Winter's Orbit

The Iskat Empire is held together by treaties, which are in turn sewn up with arranged marriages. Some of the subject planets are beginning to chafe under Iskat rule, so when the Iskat Prince Taam dies in a flight accident, his widower, Jainan, is hurriedly remarried off to another Iskat prince, Kiem. But a marriage between a prince whose reckless past has given him a reputation as a spoiled and disobedient royal and a quiet and deeply damaged widower who isn’t showing any actual willingness to remarry doesn’t seem like then bandage the empire needs. And when Taam’s death is revealed as a murder with Jainan as a suspect, the marriage only gets less likely to succeed. But there’s more to both Kiem and Jainan than anyone else show more sees, and possibly more between them than either could have hoped.

Sci-fi romance with an idiots-to-lovers trope? Yes, please. And it doesn’t disappoint. show less

In a somewhat feudal system among a group of planets in which one, Iskat, dominates access to the passage to the rest of the universe, arranged marriages are used to bind treaties. Prince Kiem, one of the Emperor’s grandchildren who pays little attention to world affairs, is chosen to replace his cousin, Taam as partner to the Thean representative, Count Jainan. Taam, a member of the military, has died under mysterious circumstance, So starts an uncomfortable arrangement that evolves into a mission to uncover the truth about Taam’s death. Much of the novel revolves around Kiem and Jainan’s misinterpretation of one another on their journey to bonding. In other words, a love story. There is an aspect of an homage to Ursula show more LeGuin’s “Left Hand of Darkness,” as Kiem and Jainan spend a few days traversin in an arctic wilderness, where they begin to open up to one another. Also, as in LeGuin’s novel, gender and gender expression is a theme. The novel is engaging and well written, and if I am to read romance, at least this novel is set in a more interesting context with more interesting characters. show less

Holy shit, can I give it more stars? Because it needs more stars. I ADORED this book. 10/10, would die for my precious space sons.

Okay, speaking on a perhaps more grown-up level...the pacing of the story was perfect. I loved pretty much every character that was presented, and nobody felt unfleshed. The way gender was handled was really fresh and blended seamlessly with the world around them, as did the handling of sexuality (as a non-issue) and the way childbearing was pretty much unrelated to it. The mystery was compelling, and even with all the clues laced throughout, I had pretty much convinced myself that the sinister forces were from a completely different angle than they wound up being. Masterful! I don't generally enjoy space show more politics as much as I did here (I'm more Kiem, personally: focused on the social over the strategic), but I never felt bored even a little.

And I want my own Bel. show less

Prince Kiem is shocked and dismayed when the Emperor tells him that he'll be marrying Count Jainan, the representative from one of the Empire's vassal planets, Thea, tomorrow. While Kiem does think Jainan's attractive, he's well aware that Jainan's previous political marriage was, by all accounts, picture perfect and happy, up until Taam was killed in an accident almost a month ago. Jainan has barely had any time to grieve, and now he has to marry some stranger.

Delaying the marriage is impossible. Unification Day is coming up soon, and by that time the Auditor must confirm all of the Empire's representatives and witness the treaty, or the Empire's place in the Resolution will be in danger. Trade agreements and continued peace rely on show more Kiem and Jainan playing their parts properly. Unfortunately, there's an additional wrinkle: Taam's death may not have been an accident.

I previously read this when it was a free original fic released on Archive of Our Own. I enjoyed it so much I read it a couple times (and reread my favorite parts even more than that), the most recent time being in 2019. I still have the file saved on my phone, although I resisted the urge to open it and do some comparisons.

I was thrilled when I heard that Tor was going to publish it - I rarely pre-order books, but I pre-ordered this one. I hoped some of the minor issues I had with the original would be ironed out prior to publication, but even if it turned out to be the exact same thing I'd downloaded from AO3, I knew I'd be happy just owning a paper copy.

