Print Review: Crest of the Stars Princess of the Empire

Review Crest of the Stars Princess of the EmpireWritten by WarpshadowRating very good

When it comes to hard science fiction sometimes you just have to go with novels. While the Crest Of The Stars anime was great this book is a must for any fan of it.

Jinto was just a child when the Abh empire attacked his home planet of Martine. In a bizarre twist of fate his father the president surrenders and joins the Abh empire as a noble with Jinto to replace him when he dies. So Jinto goes to a school to learn more about the empire but ultimately is clueless about the Abh themselves. While he is in for a couple of suprises it turns out to be more than even the Abh themselves were expecting.

First and foremost Crest of the Stars is a hard science fiction novel. This means that the attention paid to the setting may drive away those that don't like the genre. For those that do this book has a very intricate setting that is well explained although I found some chapters a bit more clunky than others. The author created an Actual Abh language called Baroh for the story and there is a great deal of foreign words inserted into the book. To ease translation whenever a new word is introduced it's English equivalent is said before the word which is placed in parenthesis. There is also a substantial glossary at the end of the book which will be referenced often. Despite the science fiction baggage there are engaging characters there, which is best seen in the last chapters of the book once exposition is done with. The final issue I have with the book is the translation as there are a few instances of out of place diction that throw the reader for a loop. Even so I enjoyed this book and look forward to future books in the series.