How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse was a fable space adventure, a homage to both space opera and to fairy tales. The sequel, How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge is not that book. It’s very good, but it’s also very different tonally from the first.

This is a sequel which absolutely demands that not only do you read the first book first (I did) but also that either you have a good memory (I don’t) or you read the first book right before reading the second (I did not). There is no recap. The reader is clearly expected to know who everyone is and what happened in the last book. The reader is also expected to keep the hell up as the plot zips from explosion to diplomatic exchange to explosion again. It’s not an easy read, and the fairy tale allusions, while present, are minimal.

The plot is sufficiently difficult to sum up that I’ll just let the publisher do it for me:

Rory Thorne must use the fairy blessings gifted to her to change the multiverse in the second book in this space opera duology.

After avoiding an arranged marriage, thwarting a coup, and inadvertently kick-starting a revolution, Rory Thorne has renounced her title and embraced an unglamorous life as a privateer on the edge of human space.

Her new life is interrupted when Rory and her crew–former royal bodyguards, Thorsdottir and Zhang, and co-conspirator Jaed–encounter an abandoned ship registered under a false name, seemingly fallen victim to attack. As they investigate, they find evidence of vicious technology and arithmancy, alien and far beyond known capabilities.

The only answer to all the destruction is the mysterious, and unexpected, cargo: a rose plant. One that reveals themself to be sentient–and designed as a massive biological weapon. Rose seeks to escape their intended fate, but before Rory and her friends can get Rose off the derelict ship, the alien attackers return.

Rory and her friends must act fast–and wisely–to save themselves, and Rose, and maybe the multiverse, too, from a war humanity cannot win.

How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse introduced us to the main characters, who are led by Rory, a princess (now an ex-princess) who, thanks to a gift from a fairy, always hears the truth even when people attempt to lie to her. Rory, skilled in diplomacy and pretty good at ass-kicking, has two mentors: Grytt and ex-Vizier Rupert. Grytt, her bodyguard, is an irritable cyborg without an ounce of diplomacy in her kickass cybernetic body. Rupert is all diplomacy all the time. They are joined by Jaed, an ex-prince, and two of Rory’s former bodyguards (who reported to Grytt), who are just now finding their independence. Most of How Rory Thorn Destroyed the Multiverse was devoted to these characters arriving at “ex” status and in the process forming a family, Firefly style. Both books are good at character development and a real generational sense of family, with pseudo-parents Grytt and Rupert watching the younger generation develop more independence and capability.

Although the publisher classifies this as space opera, I’d classify it as hard science fiction with a strong military sci-fi aspect tempered only by the importance of diplomacy in the story. Basically, there are many warring parties, much fighting happens on and off page, and the mechanics and science and intricacy of space travel and warfare and diplomacy are much discussed. Hard science fiction doesn’t usually include magic, and arguably arithmancy is magic, but enough characters explain that arithmancy is just really complicated math that it sounds scientific to me. You get a lot about why things work the way they work on both a personal and a multi-galactic scale.

This is good hard science fiction, but it will be a surprise to fans of the first book and it’s not to my personal taste. It took me a long time to finish this book (again, personal taste, not quality) and I still couldn’t tell you what happened. I just don’t have the mental resources to read anything demanding, and this book is demanding, which is both a feature (I like a book that respects its readers and that is intelligent and sharp, which this is) and a bug (I’m so tired, you guys). This book is marked as a duology, but I felt it was more the end of an arc, not the end of a story. To me this felt like the end of a season as opposed to the end of a series.

Readers who like smart, detailed science fiction that has a lot of action but also prizes negotiation, inclusion, empathy, and teamwork will like this book. Readers who liked the slightly whimsical quality of the first book will miss it here. There’s a romance in this book but it isn’t central to the story. In the end, both the first and second book in this duology are excellent, but they are very different, and who prefers which will be a matter of taste. Regardless, I’d love to read more about Rory and her group of friends.