The Trials of Imogene Sol, by CL Walters

Itching to revisit...

I'd followed Cami's journey (she writes as CL Walters) for a few years when her first science fiction novel, The Trials of Imogene Sol, came out in 2023, so naturally, I was curious—and excited. Three years later, the book is still stuck somewhere in the back of my mind, and with the sequel on its way, I'm itching to revisit it.

Imogene, the daughter of infamous terrorists, is a final-year cadet at the Ring Academy. The Final Trials will decide her placement, and she hopes they'll let her clear her name and prove she's more than her parents' legacy—but someone is sabotaging her. What follows is a coming-of-age story with a ringed planet hanging in the sky, a breathtaking simulation of a starship's command bridge, and a wonderfully colorful cast of aliens: a friend whose emotions swirl across his skin in color, a blue-faced bully, a stern commander with fathomless black eyes, an AI classmate from the planet Gosh, and some very quirky stable beasts.

Truth is, what stayed with me most are the people around Imogene: the friends who have her back, the allies she never suspected, and the betrayals that hurt even more because they come from so close. And the main villain? Let's just say I didn't see it coming.

Something else I love: how this book came to be. Cami asked her readers to pick the genres she'd mash up, then published the story chapter by chapter in her newsletter before turning it into a novel. A book written live, with its community. I find that kind of relationship between an author and her readers absolutely fascinating.

The sequel, The Cipher of Tolo, comes out October 15, 2026. I've already preordered it—of course. Four books are planned in all.

To buy or preorder:

The Sol Conspiracy, Book 1, The Trials of Imogene Sol

The Sol Conspiracy, Book 2, The Cipher of Tolo

CL Walters's New Adult novels (look for The Sol Conspiracy at the bottom of the list)

About the author

CL Walters (Cami) writes from Hawaiʻi, where she lives with her husband, their two children, and a menagerie of pampered pets she cheerfully serves as pet butler. She's the author of the YA series The Cantos Chronicles, several new adult and adult contemporary romances, and The Sol Conspiracy, her first leap into space. Follow her writer's journey on her website, on Instagram (@cl.walters), and on her Substack, Cami, the Author.

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