After the unexpected loss of his husband (Prince Taam), Count Jainan of Thea is forced into a rushed and arranged marriage to Taam’s cousin, Prince Kiem of Iskat, in order to ensure the successful resigning of the upcoming peace treaty. When the pair discover that Taam’s death may not have been an accident (and that Jainan himself is a suspect), Kiem and Jainan must ally together to solve Taam’s murder before interplanetary war breaks out. The story alternates between both Kiem and Jainans’ perspectives. Even though it was slow to start, Winter’s Orbit became an engrossing read around the halfway point when Kiem and Jainan find themselves in a life or death situation.
This book would be best suited for young adults or adults who enjoy the fantasy, science fiction, and romance genres. In addition to the budding relationship between Jainan and Prince Kiem, Winter’s Orbit focuses on topics such as political obligations and alliances, the rise and fall of empires, power and corruption, change versus tradition, abuse, mental health, love and loss, man against nature, technology, and appearance versus reality.
I found that this book was easy to read but it was challenging for me to picture the world of Iskat in my mind; it would have been nice to have some more worldbuilding descriptions and/or some illustrations. I also found some of the names (people, places, technologies, etc.) and political elements to be confusing and hard to follow; I would have preferred less political details and more of a focus on Kiem and Jainan’s relationship and/or the murder investigation. I also found it frustrating that it took Kiem so long to uncover the truth about Jainan and Taam’s relationship; I thought that Jainan’s actions and body language made it obvious what type of a partner Taam was. I also thought that it took Jainan an extended amount of time to open-up to and trust the easygoing Kiem. Luckily, after the pair discover the truths about each other, Kiem and Jainan’s growing feelings for one another accelerate.
I thought that the storyline was well organised, and the concept was unique; I haven’t heard of another novel that has a homosexual love story with science fiction and political elements as well as a high-stakes murder investigation. This love story was also unique in the sense that Jainan and Kiem did not choose each other; they were stuck together, even though Jainan was in mourning, purely for the benefit of the empire. Due to this, Kiem and Jainan’s romantic relationship is a slow burn and could almost be characterised as an “enemies to lovers” trope; both Kiem and Jainan enter the compulsory relationship with reservations and apprehensiveness.
Overall, even though Winter’s Orbit was slow to start, I did enjoy reading it and would recommend it to lovers of Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, the Star Wars movies, and A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. This book was action-packed with hardly a dull moment and it had a satisfying ending; it made sense, but it left some plot lines open for a potential sequel.
Winter’s Orbit is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of February 2nd 2021.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Ancillary Justice meets Red, White & Royal Blue in Everina Maxwell’s exciting debut.
While the Iskat Empire has long dominated the system through treaties and political alliances, several planets, including Thea, have begun to chafe under Iskat’s rule. When tragedy befalls Imperial Prince Taam, his Thean widower, Jainan, is rushed into an arranged marriage with Taam’s cousin, the disreputable Kiem, in a bid to keep the rising hostilities between the two worlds under control.
But when it comes to light that Prince Taam’s death may not have been an accident, and that Jainan himself may be a suspect, the unlikely pair must overcome their misgivings and learn to trust one another as they navigate the perils of the Iskat court, try to solve a murder, and prevent an interplanetary war… all while dealing with their growing feelings for each other.
