Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.
4 stars book from me. Loved the plot and the stories in this book. Loved every single second reading it.

Gah! This book! This book had everything I love most! Found family! Queer characters! Misunderstood Robin Hood-ing! I read this book in one sitting and then immediately ordered a copy for my personal collection.It broke my heart over and over again, but in the end left me filled with hope. A stunning debut!

Five years ago, Remy's brother was murdered. Remy had watched him die under a withering, unable to do anything about it, and has carried that bitterness with him ever since. Now, finally, he's in a place to take his revenge and cast his own withering. But when he does so he, he discovers something horrifying - he is fatebound to his brother's killer.

The only way to slow down the curse is to get close to the man he's spent the last five years hating. But all is not as it seems, and Remy finds himself doubting everything he's held onto so tightly for so long. But the only way he knows of to stop a withering, is to kill the witherer...

I love an interesting, unusual, and well thought out magic system, and Lord of the Empty Isles most definitely has that. The idea of being bound by an invisible line to the people in your life, one that can only be seen by a weaver, and can only be manipulated by a witherer, is fascinating and unique.

I also found the plot and world building compelling. Remy's journeys across the various planets were fascinating, and we learned more about the world he lived in as he did. The pace was excellent, and I was really drawn in to the story.

My main criticism is the characters. I can't fully put my finger on why, but they all felt a bit too similar. I think that while their differences were told, it didn't feel like they were shown. The character voices all felt a bit samey. However, the book was still overall very enjoyable.

Thank you for providing me with a copy of lord of the empty isles. I really liked the concept of this book and how it is developed throughout. The world building at the start of the book really drew me in and there were a lot of twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting. I did feel that the middle section of the book was a bit slow compared to the start and end so I did have to power through a little through the middle. However I do think it was worth it overall as I was drawn back in to the ending of the book. I liked the use of chosen family and the themes of forgiveness but also grief that ran throughout and I enjoyed the dynamics between different characters.

"'I know it doesn’t matter,' Remy says, 'but I'm sorry.'
'For what?'
Remy slants a glance at Idrian, unimpressed. He must be being purposefully clueless.
'Killing us both, I guess?'
'Eh. Someone had to succeed eventually. Might as well be you.'"
**Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book**
This is, by far, one of the best books I discovered though NetGalley. I must say that I was first taken by the beautiful cover, then by the summary and finally by the writing. What I thought would be a classic “enemies to lovers” moment turned out to be so much more impactful than I could have ever imagined. Idrian, Remy and the entire crew mean so much to me now, and reading this book made me feel like I was on this journey together with them, along for the ride before then slowly but surely getting closer to every one of them until I was in way too deep. This is a novel about grief, loss and overcoming adversity through the bonds that link every single one of us to each other, whether we like it or not.

Jules Arbeaux's Lord of the Empty Isles is a gripping queer sci-fi fantasy novel that dives deep into themes of grief, power, and unexpected alliances. The story follows interstellar fugitive Idrian Delaciel and Remy Canta, who is hell-bent on avenging his brother's death by casting a withering—a deadly curse—on Idrian. The twist? The curse backfires, binding Remy to his enemy in a race against time to find a cure.

Arbeaux excels at depicting the raw and poignant grief that drives Remy's actions, while also introducing an intriguing magic system that adds depth to the narrative. Although the characters occasionally come across as immature for their ages, this flaw does not overshadow the story's strengths. The novel’s exploration of a queerplatonic hate-to-love relationship is refreshing and offers a nuanced take on platonic bonds, a rarity in the genre.

Comparisons to Winter's Orbit and The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet are apt, as Lord of the Empty Isles delivers a similarly engaging blend of personal stakes and larger-than-life adventures. Overall, it's a compelling read that both challenges and delights, making it a standout in contemporary queer speculative fiction.

Despite putting this book down for a few days, I actually really enjoyed this! The world building was really interesting and I loved the ideas of the threads and bonds that tie people together. This also had really good found / chosen family vibes (which is one of my favourite tropes) and I loved the focus on platonic and familial relationships in this.

My only critique of this is that it took me a bit of time to get invested in the story, but that's probably more to do with me than the actual book itself.

This is a book that’s got many layers to it.

Firstly is the fact that these characters are not likeable in any way. This is a book where almost every decision taken is the trolley problem looked at from different angles. The two main characters both do many questionable things and honestly I didn’t ever warm to them. I do think that’s part of why I struggled to get into it. The other reason being that I just didn’t get on with the writing style.

