—only, when the day finally arrived, everyone is shocked when the royal consort gives birth to a girl! While a firstborn daughter has not been seen in more than ten generations, the Thorne Consortium decides to move forward with the traditional Naming Ceremony in which the princess will be presented to the galaxy at large, as well as to each of the thirteen fairies invited to bless the child. These blessings, which can range from a gift of beauty to a knack for playing the harp, can shape a person for the rest of their lives, but the 13th fairy instead bestows upon the newborn Rory a “curse”—the ability to see through lies and flattery, no matter how well concealed. Fortunately, the 12th fairy, who hadn’t given her blessing yet, responds by gifting Rory with tenacity and courage. And so, a new galactic legend is born.

Growing up though, our princess did not have the easiest time, especially when her father is assassinated and her mother gives birth a second time, this time to a boy, who unseats Rory as heir. Our protagonist is also betrothed to a prince of a distant world, Ivar, who is sweet but cowardly, and doesn’t make a very good impression on Rory the first time they meet. Still, she is whisked off to space station Urse the moment she comes of age in order to prepare for the marriage, but of course, fate has other ideas as always. Ivar’s nefarious regent, Minister Moss, has decided to seize power for himself, leaving it up to Rory to uncover the conspiracy and rescue the prince.

With shades of Sleeping Beauty playing at its edges, How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse is a gender-flipping fantasy-in-space opera that turns several major fairy tale themes on their head. Reading it was an interesting experience because I recognized so many tropes, yet at the same time knew enough not to count on anything going as planned. This was the key feature that made this book so fun to read, as I could never guess where author K. Eason was going to take the story or the characters, only that it would lead to something unexpected.

Still, I didn’t feel as emotionally involved with this novel as I probably could have, and I place the blame squarely on its quirky narrative style. It felt a bit strange, to say the least, to be presented with this omnipresent voice which both seemed like an appropriate and tongue-in-cheek way to tell this story. Regrettably though, I don’t think I ever grew accustomed to it. While the writing itself was superb and I thought Eason handled the prose style with deftness and skill, when it comes to this type of historical narration in particular, I just feel that it puts a distance between me and the characters, which needless to say, impacted how well I was able to connect with Rory.

To be sure, it’s a pretty big hiccup, but happily not a deal breaker. I honestly enjoyed many of the features and elements in this book, from the world-building with its special brand of magic to the supporting characters like Grytt. This gave depth to the setting and plot, providing the little things in life that make a novel worth reading. The story also touched upon some meaningful themes, while keeping a lighthearted and cheerful tone. Overall, it’s a feel-good kind of book that goes down easy and smooth.

So, if you are looking for something fun, breezy, and fairy-tale inspired but are sick of the same old tedious retellings, definitely go ahead and give How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse a try. With its unconventional genre-mashing perspective and unique charms, it might very well turn out to be one of the most interesting sci-fi novels you’ll read this year.

[Jen (That's What I'm Talking About) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rory is the first female child born into the Thorne line in ten generations. Reaching back to the home world customs and traditions, the king and his concubine hold a naming ceremony for the child, inviting thirteen fairies; however, no one really believes the fairies are real, or if they are, would take the time to show up. But they do and bestow upon Rory the gifts she will need to be a good leader. However, when Rory is a young girl, things go horrible wrong. Her father is murdered and her mother, having just given birth to Rory’s younger brother, must take over ruling the Thorne Consortium, plunging the kingdom into war with the Free Worlds of Tadesh. In an effort to end the war, Rory’s mother marries the evil Regent of Tadesh, and promises Rory will marry the prince when she comes of age. It is when she arrives on the home station of Tadesh, that Rory begins to uncover a devious plot, with the Regent smack in the center.

How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse is a fantastic adventure, existing somewhere in the gray areas between fantasy and science fiction. The story takes place in space, with interplanetary travel, and some cool techie things like bots and weapons. But it’s also based in fantasy, with fairies, kingdoms, alchemy, and arithmancy. I loved the mix of “magic” and “science” making this story unique and extremely interesting. I strongly urge readers not to get hung up on genre and instead take a chance on this wild ride.

