Bonds of Brass

Emily Skrutskie's Bonds of Brass opens the Bloodright Trilogy with a fighter pilot who discovers his best friend is secretly the heir to the empire that destroyed his home world. The central tension — loyalty to a person versus loyalty to a people — is genuinely compelling, and Skrutskie handles both the political stakes and the developing romantic relationship between the two young men with confidence. Kirkus Reviews praised its 'impeccably paced, character-driven' storytelling. Faith readers should know plainly that a same-sex romance is a core plot element, not a background detail, and violence and imperial conflict are woven throughout. For readers who are comfortable with that, this is a sharp, well-crafted start to a trilogy that takes its themes of colonization and identity seriously.