As I read on though, I really got into the shades of grey that were being depicted in the book. All these characters were trying to survive (aside from Remy at the start who was letting his grief speak through him) and help the people on the prison planets survive. It was really interesting to read.

I also loved the platonic nature of the relationships in this book. It’s so rare to see platonic relationships be so emphasised in a book. In this culture of shipping and heavy romance, it was really refreshing to see a book where these relationships were so prominent.

This is definitely a read for anyone who likes reading about grey morality and dislikeable characters. I just wish I could have gotten into it more.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book.*

I had a very hard time getting into this book and picking it up again, I cannot really tell you why. At first I was confused by world building and characters, I felt overwhelmed. Then some characters started growing on me but I found the story to be quite predictable.

I love the aroace rep and that there are queerplatonic relationships but I found this also to be underexplored. Overall, the book read like at least two books had been crammed into one. Yes, it is cozy in parts and yes it is a fun scifi, but there was a lot of unused potential.

3 stars

3.5/5

After Remy’s beloved older brother dies, he vows revenge on the man who cursed him, Idrian Delaciel. Thankfully, Remy is a witherer and is capable of returning the favor without much more than a drop of Idrian’s blood. Unfortunately, the curse backfires and Remy must seek out his sworn enemy in order to save his own life.

In this queer enemies to lovers, we follow Remy as he is forced to acknowledge the bond between himself and the person who killed the one he loved most. Arbeaux does an amazing job of world and character building and I found myself laughing just as much as I was tearing up. This story of conflicting emotions and government cover ups was just what I needed as a refresher between my more difficult reads!

If you are looking for a quick and entertaining fantasy, this is the perfect choice for pride month!

Headlines:
One of the best found families
Queer platonic connections
Tethers

So much about this book was unexpected to me, I thought there would be a 'love story', I was uncertain about the tethers in the first few pages and I wasn't sure what I thought about Remy. Excuse my 180 after a chapter or two where I was completely inquisitive and invested in the ideas of tethers..."please tell me more" and I began to like Remy a lot.

Remy went from entitled to rebel, from murderer to saviour and all of this was under the watch of Idrian, the Lord of the Empty Isles. Idrian was a character I wanted to get to know, to unpick and find out what made him tick. I didn't get to know him quite as much as I wished but I really liked who he was as an individual, but even more, who he was as a leader and friend.

This book delivered on the kind of found family I long for in books. This family was inter-dependent in a good way, full of authenticity and rolled from one crisis-trauma to the next. There were lots of queer characters who were simply their lovely selves.

The story/plot had lots to bring in terms of grief and loss, a displaced population under the control of a dictator who rationed their water, air and food; so much to identify with current times. While there were difficult scenes in this story, the author still managed to make this a hopeful read.

Lastly, I just want to address my expectations in terms of a romantic love, there wasn't, although there seemed to be chemistry. However, the other kinds of love were strong and prevalent and I don't think I missed out on this.

Jules Arbeaux is an author I will be jumping to read again. I think this is a standalone as it wraps up well but I guess there could be more to come in this world. I would be happy if there was.

Thank you to Pride Book Tours and Hodderscape for the review copy.

I really loved Lord of the Empty Isles!
It was such a good book! It made me tear up a few times as there were really some heartbreaking moments, especially this one scene that made me cry. The way the book explored grief was just so well done.
The book wasn't all full of grief, though, as there were also many lovely moments full of healing and found family.
There were so many great characters, and they were definitely the highlight of the book.

Remy was a great main character, and I loved his relationships with everyone, especially Idrian, who was also a really great character. I just loved them both!
They had such a good enemies to queerplatonic relationship, it was done so well.
Lord of the Empty Isles is definitely a book that i highly recommend as it was an amazing read that will definitely stay with me. It will both make you cry and then make you feel better with characters that you will love! I already miss them so much!

Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a review.

Thank you Hodderscape and NetGalley for an eARC of this book.

I feel so torn in this review, because despite loving so many things about this book, I can’t bring myself to give it 5 stars.