The story is shared by a historian, and listeners get a mix of third person and omniscient POVs. The narrator sometimes shares facts with the reader that the characters did not know at that time and place, giving readers a working knowledge of the larger picture. This kept me on my toes for nearly the entire story, making the story both engaging and thrilling at times. Additionally, the narrator and several of the characters share an intelligent wit with readers, making obscure references or snide commentary on those around them.

The story spans about 16 years, following Rory from birth until (no spoilers) the conclusion of this adventure. During this time, she gets all the best training possible from the Vizier of Thorne, Rupert, and her body maid/protector, Grit. Coupled with the gifts bestowed by the thirteen fairies, Rory is destined for greatness. I enjoyed watching how she grows over the course of the adventure, putting to use and expanding upon her training. This coming-of-age tale is cutthroat at times, but ultimately uplifting and hopeful.

The supporting characters bring so much to the story, complementing one another and helping Rory be her best. While they are there to support Rory, ultimately each has their own story and part in the adventure. Jade, younger son of Regent Moss (bad guy), actually grows into an amazing individual because of his encounters with Rory.

Narration: This is my first time listening to Nicole Poole’s work, and it won’t be my last. She provides an excellent neutral narrator voice; strong and clear. She alters the dialogue of each character slightly, but more than enough to identify individual characters. She varies the voices to match gender, species, etc. and smoothly jumps from third person to third person without confusion. She reminds my a lot of my favorite female narrator, Lorelei King, but with her own unique voice.

In the end, How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse is one of the best books I’ve read/listened to so far in 2019. I look forward to finding out more about this incredible multiverse created by K. Eason.

My Ratings:

Story: A
Narration: A

Review copy provided by Tantor Audio
Originally posted at That's What I'm Talking About

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. It’s science fiction with some magic and fairy tale elements — only done way better than the Lunar Chronicles.

I enjoyed the narrative Voice a lot. I don’t expect everyone to, but it kept me engaged most of the time. I liked all the characters and the plot. The pacing was a tad off here and there, but no big deal. The heroes are quite capable, so I never felt too worried about their safety. I was interested in what everyone was doing but not in terrible suspense about it.

As there is to be a sequel, I was wondering how that was to be if Rory Thorne actually destroyed the multiverse. Indeed, it turned out to be more of a metaphorical destruction than a literal one. Initially I expected something like



but in reality got this:



The plot is all political maneuvering and intrigue and plots and so on. Sometimes this comes out boring, and sometimes it works great. This author did a great job with it.

The audio narrator did a good job except she tried too hard to make the male voices deep.

Book Blog

[KristynRene SwissCheese JellyBean · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 Stars


👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻


THIS. BOOK. DESTROYED ME.

The narrating performance actually saved this story for me, and I re-listened to chapters several times because of the political depths this book carried on each page.

DAMN!! I’m just in shock. I really am because when I found this beautiful cover at Barnes and Noble, I didn’t think it would hold a similar beauty within its pages. When I get my signed copy from Mysterious Galaxy, I’ll be re-reading this badass gem of feminism and space politics.

For now, I am left mostly-speechless and cannot form coherent thoughts and emotions...

Full review to come. Probably..

[Hirondelle (not getting notifications)]

About 49% in, and I quit. I usually give up on books earlier, but I managed the first part of the book, as a kind of setup and now we arrive in the middle and the Star Wars like political machinations, just are not interesting me, and I keep putting it down after a couple pages.

I think it is not necessarily me, but the narration voice, the glibness, the sleeping beauty fairy tale and sf blend which is not working for me way hard. Not helped we are not ever in anybody's head really, always somewhat detached.

Not for me.

[Tucker Almengor]

[Image TK]
Many thanks to Hope at Tantor Audio for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review

i can't wait

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[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rory Thorne is badass and this story was a whole lot of fun, it had a real Princess Bride fairytale kind of feel to it, a ton of humour and an uplifting and simply epic ending that is unforgettable.

[Jenn (The Book Refuge) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a sleeper hit, folks. It demands to be read and enjoyed.

[Cyndi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pretty good YA book with a strong heroine and a twist on the Sleeping Beauty story. The fairies are still at work generations later.

[Esme · Rating 3 out of 5]

not as good as the description made it out to be but I did still enjoy it!

