The royal trials

The royal trials

Kwame Mbalia

Book - 2022

"Yared has traveled a long way to find his place in the universe. Light years, even. Though the battle of Addis Prime is over, the spacefaring Axum Empire is still fractured. The kingdom once gave their technology away free of charge, to better humankind. Now, having been missing for over a decade, they're returning to the planet where their galaxy-spanning civilization began--Earth. But they find the planet in disarray. Old Earth's atmosphere is a mess of junked shuttles and satellites. This is especially true of Debris Town, an orbital flotilla where poor spacefarers--left to rot by the Intergalactic Union that rose up in Axum's place--have taken to piracy to survive. Yared is set to speak at the opening of the Royal T...rials, a competition of the best exo pilots in the Sol System. But on the day of his speech, the pirates launch an attack! The siege sets off a chain of events that will lead Yared into the depths of Old Earth--and the jaws of a cruel betrayal. There's more to the pirates--and Debris Town--than anyone saw coming"--Provided by publisher.

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Subjects
Imaginary wars and battles > Juvenile fiction.
Monsters > Juvenile fiction.
Augmented reality > Juvenile fiction.
Space pirates > Juvenile fiction.
Science fiction.
Genres
Science fiction
Published
New York : Scholastic Press 2022.
Language
English
Main Author
Kwame Mbalia (author)
Other Authors
Joel Makonnen, 1982- (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
258 pages ; 22 cm
ISBN
9781338665956
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

This Afrofuturist tale about a fantastical Ethiopian empire follows Yared Heywat's adventures as an AR game comes to life and wrecks his home planet. Yared has lived a solitary life, along with his bionic pet lioness and eccentric uncle Moti, but when the game goes awry, summoning dangerous monsters bent on ruining the city, and his uncle disappears, Yared suspects that the stories he was told growing up hold more truth than he knew. Working with his lioness and Ibis, a former game enemy and now his only ally, Yared must uncover the truth as the entire universe is rocked by these new foes. Weaving together elements of both classic fantasy and sci-fi, Mbalia and Makonnen have created a stellar tale packed with plenty of action, poignant moments, solid world building steeped in real-life cultural traditions, and characters easy to root for from the very beginning of what is most definitely the start of a new story line, with more to come.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

Yared and friends return in this sequel to The Last Gate of the Emperor (2021). Reunited with his parents, the emperor and empress of Axum, an Ethiopian-inspired space empire, wisecracking Yared is settling into his new life after discovering he's actually a prince. With his entourage, consisting of Uncle Moti, the Ibis (his friend and Royal Trials partner), and bodyguard Besa (who is a bionic lioness), in tow, Yared heads to New Amba. He's scheduled to give an important speech at the Royal Trials, a galaxywide competition. When an attack separates him from the others, he learns that all is not as it seems, and he'll need to decide what kind of leader he will be. One character brings up the systemic oppression of space workers who are stuck eking out a living in Debris Town; the subject is not explored in depth, and Yared responds by emphasizing personal responsibility. Later developments offer a feeling of restorative or rehabilitative justice and, combined with Yared's own growth, handle the subject with greater nuance. This volume suffers from issues with inconsistent worldbuilding, choppy pacing, and an abundance of unexplained in-world vocabulary, but the ending offers a neat setup for a third in the series. Main characters are assumed Black. Fans of the first volume will enjoy diving into this sequel. (Science fiction. 10-13) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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