Overall, this was a wonderful story about morality and perspective and whether the ends can truly justify the means. Jules Arbeaux is a blisteringly good writer, spinning out seemingly effortless prose with a gorgeous lilt and rhythm. At the same time, the author manages to balance artful prose with snappy and funny dialogue that definitely lives squarely in the snarky camp but never feels obnoxious. Despite the quick pace of the book the characters are well fleshed out. Watching Remy and Idrian challenge each other’s world views and grow to find a way of life that is less binary and destructive is moving and sometimes downright profound.

However, the one place Lord of the Empty Isles really faltered for me was in its villain. The Chancellor’s motivation for evil is protecting the planet they live on and preventing another catastrophic environmental catastrophe like the one that nearly destroyed humanity hundreds of years ago. I’m all for an interesting nuanced villain with relatable goals, but the Chancellor is not that - Arbeaux presents him as entirely, 100% evil and never cèdes any ground that protecting the planet might be a good thing, if better executed. This left the book seeming to argue that any laws requiring people to protect the environment are evil and oppressive, which is…a choice. Given the massive scale of environmental destruction our world is experiencing now, this borders on irresponsible. I doubt Arbeaux is actually an anti-environmentalist. But after giving so much thought to the prose and the emotional growth of the characters, it really disappointed me that the author apparently couldn’t spare a few moments to wrestle with the political and philosophical implications of the villain. It unfortunately soured what could have been one of my favorite reads of the year. But I can’t really abide how the author treats the villain, no more than I could abide a novel where the cartoonishly evil villain is pro-choice or anti-racist - it just feels regressive in a way that gave me the ick.

This book is beautiful and heartbreaking and inspiring and infused throughout with both grief and love. The tethering magic was like nothing I've read and it really feeds into the story so well. Also, the queerplatonic rep is beautiful to behold.

It is impressive that this is a debut, especially with the amount of emotion and depth to the story and characters. However, the book is a little too long and does suffer from some uneven pacing. Also this is a personal preference but I do struggle with POV protagonists who kinda suck at the beginning and then go though a growth journey. Fortunately, Remy gets to a better place eventually but many of his choices and actions and thoughts are rough to read in the first half.

Definitely trigger warnings - there is a lot of grief and human suffering (and indifference to that suffering) that is not easy to read.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

As soon as I started Lord of the Empty Isles I could not put it down and finished it in one sitting. I highly recommend this book to anyone (even the people that rarely read sci-fi). I had a lot of fun reading this and I just wish there was more. I can't wait to read more books from the author.

I really wanted to love this book, but sadly it wasn't for me.
The concept is wonderful - literal connections tethering us to significant people in our lives, and the placement of each tether reflects the nature of the bond. When a connection is severed (through death, separation, neglect, etc), the tether may begin to rot. Our hero, Remy, is a witherer, a person who can sever these bonds. His gift is seen as a necessary evil in society - nobody likes to think about why they might need a bond severed, but it's either that or leaving it rotting.
I love this idea! It's unique, and the writer has executed it well. It's clear it's been carefully thought out, with deep lore and explanations behind the bonds and the nature of withering. The plot has been built around this concept, making it feel like more than just window dressing.
Remy's motivation is clear: he wants revenge. There's something to be said for keeping character motivations straightforward. However, I did find that he perhaps too quickly begins to abandon this idea. It felt a bit like the narrative was rushing into the found-family aspect, which I found difficult to buy, given the lengths Remy went to to exact his revenge.
I suspect the other reason I struggled to get into this book was I found the messaging a tiny bit heavy handed. A light touch will usually work better than hitting the point too hard.
Most of my thoughts around this work are either positive or minor gripes - at the end of the day, I just didn't connect with the voice. Can't win them all! But, if you like cosy sci-fi/fantasy with a cool worldbuilding, a unique magic system and found family, this might be worth a look!

I really enjoyed this read. The pacing was great! I think I went into this book expecting more romance than there was & that’s fine! I also think the complexity of Remy’s character was really well done but many of the supporting characters felt flat. In my opinion Emil, Thom, and Roca all felt very surface level. I think I would have appreciated a bit more on each of them to understand their dynamic and how they became a found family in the first place. But otherwise I think it was a really great read!

An absolutely gripping read! I want to give it 4 point something, and round up to 5, because I was swept away by it all and am not quite done processing.

The cover made me initially think it was a more low-stakes, tropey story, but it actually hits pretty hard – it has complex characters that make choices that you can understand but that aren’t always great, complex intentions and plans, and features themes of death, grief and the split between hate and finding the similarities between you and the person you hate.

