5 Star Review - Readers Favourite Reviews - Soldier of Empire by S A Melia

Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers’ Favorite

Sally Ann Melia’s Soldier of Empire, book three in the Dodecahedral Space Empire series, follows Guy Erma, who at fifteen serves as bodyguard to Teodor, Earth’s young king, whose uncle rules a galactic empire. When pirates attack the king’s spacecraft near the planet Sas Darona, Teodor is captured. Guy returns to the planet’s military camp, where Teodor’s cousin Tomas Storm takes command in the king’s absence. Tomas expects the soldiers to accept his rule, but Guy refuses to abandon his oath. While Teodor faces forced labor far from the royal court, Guy has six months to find proof that the king is alive. With his place in the army at risk, he follows a lead by a researcher familiar with the planet’s nomadic tribes, hoping to reach Teodor before Tomas secures the throne.

In Soldier of Empire, Sally Ann Melia delivers excellent military space opera with a convincing understanding of how royal decisions touch ordinary lives. The technology brilliantly gives the monarchy’s politics a reach far beyond the court, particularly on Earth, where enormous fire domes protect people from a lethal insect plague. The generators require monazite-9 supplied from outside the empire, showing how public safety depends on decisions made elsewhere. This is how good world building works. The same thoughtful approach becomes painfully tangible aboard a shuttle, where an injured Guy must rely on an emergency medical bubble to endure three times normal gravity. His discomfort captures the demands of military service, while his determination brings the political conflict home on a human level. The alternating viewpoints maintain brisk pacing as questions of kingship remain integral to the story. Readers who appreciate adventurous space opera are in for a treat. Very highly recommended.