Bonds of Brass

For the first couple of chapters of Bonds of Brass, I was settling in for an enjoyable, four-star read: a pulpy, Star Wars-inflected space opera in which a young military cadet, Ettian, finds out that his best friend (and maybe boyfriend), Gal, is secretly the heir to the empire responsible for the death of Ettian's parents and the destruction of his whole society. Emily Skrutskie kicks off the novel with a starfighter skirmish that's a lot of fun to read, and throughout Bonds of Brass she writes some decent action-adventure scenes.

But.

But.

Look, it's the 2984th month of the pandemic. I wasn't asking a lot of this book: just for it to be a fun and escapist read with some queer romance and maybe some laser swords or something. My needs show more aren't extravagant! But this is a lazily written book, as if Skrutskie decided that people would pick it up solely on the promise that it would give them the romantic relationship between Star Wars' Finn and Poe that they'd wanted to see, only thinly-veiled. Why, then, bother to put any craft into it if you know the marketing will help you find a ready fanbase?

That lack of craft starts to become apparent after those first few chapters, and the whole book becomes steadily more exasperating after that. There's absolutely no chemistry between Gal and Ettian, with Ettian thinking a lot about the fact that he likes Gal but never really showing it through his emotions or actions. Why did they ever like one another? Honestly, having read all 300+ pages of this book, I'm fucked if I know, beyond "Ettian liked that one paper Gal wrote for a class that one time that argued for minimising civilian casualties."

And maybe I'm being reductive here, but that seems less compelling than the fact that Gal's parents are, again, responsible for the death of Ettian's parents and the destruction of his whole society.

None of the actions or reactions of the POV character, Ettian, made much sense, particularly in light of the end "twist" (which is so clunkily signposted that I figured it out around about chapter 5 or 6—out of 31).

Nor did the actions of most people whom Gal and Ettian encountered. The plot depends on a lot of people whom we're told are battle-hardened veterans being shockingly gullible, if not outright stupid, and one character whom we're repeatedly told is a pacifist, the galaxy's best hope for peace, acting like an outright sociopath.

Add in the facts that Skrutskie adopts an attitude towards imperialism which could most charitably be described as muddled, displays a real limited understanding of trauma or politics, and emphasises "blood" as justifying people's claims on power in ways that are highly uncomfortable, and you end up with a book that I can't recommend. I won't be reading the rest of this trilogy—for all those reasons, and because I'm quite certain that I can already predict how the third book will end.

Disappointing. show less

I'm new to Emily Skrutskie's writing and "Bonds of Brass" was a wonderful introduction. Her writing style really works for me so I'm already anxiously awaiting the next book in the "Bloodright Trilogy".

Ettian is a pilot and loving it when the book begins. He's flying, he's getting his life together after a terrible attack on his home and he is rooming with his best friend Gal at the Academy. Skrutskie skillfully presents a friendship in the early pages of this novel that is warm and loving, fun, and probably has the stirrings of bigger feelings.

In the blink of an eye, things change. Suddenly their entire squad turns on them trying to get to ... Gal. At this point, the entire story changes. Gal hasn't told Ettian everything about his show more life. In fact, he's told him very little. It turns out that Gal is the heir to the Umber Empire; the exact same Empire that is responsible for the attack on Ettian's home.

Gal means so much to Ettian that he doesn't need to think about it. He simply slots right into his role as a best friend and takes on the weight of trying to help Gal. Gal needs to be saved so that he can claim the throne that is rightfully his.

This book comes down to Ettian having to decide how well he knows Gal. Gal claims that he wants to be a different emperor, kinder and more gentle. There are times when Ettian sees the generous spirit of his friend and can convince himself that things will be better in the future under Gal's rule. Then there are times when he struggles to believe that things can change and worries that he may have made the wrong decision.

Gal and Ettian are both great characters. Ettian follows his heart regardless of whether it might be leading him into danger. He's funny, quick-witted and strong. He is confident behind the controls of a ship but not so confident when it comes to everything else in his life.

Gal is a harder character to read because Skrutskie has done a great job of capturing the duality of his existence. For years, Gal has been trying to be someone he isn't. Some of his upbringing has leaked through though. He's a great negotiator, he has a commanding presence and he couldn't care less about flying when it comes down to it. He can switch quickly into a commanding role... but has the most touching moments when he has to ask if Ettian will stay with him.

