Sun: Queens of Earth review

2022 review of Sun: Queens of Earth by Zhentze. Published here with permission.

You may have heard of Star Wars, Maze Runner, Marvel, and other impressive examples of sci-fi, dystopian, and action media. If you enjoy any of those, Star Wars, you will find yourself immersed with this book, Sun: Queens of Earth, by Yen Ooi, the first instalment of the Sun series.

Set in dystopia, humanity endures the morality of their race. They must face the world as the Earth is left ravaged from war, and their solar system a hazard to explore.This thrilling novel marks the sci-fi debut of London author Yen Ooi. Ooi is a writer-researcher who focuses on exploring Asian identities, and acts as a consultant for other professional authors. Her works include Rén, currently a best-selling book, A Suspicious Collection of Short Stories and Poetry, a collection of fiction, and is also the author of the game Road to Guangdong. Her expertise in literature is impressive, with a Masters in philosophy, and is currently a PhD candidate at Royal Holloway.

If you enjoy Star Wars, Marvel, or the dystopian yet realistic standards of Maze Runner, you will find yourself spoiled by this novel. Reviewed by Mike Carey, author of works such as Lucifer and X-Men, shares that this book is, quote, “Big ideas in a small bottle.” Readers on Goodreads claim this book is the new Dune, and that Yen Ooi writes like Arthur C Clarke and other classic sci-fi authors, 89% of users fans of the novel, and over 69% of those sharing four to five star reviews. Some elaborate on appealing characters, and expectations we wish to see in real life are in this fictional society with enough ‘human touch’ that it feels real, differing from fiction that is monotonous. The plot revolves around the scheme of scouring the ends of the solar system to find other habitable planets, the room on Earth polluted from humanity, a mixture of deception, mystery, a spark of action and everything in between. Realism in fiction would keep any person completely immersed with a place that is so far away yet similar to the world we are living in now. The characters included in this are realistic yet escapist, sharing similar ideals to the current society. From a utopia, Sun, the story’s main narrator, shows how the universe  is corrupted by humanity. The Royal committee shares greed, love, and many other emotions that we fail to properly discuss in our world as they all meet together. The story revolves around utopias, dystopias, and humanity.

The fast-paced plot of Sun is a thrill of adrenaline and a story of wonder in acknowledgement to its standards of humanity and scientific fiction.

In this novel, morality is threatening humanity and needs to surpass their science. The story connects to Sun, points of this story returning to her the way the solar system travels around our own. The story is mystery and sci-fi, better than an average travelling through space. Humans on Earth desire a planet to inhabit, and they try to rebuild society. This book conquers humans, connecting how we relate to the world in a fictional yet realistic story of our past and future. It has emotions we rarely see in books, and Sun: Queens of Earth conveys every theme we want for us to continue reading. This excerpt of the book is how we meet Sun’s past from letters she shares with us, and writes; “That moment made me realise that we, humans, are so insignificant in this world. I was in awe of the power of the sun, realising that even something as simple as looking at the sun could harm our eyes, or even blind us. And without the sun, no plants or animals could survive. Those few moments also reminded your mother and I of all that we have, and how blessed we were to have found each other. We wanted the moment to last forever, and in some way, I think we managed to do it.”

Finding such beauty in a harmful way displays how humans find their own devotion to the wrong causes yet still call it beautiful. The human desire to savour a moment is repeated in the text, and there is a moment of suspension that makes us want more. It makes us learn why Sun’s parents named her Sun, and allows our imagination to run as we wait for the next part to continue her story, our thoughts further questioning how the world is in the future. How the whole universe relates to the Sun.

Readers read to escape into a world, yet they would want something that is refreshing compared to repetitive plot. This book is guaranteed to keep things new and still be an escape to somewhere else. This book is freedom.

You like media that has fascinating characters and background stories. But they all seem powerful, broken, and remain as a fictional character that is predictable. Sun: Queens of Earth include characters that fit into a thrill, with various backgrounds and many stereotypes that are explored with additional mindsets, yet they remain rationally realistic. They are relatable and find a place where they act more like real people than names on a page, than names that you read, and stand out in ways that remind us of things in life, now integrated into a beautiful story. You might find yourself in this book, a different form, and instead of feeling that they are too fictional to be reality, you will find yourself wondering if this is who you can be. And you can, because they are real. Such as Horace, a character that is different from the people of war-torn families and poverty.

Horace, humble and pure, is a character introduced as Sun’s father in this book. He is introduced in his letter to Sun, his words being; “I met your mother in the main arrival hall on Moon.” His humbleness and charm reflects the standards of how perfection is asked to be met. He is the embodiment of a person who is good, yet as we further read about their story, we find that his environment and lifestyle are far from what we would suspect from such a kind character. He later writes, “We love you very much, Sun. Don’t ever forget that.”

He writes this as he explains to her why he and Sun’s mother have not been there for her to grow up, displaying another asset in the ideal personality; selflessness. He is a character of fiction, falling in love at first sight, and even sharing bits of his life that sound genuine. However, as we further explore his history, we find that he is just as human as us. Financial struggles, torn from the aftermaths of war, family who are ill, and separation because of governments and politics. Even if he stands completely humble and generous, we learn that he is every bit as human as us. He has feelings and emotions that are hard to convey, and he has influences in his life that he cannot control because of exterior forces.

This allows us to further relate to characters, sympathise with them in a way we would not be able to if they were not as realistic as they are, and to further enjoy the realisms we read about in this text.

We all want a perfect world. In this book, they mainly reach out to find a utopia. Instead, they live in a dystopia, and they end up returning to that one place they attempted to perfect. Utopias and dystopias complement each other in this book.

The first thing we discover from this book is that Earth is a place where no one is well. Sun says, “We dreamt of better technology, of starfaring capabilities, of first contact, but we never believed ourselves to be anything but superior.”

It reflects how humanity was selfish in their attempts to create a ‘perfect world’, fighting each other until all that was left was a minority of the population from before, countries wiped out, and things we take for granted now a diamond in the rough. From the idea of having a utopia, we all eventually find ourselves in a dystopia. To restart, they fly to Moon, they inhabit Kagami, but every place they attempt to perfect with humanity eventually becomes a dystopia.

Fans of Maze Runner like the dystopian characteristics, and in Sun: Queens of Earth, there is a moment where all is pure paradise, before Marvel comes and introduces its own sequence of destructive capabilities, making it a dystopia all over again.

Sun: Queens of Earth is a novel worth reading, keeping the reader on edge with its story, comfort characters on every page, and living in utopias while a dystopia arises.

The plot has a fulfilling refreshment on classic sci-fi adventure, the depth of characters renewing compared to the repetitive backgrounds, and the undertones of nostalgia and dystopian qualities forever interacting on each page.

This book is more than just a pretty cover, a beautiful story waiting to be read. As someone who has read it repeatedly enough that I can call it refreshing with each read - a classic -, I recommend that you read it too. I absolutely love it.