Empress Game

June 8, 2015
Debut author Mason opens a space opera series with this fascinating merger of galactic exploration and deadly competition. Kayla Reinumon was once a princess of Ordoch, a “Wyrd World” whose inhabitants possess incredible psionic powers, but she fled with her brother during a coup that killed their entire family. Now a refugee fighting in nightly blood matches on a distant planet under an assumed name, Kayla is approached by the very same people who killed her kin, inviting her to compete in the Empress Game—a grand tournament by which the Sakien Empire will find its new queen. For the chance to return home and regain what’s left of her old life, Kayla must enter a world of political intrigue, betrayal, and conspiracies within conspiracies that threaten the fates of entire planets. Mason takes every opportunity to raise the stakes for her characters, and the result is an immersive and intriguing thriller. Tonally, however, her prose is more than slightly uneven; the frequent use of current colloquialisms alongside alien terminology is distracting at best. But Mason’s deft plotting packs an emotional punch and leads to a solid cliffhanger that could spark a fascinating new series.

July 1, 2015

This debut novel, the first volume in a trilogy, uses the backdrop of a winner-take-all female gladiatorial contest for the hand of a prince and a seat on the Galactic Ruling Council to tell a story that's full of political intrigue, corrupt government officials, lost princesses, and unethical scientific experimentation. The forces who think they are good start by cheating--they get a fighting machine body double for their preferred candidate, not realizing that she is the lost princess of a conquered planet. Kayla Reunimon (aka Shadow Panthe) doesn't share their agenda, but the secret that she would kill for or die to keep throws the group's plans into chaos. Her aim is to fight, win, and escape, and she doesn't understand that the best thing she can do to save her people is to continue this charade for the rest of her life. VERDICT This surprisingly complex political and personal narrative is slow to take off, but once it does, the plots, counterplot, and cheating will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Kayla's complicated loyalties make her an intriguing heroine, and her layered story keeps the reader guessing until the very end. Recommended for space opera and sf romance fans.--Marlene Harris, Reading Reality, LLC, Duluth, GA

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2015
Kayla Reunimon, aka Shadow Planthe, is a fighter unrivaled in the Blood Pits of Altair Tri. Exiled from her home planet in nearby Wyrd Space, she fights to survive and protect her younger brother. When an imperial agent of the Sakien Empire enlists her to aid a princess vying to win a seat on the influential Council of Seven, she envisions the opportunity as a way home. She must impersonate Princess Isolde in the Empress Games, a brutal gladiatorial contest of individual combat among the fiercest women across the Empire. With a deadly nanovirus decimating the empire, assassination plots in the air, and the psionic Wyrds threatening to upend the games and reveal Kayla's identity, it looks like the fighting may be the easy part. While most of the action takes place on one planet, Mason does a respectable job of layering backstory and galactic history amid the political maneuvering and agendas of the various contingencies competing for power. And her action sequences are spot-on! A fine opening act to a smart and entertaining space opera.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)