There's a lovely set up in this first book of the series, and I can't wait to see what is going to happen. I suppose it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger in terms of the friendship between Ettian and Gal. I'm not revealing much deliberately... there's a rather intriguing twist at the end that I don't want to ruin.

This book has all the good things! It has secrets, battles, intrigue, chases through space, epic friendships, betrayal, a love story and a remarkable girl who has come back from the edge of death.

This reads as though it's a Young Adult book but it's marketed as adult sci-fi. I can't see a problem with either categorization! A good addition to anyone's library. show less

Ettien jumps right past "the prince's parents decimated my home and left me an orphan" straight to "getting this charismatic pacifist prince's ass on the empire throne is the only way to bring peaceful change" then spends the book conflicted as hell over the decision they made to get said prince's ass on the throne with the first idea that popped into Ettien's head. Nevermind that in order to get Gal back to the seat of power there will be an unconscionable amount of blood and death, but then it will take at least seven years before he even starts to rule in full. The plot works and definitely makes for a tense and compelling read as long as you suspend your disbelief regarding these two kids apparently unable to communicate with one show more another about how much this devastating plan is destroying them - Ettien because it's his home and Gal because he's supposed to be a pacifist - and to come up with an alternative plan at any point. show less

Skrutskie, Emily. Bonds of Brass. Bloodright Trilogy No. 1. Del Rey, 2020.
If you judge a book by how well it fulfills its author’s obvious purpose, then you have to give Emily Skrutskie’s Bonds of Brass high marks. She wanted a story in the tradition of Star Wars with royalty to be rescued, space battles, palace intrigue and revolution. Done. She wanted a breathless gay romance that would stay well within PG-13. Done. But. For me, the book was never quite as appealing as it was to many of its reviewers. I wish Wen, the roguish woman our two protagonists pick up along the way, was more central; I thought she was the most original character. The book presents conflict between love and duty, and conflict between competing duties, but show more none of the characters think very deeply about them. Finally, I wish Skrutskie paid more attention to the world-building of her two empires and to the technology her characters employ. I rather longed for David Weber to help her with the battle scenes. Still, if gay romance in a galactic empire space opera is your thing, you could do worse. show less

Ettian's life literally came crashing down when the Umber Empire invaded his world. Now he's a gifted cadet in a military academy trying his best to be the best. His roommate (and secret crush) is Gal, but when things start to go somewhat wrong Ettian discovers that Gal is the heir to the Umber Empire and there are people who want his head. Now they are going to have to survive and find a way to be themslelves and to find a place for each other in their worlds.
And then they find an ally who makes them question some of their plans.
It was twisty and interesting and I enjoyed it but sometimes it was a little too easy to put down.

This took me a little while to get into the world building, but once I was in, I was all in--empires and princes and street urchins, oh my. I do love a queer space opera, and I'm very very ready for book 2.

Is it wrong of me to say this novel was so very obviously a YA novel? I don't want to sound like I'm looking down on YA novels, because I do think there are some real gems in the genre, but Bonds of Brass was merely your typical Young Adult novel and I couldn't help but find it disappointing for that.

I think the relationship between the main characters will likely be the main reason most readers consider reading this, so I'll just start with my thoughts on that first. The romance was…fine? No, okay, it was actually pretty boring and felt a bit perfunctory, but it was pretty standard YA fare so I feel like I shouldn't judge it too harshly. There was kissing, there was mutual pining, there were heartfelt confessions of love, there were show more feelings that had developed over long years off-screen and which we were told about at length, yet not enough chemistry on the page to get me invested.

The worldbuilding was essentially an afterthought, but that's fine; it was not the focus of this novel. I didn't care too much about Ettian or Gal, sorry, but I did like Wen, who shows up maybe halfway through the novel and who I am obligated to like for being a teenaged girl with a tragic past and a tough attitude. She is not quite interesting enough to be memorable and her inclusion did not entirely feel necessary, but I liked her. Ettian's moral dilemmas were fun, and I also liked the twist at the end of the novel, which promised to create so much tension between the two leads. BONDS OF BRASS gets an extra half star just for that ending. show less