Iranian on his mother’s side and white American on his father’s side, Darius never quite fits in. When Darius’ grandfather becomes terminally ill, Darius, along with his parents and younger sister, travels to Iran for the first time in his life. 12-adult)ĭarius Kellner suffers from depression, bullying by high school jocks, and a father who seems to always be disappointed in him. The hard-fought ending tonally matches the story.Ī delicious drama of morally imperfect characters in a fantastical future world with timely, relevant politics. Dani and Saber’s relationship is much better realized than in Glitter (2016), especially when they disagree or he’s criticizing her decisions (and helping her grow stronger-literally).

While pulling at threads to find weaknesses in her enemies, Dani and her friends uncover company secrets that trigger heavy themes about automation’s impact on economies and the concentration of wealth.

The strategies required demand that she think of the consequences (and said consequences’ consequences) of her actions, which reinforces the guilt she feels about the casualties of her decisions-but they also reveal something she finds unpleasant about herself: she enjoys the power games, especially winning them. Playing along until she has the resources to make a true move, Dani must take down social rivals (such as King Justin’s bully of a mistress, Lady Cyn) and scheme against dissident factions within Sonoman-Versailles. The young white woman resolves to take down the men controlling her and to rescue her enslaved love, Saber (a green-eyed man of Mongolian descent). In this sci-fi duology closer, Queen Danica must embrace her role to find a way to break out of her gilded, 22nd-century cage.ĭani’s been back-stabbed by her crime-lord contact and returned to the palace, where she’s forced to wed the king and to continue dealing Glitter.

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