"A unique take on young adult science fiction that introduces a more metaphysical atmosphere into the whole, female heroine, only one strong enough to save the day, same old story. It was enjoyable but not a page turner."3 Stars
Pros: An interesting take on space travel/How the houses we're born into, our Astrological signs deem how we act, where we live etc/Hysan Dax was a likable character but at the same time, I'm not sure I can trust him.
Cons: The love triangle/Rho being the only person powerful enough to fight Ochus/The constant disbelief of all the houses until finally they believe her/Female heroine blah, blah, blah, I think it reminded me too much of the "Divergent" Series by Veronica Roth and Tris was the most annoying heroine I've come across in a long, long time, so Rho's similarities, definitely got to me.
Full Review:
Rhoma (Rho) Grace, a native of the planet of Cancer, is an acolyte training to become a Zodai, the royal guards of the supreme leaders of the 12 houses. W
hen disaster strikes on of the moons of the planet, something Rho foresaw while reading an Ephemeris (star chart), she's brought back to the planet Cancer and out of the blue is selected as the new Holy Mother, since the former, Mother Origene died in the Moon's destruction.
Rho doesn't know what's happened to her Father or Brother. All she wants to do is get home but now she's thrust into an extraordinary situation far beyond her training and knowledge but to her advisors, she's a natural.
When she consults the Ephemeris a second time, she again sees a cloud of Dark Matter, but this time its enveloping the planets, Gemini and Virgo. So against her advisors requests, she goes on a mission to warn the houses of what's to come. When she consulted her Ephemeris, she was attacked by Ochus, apparently the immortal guardian of the 13th house of the Zodiac who was expelled and banished from the galaxy. He apparently lives in Helios (the sun) and she has reason to believe that he's behind all the Dark Matter attacks. She tells her advisors her theory and though none of them believe her, her advisor, Lodestar Mathias Thais, accompanies her on her mission.
She's known Mathias since she was twelve and saw him training at the Academy as well. They had a silent courtship. She would watch him strike the various poses of Yarrot (Yoga for the Zodai) and the years passed but they said nothing to each other. Now she finds him as her Chief advisor and to say that her feelings are mixed would be an understatement. This boy that she's watched for years is now watching her every move, teaching her things and one moment, he seems to have Faith in her and then the next he's questioning everything she says. He goes from hot to cold in no time flat and it's frustrating for Rho and the reader.
As it turns out, the ship Rho and Mathias, commandeer belongs to Hysan Dax. Who at first we think is simply a diplomatic emissary from the Planet Libra, but it turns out that he too, is the Guardian and like Rho he is very young. But he is charming, kind and Rho, obviously, finds herself attracted to him. But it is, of course, forbidden for Guardians to be together, to the idea is completely taboo, which is something Mathias loves to keep reminding her of, and yet he and Hysan are constantly at each others throats.
They reach Gemini and the childish twin Guardians don't take them seriously. They then travel to Virgo and the Guardian, Empress Moira, consults her Ephemeris even though Rho pleads with her not to, since that is how Ochus first appeared and attacked her. And Rho's warnings prove true, as Ochus appears, attacks them both, leaving Moira in a vegetative state and he goes onto absolutely destroy the planet of Virgo. Rho and accompany flee Virgo with their lives and head to Aries, where the Planetary Plenum is being held.
It's basically a meeting of all the Houses. Rho manages to speak to the dignitaries and no one believes her. And what's worse is that disgruntled Scorpio workers on Sagittarius are starting to get unruly and Rho's ambassador warns her that an all out war may be brewing. She is banned from the Plenum, her life is in danger and now a possible war is starting. And of course, no one will believe her about Ochus except for Hysan.
Needless to say, adventure, romance, epic battles et al ensue and though not alls well that ends well, it left off on an interesting note. I found this book hard to get into. It took me until about Chapter 25 to start appreciating it all and even then, the text was heavy with jargon and strange terms for communicators that each House uses, like Waves, Tags...I can't even think of it all. And though it was entertaining I didn't find myself eager to start reading. I wanted to see what would happen, obviously, but the love triangle, the epic battle, the cliffhanger ending, it was all rather rote and predictable.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who's interested in Astrology and how your Zodiac sign "describes" you. But I think I'll get the rest from the library because even though I love the cover (yes, sometimes I judge books by their covers, whatever), it didn't entertain me enough to consider keeping.
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