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no idea why this book wasn't on my radar, why I had never heard about it. The moment I found out that this is a fairytale princess story set in space I was sold. I love fairytales, I love science and therefore sci-fi and the combination sounded delicious! So, when the book arrived last Friday I knew that it was gonna move instantly to the very top of my to be read list. However, maybe it wasn't the smartest idea to start this book the day after being down with migraine.

Because if there's one thing you need for this book, it's a functioning brain. This is not the kind of book you race through while your head is working through other things. You really have to keep up, have to pay attention and have to make sure you catch each and every word and explanation. Because that's the only way to appreciate this book, it's cleverness, the way it's told and phrased, how everything the characters do is planned and calculated.

Rory is not the kind of princess who wins battles with swords. Partly because, even though this is taking place in space and a well advanced society, traditional gender roles are still a thing. The moment Rory's little brother is born, she becomes a wife to be, trained to serve her husband and kingdom. However, Rory's mind functions perfectly and a few people might have sneaked in some very useful lessons when it comes to playing political games.

Because technically that's what this is. A big political game, chess at the highest possible level. All the characters are scheming and planning. They all have their own goals and their own methods to reach those goals. And to win they really need to be smarter than the opponent. And I personally find that a million times more interesting than sword fights and other physical battles. I prefer an impressive brain over muscles every day.

To give all of this context the story is told by a historian looking back on the events. Therefore we get a lot of context and a lot of information on society, history, philosophy and other, at first glance not always relevant, departments. However, this also means we can follow all characters and their actions and it means the author could end this book, first in a duology, with the most brilliant last line I've ever read. I WANT MORE!

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is now one of my favorite reads of 2020. I didn't realize quite how much I needed How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse by K. Eason in my life until now. It's exactly my kind of mashup as a fairytale space opera. Think of the most epic combination of The Princess Bride, meets Star Wars, plus The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, and Sleeping Beauty and this is what you'll get. I need more of Rory and her world. I can't wait to read more from K. Eason in the future and I'm dying for the upcoming sequel titled How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge. October 6th can't come soon enough!

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.The nitty-gritty: A perfect mash-up of fantasy and science fiction, this book is an ambitious tale full of sparkling characters, political  maneuvering, a cool magic system and much more. Oh, and Kreshti ferns! 

OK, I was not prepared to love this as much as I did! I’ve read several reviews where the reviewer did not like Eason’s choice of narrative style, and so I went in cautiously, knowing that I might have the same problem with the story. Luckily, that was not the case for me. While I did find the omniscient POV quite different from what I normally read, this story grabbed me from the first page and didn’t let go until the end. I will talk more about the narration a little later in this review, but rest assured Eason’s story felt nearly pitch perfect to me, and I’m thrilled that this is only the start of a duology.

This is the tale of Princess Rory Thorne, the first girl born to the Thorne Consortium in two hundred years. After her birth, her father follows the old custom of inviting fairies to Rory’s official naming day, so that they can bestow blessings on her. But a thirteenth fairy shows up as well, quite annoyed that she hasn’t been invited to the ceremony, and instead of blessing the child, saddles her with a curse. The curse promises that Rory will be able to hear the truth whenever anyone speaks to her, even if they’re lying. Thus blessed and cursed, Rory grows up to be a smart, curious and happy child, that is until her seventh birthday.

At Rory's seventh birthday party, tragedy strikes in the form of a suicide bomber and hundreds are killed, including the visiting King Sergei Valenko of the Free Worlds of Tadesh. Rory and the King’s son Ivar are unhurt, but the incident sends the multiverse spinning into war. Vernor Moss, the newly appointed Regent of the Free Worlds, has taken Ivar as his ward, and he facilitates an agreement with Rory’s mother, the Regent Consort, that Rory and Ivar will marry when they come of age. When she turns sixteen, Rory dutifully agrees to relocate to the space station Urse to be closer to Ivar, but when she arrives, Ivar is nowhere to be found. Teaming up with Moss’ younger son Jaed, her loyal body-maid Grytt, and two guards assigned to protect her, Rory sets out to discover the truth about Ivar's absence and Vernor Moss's nefarious plans.