I'm mentioning all of this because it very much had an effect on my reading experience (and my review - apologies for all the comparisons scattered throughout). Although my recall of the AO3 version was definitely fuzzy, I found it impossible to read Winter's Orbit without mentally noting scenes I recognized and scenes that were new to me. Even worse, my brain latched onto any information in the new and old scenes that didn't agree with each other - I caught at least one or two errors that were the result of old scenes containing info that didn't match up with the new scenes (which admittedly isn't bad, but I normally don't catch stuff like this at all).

Although the overall story was the same as the AO3 version and all the major characters were still the same sort of people, Winter's Orbit was definitely a new experience. The political aspects and setting were more fleshed out, and certain events were integrated differently (for the better, overall). The book's second half, in particular, was different enough in key areas (or my memories were fuzzier) that I was finally able to just read and enjoy what was going on without my brain spending so much time in comparison mode.

I found the political aspects of the book to be a bit dry and confusing to the point where I'm not 100% sure that my description at the beginning of this review is accurate - I still don't understand the Resolution, the Auditor (who came across as very alien but was apparently human), and why certain things were the way they were. Thankfully, understanding the political aspects of the book wasn't vital, at least not for me - I tend to be a more character-focused reader, and I was more interested in Kiem and Jainan.

That's probably part of the reason why I liked the second half of the book more - that was when most of the forward movement in Kiem and Jainan's relationship happened. I loved watching them interact and figure each other out just as much this time around as the first. Kiem was the sparkling extrovert who could make friends with almost anybody. Jainan was the duty-bound and scholarly introvert. They both secretly thought they were a bad match for the other and wished that wasn't the case - I wanted to hug them.

One character/relationship aspect that was a bit different than I remembered was the way part of Jainan's backstory was handled. In the AO3 version, I felt it was clear enough earlier on that I didn't consider it to be a spoiler. In Winter's Orbit, however, it seemed more subtle and deeper into spoiler territory. On the one hand, it made Kiem look less dense (one of my few complaints about the AO3 version was how long it took Kiem to catch on to one bit of information, since it seemed so obvious and he was otherwise great at reading people). On the other hand, it potentially made Jainan a more frustrating character.

I'm really glad that this got the print release it deserved - I enjoyed it overall, despite my "can't turn off comparison brain" issues. From what I've heard, there will be at least one more book in this setting, if not necessarily starring the same characters, and I'm very much looking forward to it.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

I’m sure there are loads of reviews singing the praises of the (deserving!) leading men, so I’ll leave them for everyone to love on while I talk about our girl Bel.

Highly efficient, dignified ex-space pirate confusing 'personal assistant to Prince Kiem' with 'exasperated sister-figure to that lazy moron, Kiem'? A sweet, slow-burn fondness for Jainan? The whole, “you scared the shit out of me you idiot” bit when she comes to yoink the boys off the mountainside? The whole, “we are not getting this Thean child killed,” bit with the anarchist undergrad she barely knows but adopts on-sight (sidenote: same)? The whole, “lol fuck that lowbrow job offer” bit when she turns down thE EMPEROR just so she can keep chillin with the show more fool squad because she’s actually a not-so-secret die-hard softie?? ... I’m deeply in love.

Anyway, lovely characters. Great story. I’m excited to see if Maxwell writes anything else in this universe~ show less

I see what all the hyper was about -- fantastic love story, firmly rooted in awkward people not knowing how to bridge a communication gap. I love the world building, the political machinations, the unexpected customs, but the love story's slow unfolding and the crew of characters is the real star here.

A lot of the galactic politics take a back seat to this story of a slow burn romance between two people who are broken in different ways.
When Prince Taam dies a treaty is in jeopardy and Prince Kiem, somewhat the black sheep of the extended imperial family, has to step into the breach and marry his widower, Jainan. Kiem has been trying to reform but all that anyone thinks about is his ability to be a fool and make headlines. Jainan appears to be devastated by the loss of Taam, but the truth is more complicated than that and it's taking all of Kiem's charm to get through to him.
As the story unfolded I really felt for the characters and wanted them to succeed and to prosper. Two great characters and their side kicks were a lot of fun show more too. Honestly it could have been set in a corporate boardroom and still worked but it really made me want to read more by this author. show less