Apparently, I'm on a sci-fi kick lately because this book is yet another whirlwind space opera with a hotshot pilot for a main character.
Bonds of Brass by Emily Skrutskie is the first book in the Bloodright Trilogy. Ettian Nassun's world was shattered when the Umber Empire invaded his home and defeated the Archon Empire. Since then, he's spent seven years piecing himself together, including joining the Umber military academy and becoming the best pilot in his class. There, he meets his best friend, Gal, his unassuming and enticing roommate. But when his Archon-loyal classmates attempt to assassinate Gal, a deadly secret comes to light—Gal is the heir to the Umber Empire. When Gal has no one left to rely on but Ettian, Ettian faces an impossible decision: help Gal claim his throne and hope he can transform the Umber Empire for the better, or join the Archon loyalists and fight to take back his home.
I love these characters. While Gal seems to be the likely candidate for holding secrets, Ettian's life is just as rich and complicated. His backstory was constantly teased and slowly revealed. When I finally got to the big moment that explained everything about him, I literally had to cover the page with my hand so I wouldn't accidentally jump ahead. The slow-burn romance moved at such an agonizing pace that I wanted to grab them by the collars and shake them until they finally saw sense. When I got to the climax of the book, I waited until I had plenty of time to finish it so that I wouldn't have to stop in the middle. That's how invested in this book I was.
I know nothing about flight, space travel, or navigating in zero gravity, but reading this book made me feel like I did. Ettian's flying gets him and Gal out of numerous scrapes, and even with the technical jargon, I never felt lost. It was exciting and felt more real than if Skrutskie had just written, "Ettian dove right and accelerated." Everything about this world felt real—the rival empires, the legendary power-suited knights of Archon, the hulking dreadnoughts that hold the Umber Empire's territory, and the give and take of Ettian and Gal's relationship. It was a pleasure to keep reading and find out where they would go next and what obstacles they would have to overcome.
I have no trouble rating Bonds of Brass by Emily Skrutskie 5/5 stars. And now I need to find the second book.
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