Alyssa Farshot has spent her whole life trying to outrun her family legacy, even leaving behind the Kingship and her uncle, the emperor, for a life of exploring.

But when her dying uncle announces a crownchase—a search for the royal seal hidden in the empire that will determine the next ruler—Alyssa is thrust into her greatest, most dangerous adventure yet. 

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Wow, looking at my recent reviews, I guess I’ve been in a bit of a space opera mood? And I’m not mad about it! Particularly where Rebecca Coffindaffer’s debut novel CROWNCHASERS is concerned, because this book was just a fucking delight, cover to cover!

Alyssa Farshot has the heart of an adventurer. She has her own spaceship, the Vagabond Quick, and she’s a member of The Explorer’s Society. But she also happens to be the emperor’s niece, and next in line for the throne.

And she wants nothing to do with it.

Before her uncle sadly passes away, he declares there will be a crownchase, the first in…basically forever. Representatives from all the galaxy’s prime families will embark on a planet-hopping, clue-laden quest to find a hidden royal seal. They all know one another, having grown up in the public eye together. Whoever finds the seal first becomes emperor. Since it’s a contest she doesn’t want to win, Alyssa puts her best foot forward to help someone she does want to win. Shenanigans ensue.

Although the bulk of the novel is told from Alyssa’s POV, there are shone shorter chapters from another POV, as well as some BREAKING NEWS-type interludes, and some great flashback scenes to Alyssa’s childhood.

Ok, at this time I would like to mention Hell Monkey. Yeah, I did a double (maybe triple) take when I met him as well. I mean…Hell Monkey?

HELL MONKEY. He’s Alyssa’s engineer and right-hand-man. They’re best friends. And sometimes…more. It’s…a complex relationship. But Hell Monkey (occasionally H.M.) shows such an unwavering amount of loyalty to Alyssa that it’s honestly just a fucking beautiful partnership. These two characters captured my whole entire heart and they must be protected AT ALL TIMES. Maybe I was looking for it, but I couldn’t help but see a touch of THE EXPANSE’S Amos Burton (particularly TV show Amos) baked into Hell Monkey’s DNA.

CROWNCHASERS is a book that’s outrageously inventive and fun, but also one that’ll have you feeling feelings, in a big way. Alyssa wears her heart on her sleeve at times, and she just feels everything deeply. She’s occasionally a hot mess, but ultimately she knows what she wants, how to get it, and who her real friends are. These characters Coffindaffer has created are the kinds of characters you’d desperately want on your crew.

From a purely sci-fi/space opera perspective, CROWNCHASERS is just fantastic. It’s diverse, imaginative, and features some bonkers & totally breathless action scenes. I mean….THE TENSION…fucking hell!! Coffindaffer also introduces a decent amount of alien species into this book without a lot of unnecessary info dumping. It’s all done very organically & completely immerses the reader in this world.

CROWNCHASERS was a complete blast! Really looking forward to catching up with Alyssa and Hell Monkey in the next book!!