I think my only complaint is that the plot happens very, very fast in terms of in-universe time passing, and also sometimes in the sense that the characters get thrown into the next situation before the last is really over. This might make the action but also the emotional development feel a bit choppy and abrupt.
I personally might have liked a more gradual shift of opinions and feelings. But this pace also made it gripping and gave the characters an urgency since there isn’t much time for long considerations, they just have to act as best as they can.
Also, the many different facts about tethers are strewn into the story, as well as added as some blurbs, but with the multiple ways they work and multiple things tethers can mean, it can be a bit confusing. But that is also not specifically needed to understand what is going on in the plot.

I was absolutely carried away by the story, especially once the premise starts and the main character starts traveling and discovering things. Before that, it could have been a much sweeter story, but then THINGS HAPPEN SO FAST, from new, devastating information, to dangerous events happening, to situations where hiding and finding out the secrets kept by the characters just ends up thickening the plot.
All this is done with interesting characters, who have their own conflicting emotions and opinions, much like the main characters. I almost think some characters deserved a bit more screen time to give them more depth, but most of the characters were super interesting as they are.

I really enjoyed the different bonds the characters build, be it familial by blood or as a chosen family, or the platonic and complicated connection Remy forms with Idrian.

All in all, the book is a cool adventure that doesn’t pull its punches, and hits you hard with the bad things that happen, and how that changes the characters. At the same time, it deals with processing loss, grief and trauma. All that, spun in with a story about a deep connection of an aroace main character, makes it a really good read.

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me an advanced copy! All opinions are my own.
The trigger warnings can be found on the author’s page, if anyone is interested.

Jules Arbeaux's debut, Lord of the Empty Isles, sits in that still-too-rare space between SF and fantasy. It's set in a world where magical 'tethers' are central to everybody's experience: you can be invisibly tethered through love, work, fate, intellectual interest or duty, and when deep-rooted tethers snap through death, you can end up with a 'rotbond' which causes you continuing pain unless you have it removed by a witherer. Nineteen-year-old Remy is one of these witherers, but he also has a rotbond of his own after the murder of his brother five years ago. He knows that his brother's death was ordered by Idrian Delaciel, a space pirate who robs supplies for a group of outcast people living on a group of moons. When he gets hold of some of Delaciel's blood, he is finally able to take revenge by casting a death curse. Unfortunately, it has consequences he never imagined...

I obviously did not pay much attention to the blurb of this book before requesting it because I thought it was going to be a romance (I think the comp to Winter's Orbit misled me there) and I missed that one early twist is actually revealed upfront. I was actually glad that I went into the story pretty blind, so I'd suggest skipping the publisher's description if you can. (Also, absolutely no problem that there was no romance. I appreciated the focus on platonic ties.) Lord of the Empty Isles feels more like YA to me than the other adult SFF novels that are obvious comps (Becky Chambers' Wayfarers series, for example) but it's done very well, avoiding the usual issues I have with YA SFF. I loved that the plot basically centres on solving a magical problem, reminding me of old-school YA fantasy like Patricia C. Wrede's Searching for Dragons and Tamora Pierce's Circle of Magic and Circle Opens series - I always enjoy reading about the unseen mechanics of magic. And while these characters are not deeply individual nor complex, Arbeaux is very good at letting them inhabit a morally grey area; they all make mistakes and mess up, but they also have their priorities in order when it comes to dealing with death curses.

The fantasy elements of Lord of the Empty Isles are stronger than the SF. The SF bits are necessary to set up the situation Idrian and his crew confront, but don't feel quite fleshed out, and the resolution of the novel makes this world feel even more like a game than a genuine political system. Nevertheless, I loved the system of tethers, there's loads more to explore here, and I'd love to see Arbeaux write further novels set in this universe, though ideally not with the same cast, as I think their story is done.

First off, I stayed up 'til 3 AM reading this book last night, and I was bawling by the end. I honestly can't believe this was a debut! I read this immediately after reading Winter's Orbit for the first time too, and honestly my heart is just so full. The worldbuilding and magic was immaculate, the characters were so great to follow and the way grief was explored here was SO GOOD. I resonated so much with the different dynamics here and once again, I can't believe this was a debut. I love Remy, I love Idrian, I love the found family, I love the politics and the messages that Jules had here. I was constantly kept on my toes with everything that was happening, and I just love how everything came together. I absolutely can't wait to see what Arbeaux writes next!!!