You may have noticed some parallels to Sleeping Beauty (the fairies attending the birth of the princess and granting her blessings) and you would be right. I thought this was a great way to set the stage, especially with the humor Eason brought to the scene, as the thirteenth fairy is pissed off and decides to curse Rory instead of blessing her. But you will see as the story progresses, that this “curse” isn’t really a curse at all. Her "fairy gift," as she calls it, actually helps Rory and gets her out of some tough situations. I also loved the way the author shows us when her curse is working (the italicized lines are the truth that Rory hears behind what the character is actually saying):

Prince Ivar was

terrified

“—pleased to meet you, and—”

I want Mr. Buttons

“—happy to be here—”

Probably the most surprising thing about this story was the way Eason combines rollicking space opera with fantasy and fairy tale tropes. It’s a combination I’ve seen before, but never done in quite this way. On the fantasy side, we have royal courts and princesses who have to wear ball gowns with corsets and follow strict protocols. And on the sci-fi side, the story is set in a “multiverse” full of planets and moons, space shuttles, and such familiar SF elements as drones, ‘bots and mecha implants. Tying these together is arithmancy, a wonderful blend of math, computer hacking and magic. Arithmancers can send their minds deep into the aether and use hexes to manipulate computer code. It comes in very handy, especially when Rory and Jaed are trying to sneak around and break into various off-limits areas.

This is a female-centric story, I’m happy to say. Rory herself is a delight, a bright and cunning girl with the weight of a kingdom on her shoulders, and she’s torn between doing the right thing—whatever is best for her family and kingdom—and trying to solve the mystery of the missing Prince Ivar. She definitely has a Princess Leia quality to her, a comparison I’ve seen in other reviews, and I was even more happy to find that romance is the furthest thing from her mind, even when she makes friends with Vernor Moss’ younger son Jaed. Rory’s teacher, the Vizier, has secretly been teaching her arithmancy, and she’s become quite talented at hacking into the turing network, casting hexes and disabling spy bots when she needs to.

Then there is Grytt, Rory’s body-maid (bodyguard) from infancy who has become a dear and loyal friend. Grytt was seriously injured during the birthday party bombing and now has several mecha implants, including a metal eye that gives her the ability to see hexes. Thorsdottir and Zhang are guards assigned to Rory when she relocates to Urse, two women who couldn’t be more different from each other, but are both equally protective of their young charge. Rounding out this tight-knit group is the Vizier, the Consort’s confidante and advisor, a talented arithmancer who ended up being one of my favorite characters. I couldn’t help but think of Julie Andrews and Héctor Elizondo from The Princess Diaries whenever the Consort and the Vizier were together!

I loved Jaed and Rory together as well. Rory agrees to teach Jaed arithmancy, which was a great deal of fun, as the two outsmart just about every adult on the station. I loved seeing Jaed gain confidence, since he’s often bullied by his older brother and looked down on by his father. And as I mentioned before, there isn’t much romance to speak of, which was a refreshing change of pace!

The only reason for the half star deduction in my rating is that at times, the narration dragged the action down. The narrator calls herself/himself the "chronicler," which tells you that someone is recording these events for posterity. The chronicler has a tendency to start chapters with a history lesson, going off on a tangent about various world-building elements. And while these were interesting, I wanted nothing more than to be back with the characters in the thick of things. Luckily these asides were short and ultimately didn’t detract much from the story.

And I absolutely loved the ending! Events didn’t unfold the way I was expecting, which was a nice surprise, and Eason ends her tale with a nice lead-in to the next book, by wrapping things up—sort of—but also forcing the reader to wonder what the heck will happen next. I couldn’t be more excited for the sequel! Highly recommended.

Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.

This review originally appeared on Books, Bones & Buffy

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining story with a smart young female lead tiptoeing her way through political landmines while trying to maintain her freedom and manage not to embarrass her subjects and her Mom. That’s a lot for a 16 year old Princess. Full of political intrigue and a lot of fun.

[aishah · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ✨

“She was no longer their Princess. She was becoming her own.”

𖥔 ݁ ˖✶ ⋆˚₊ overall
my first dip back into the sci-fi realm and it reminded me why i liked the genre so much. i added this book to my tbr so that i could complete the storygraph onboarding challenge and i can say it’s one of the good decisions i’ve made this year. will definitely be picking up the second book, and i’ve added k.eason’s other books to my tbr as well. this was definitely my sign to read more sci-fi books.

