Politics, soldiery and lust clash in this sumptuous science fiction romance. Levar Boylan must brave the brutal exercises, rivalries and duels of the Royal Commonwealth's military academy to earn his commission, but does not count on the towering and beguiling alien Astrid entering his life.

A wry, scintillating and dramatic read for fans of A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine and Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Levar Boylan is a common-born frontier student struggling to fit in among the social elite at his prestigious military academy. Despite his carefully laid-out plans for academic success, Levar finds himself irresistibly drawn to the dangerous demon exchange student Astrid. When Levar sets aside his upper-class frenemies to pursue his budding romance with Astrid, he threatens more than his career as his petty former friends set about applying all their considerable influence to ruining or even ending both Levar and Astrid's lives.



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Praise for Affairs of State

You will not find better yearning. Every demon emperor should have a tiny man to swing about like a bolas, and every war that keeps them apart should be immediately suspended. I genuinely cannot wait to see what Calvin James cooks up next.



-Greer Stothers, USA Today-bestselling author of Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die

Vividly balances swashbuckling action with diabolical political intrigue.



-Gareth L. Powell, award-winning author of Embers of War and Jitterbug

Hard military SF meets spicy court intrigue meets a romance for the ages in this truly compelling novel. Affairs of State is one of a kind.



-Juliet Marillier, award-winning author of Daughter of the Forest

Affairs of State hooked me from the start with its waltz of political intrigue, courtly machinations, and rekindled love, all conducted by Calvin James's deft hand. The twists and turns-backed by sharp prose and striking world-building-are as intoxicating as fine brandy. But really it was the central relationship between Astrid and Levar that captured me like a star's gravitational pull: electric, sexy, fierce, and tender all at once.



-Nathan Tavares, author of A Fractured Infinity

Affairs of State is a gorgeously imagined space romance full of inventive world-building, adventure and political intrigue. An exciting debut that left me wanting more.



-Emmi Itranta, author of Memory of Water and The Moonday Letters

Captivates from start to finish.



-Publishers Weekly

James writes with a lively voice, imbuing his characters with colourful personalities, mapping out the competing factions and shifting alliances while gradually raising the stakes.



-SFX

James is able to create great science fiction; it is huge in scope but also entertaining...The combination of romance, society and science fiction works wonderfully.



-SF Book Reviews

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