My streak of 5-star YARC reads continues with A Spark of White Fire! This book has been advertised as a Mahabharata retelling in space. Now, I’m not so familiar with the Mahabharata but if you expect gods and goddesses meddling in mortal affairs, as well as complex political and family dynamics, then this book is for you.

"They saw the pawn.

And missed the queen."

This book stars Esmae, born Alexa Rey, the lost twin sister of exiled prince and the galaxy’s golden boy, Alexi Rey. Her entire life, she’s been preparing to rejoin her family and help her brother take the throne. In the process, she joins a competition to win Titania, the greatest spaceship in the galaxy. In winning, she starts a game with consequences of cosmic proportions.

I love this book and I’ve already said this but I’ll say it again: this book is criminally underrated. It should have more ratings, reviews, and readers than it currently has. I mean, it’s a space opera featuring gods and goddesses based on one of the great Indian epics. It deserves more hype and attention. (I would also like to thank Shealea from Shut up, Shealea because her review led me to this book).

"Your arrow was a spark. A spark of fire so hot and white that no one will be able to put it out."

I adored the world-building. There are spaceship kingdoms and planets with unique political relations to these kingdoms and I appreciate how there are complex political machinations at play here. I am always down with a book that has complex politicking so that’s one of my favorite parts.

The characters were fantastic and well-characterized. Esmae is a strong, confident protagonist who’s on a mission. She starts off going home to Kali with hatred in her heart voing to bring down an usurper king and by the end of the book, things get more complicated than that. Her character arc was absolutely fantastic and I have no complaints whatsoever.

A Spark of White Fire is intense. With one act, Esmae sets into motion a series of events which could see the things she hoped and worked hard for go up in flames. There’s a lot of political maneuvering and Esmae plays her part well. She proves herself a player worthy of attention in the political sphere and not one to be underestimated.

When this book ended, I cried. I should have seen the twists coming but that didn’t lessen how painful it was when I finally read it. I really did get attached to the characters but as in epics, when one tries to avoid the fulfillment of a prophecy, someone else will pay.

This is a book about a war about to come and a princess who tries to prevent it. This is also about the visions gods have and mortal attempts to subvert it- often with unintended consequences. Above all, this is a book about family- the family we yearn for, the one we get, and the one we had all along.

A Spark of White Fire deserves more hype. It’s a very good space opera that blends gods and goddesses with science fiction well. It’s a book I will gladly and wholeheartedly recommend to everybody.

This review is also on The Bookworm Daydreamer