𖥔 ݁ ˖✶ ⋆˚₊ plot + writing
i loved the way the book was set out, it was logical and just took us through rory’s life. the first part is dedicated to give us rory’s backstory and significant events that happened, which resulted in her being the way she currently is. the other parts are the lead up to how she destroyed the multiverse. it took me a while to realise that the reason why they where ‘narrator’ interjections that broke the fourth wall was, because it is a chronicle. you would’ve thought i’d known that since the name of duology is the thorne chronicles. i did think the ending was kinda rushed, but it wasn’t that noticeable.

tbh i don’t understand why there is a second book. like it did end on a cliffhanger, but like was it really necessary. i guess i can decide after i read the next book since i liked enough to still want to read the next.

the sci-fi technology was based on arithmetics, which i found interesting, even though i couldn’t fully comprehend it. it didn’t really deter from my understanding of the story. honestly, it was a probably a me thing, not that it wasn’t explained well. can’t really say since it’s my first sci-fi in a minute. all the scientific words went over mmh head, so glad that i read this as an ebook since it made it easier to search the meanings of words. my vocab has definitely expanded after reading this.

since it was a chronicle, there were sections explaining the history of the world. i found those sections really dense and the writing was quite jarring compared to the rest of the story, so skimmed those parts.

𖥔 ݁ ˖✶ ⋆˚₊ romance
there really isn’t romance in this, its more the beginning of one. i hope that if it gets continued in the second book, which i feel like it will, we get to see some moments of how they fall in love. not just them suddenly being all over each other and unable to function without each other.

𖥔 ݁ ˖✶ ⋆˚₊ characters
there were a wide range of characters, and for that im grateful. it didn’t feel like i was reading the same person just a different name.

₊˚.༄ rory
she was such a good main character. i really enjoyed watch her become her own person, and transition out of being constantly being under her mentor’s care.

₊˚.༄ jaed
we don’t see much of jaed in this book, but what we were introduced to i liked. it would’ve been nice, but this story is obviously centred around rory (please its named how rory thorne destroyed the multiverse). hope we can see more of him in the next book.

₊˚.༄ thorsditter + zhang
loved, seeing the development of the bond forming between these two and rory. they not only become her guards, but two of her most trusted allies in life. since, they all have distinct personalities, it was fun to read how they interacted with her.

₊˚.༄ messer rupert
some how my favourite character always end up being the character we barely see. he was such a good father/mentor figure for rory, im so glad she had him by her side. he guided her and supported he endeavours.

₊˚.༄ grytt
an actual icon, absolutely loved her. another great mentor figure for Rory. the banter between her and messer rupert was everything. i really liked how the dynamics between messer rupert and rory, were different to gyrtt and rory where different.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rory Thorne is the first princess born to the Thorne Consortium in two hundred years, and like her distant ancestor Aurora long, LONG ago, thirteen fairies attend her christening and bestow their gifts upon her. Those gifts prove essential over the course of Rory's life - as she attempts to politically maneuver in a war-torn galaxy on the brink of erupting into another conflict.

What a fun and funky story! It's a science fantasy space opera with a sprinkle of fairy tale inspiration, a math-based magic system and a very endearing cast of secondary characters. Based on the premise and the beginning of the story I expected this to be essentially a SciFi retelling of Sleeping Beauty, but as the book progresses it quickly leaves that behind and becomes distinctly less fairy tale and more space opera.

I found this absolutely delightful and at the same time totally understand why it has such tepid reviews. For starters there is no multiversal element, and the choice to insist on using the word to just mean "universe" is a bit strange because I think general audiences have had multiverse fatigue for a while. Second and probably more pressingly, the quirky cover/title and the blurb don't accurately convey how intensely this is a book about politics. It *is* very quirky, full of dry humor and meandering, tongue-in-cheek prose that leans heavily into its Princess Bride comp (some may say pushing it too far at times); there's also some found family and the tiniest little dash of a romantic subplot, which really pleasantly surprised me. But if space politics aren't your jam, you absolutely will not enjoy this book. If space politics are your jam and you're also interested in something a bit silly, a touch whimsical, and thoroughly unique, I highly recommend checking this out.

Maybe even a 4.5, although I have to note I'll be treating this as a standalone and not reading the sequel since many reviewers who were happy with the first seem not to like book 2. How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse wraps up really well to be read as a standalone novel.