An Accident of Stars - Rambling Readers

Paperback, 494 pages

English language

Published 2016 by Angry Robot.

ISBN:: 978-0-85766-585-0

(1 review)

When Saffron Coulter stumbles through a hole in reality, she finds herself trapped in Kena, a magical realm on the brink of civil war.

There, her fate becomes intertwined with that of three very different women: Zech, the fast-thinking acolyte of a cunning, powerful exile; Viya, the spoiled, runaway consort of the empire-building ruler, Vex Leoden; and Gwen, an Earth-born worldwalker whose greatest regret is putting Leoden on the throne. But Leoden has allies, too, chief among them the Vex’Mara Kadeja, a dangerous ex-priestess who shares his dreams of conquest.

Pursued by Leoden and aided by the Shavaktiin, a secretive order of storytellers and mystics, the rebels flee to Veksh, a neighboring matriarchy ruled by the fearsome Council of Queens. Saffron is out of her world and out of her depth, but the further she travels, the more she finds herself bound to her friends with ties of blood and …

When Saffron Coulter stumbles through a hole in reality, she finds herself trapped in Kena, a magical realm on the brink of civil war.

There, her fate becomes intertwined with that of three very different women: Zech, the fast-thinking acolyte of a cunning, powerful exile; Viya, the spoiled, runaway consort of the empire-building ruler, Vex Leoden; and Gwen, an Earth-born worldwalker whose greatest regret is putting Leoden on the throne. But Leoden has allies, too, chief among them the Vex’Mara Kadeja, a dangerous ex-priestess who shares his dreams of conquest.

Pursued by Leoden and aided by the Shavaktiin, a secretive order of storytellers and mystics, the rebels flee to Veksh, a neighboring matriarchy ruled by the fearsome Council of Queens. Saffron is out of her world and out of her depth, but the further she travels, the more she finds herself bound to her friends with ties of blood and magic.

Can one girl – an accidental worldwalker – really be the key to saving Kena? Or will she just die trying?

2 editions

Leaf 🍂 reviewed An Accident of Stars by Foz Meadows (Manifold Worlds #1)

Review of 'An Accident of Stars' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

A very promising start to a new fantasy series that, if it holds true to its beginning, will hold plenty of great world building and alternate universe exploration. Not to mention fantastic LGBT and PoC representation. The flavor of this book put me in mind of the complexity and intrigue of N. K. Jemisin's 'Hundred Thousand Kingdoms' with a splash of the raw emotion of Corinne Duyvis's 'Otherbound'. A little rough in places, especially near the beginning, but given a smidge of patience you'll soon find yourself as engrossed as I was. Definitely looking out for the sequel!