The Quantum Rose: Book 6 Skolian Empire by Catherine Asaro

This novel had a different feel to it than the other novels in this series. It focused on a little known older brother of Soz and Kelric-Havryl. Havryl is one of the 10 children of Eldrinson and Roca who never plans to leave Lyshriol and seems happy with the quiet life on his world. Havyrl married young, to his childhood sweetheart when they were both still children and has managed successfully for most of his life to stay out of the politics that rule the lives of his family. That is until his relatives are imprisoned by the Allieds on his home world of Lyshriol after the death of Soz and Jaibriol II. After the death if his father he escapes in what is supposed to be his fathers death pod into space to be picked up by what is left of the Skolian government. He ends up spending 30 days alone in space in a coffin and has taken to drinking to combat the memories. The Skolians have taken him to a quiet backwater planet to rest and recover. One day while hunting in the woods he sees Kamoj Quanta Argali bathing naked in a pool. He decides to offer to marry her. Her planet appears to be the remains of a Eubian experiment on genetic engineering the perfect slave. The majority of the culture matures quickly, is unable to read or write, lives shorter lives and is very inclined to obey and negotiate. When someone makes an offer, you match it if you can, if not you are forced to accept the terms of the highest bidder. Kamoj is bethrothed to Jax Ironbridge-a local bully-whom she does not particularly care for, but in a match that would benefit her people. Her role seems to be similar to a land baron and a hereditary position as well. She owns the land, the people work for “her” but she is ultimately responsible for them. Havyrl is a mysterious man who appears one day-from far away (she has no concept of other worlds) and rents from her the ancient castle of her ancestors. She is reluctant to part with it but he makes an offer she can not refuse. After viewing her bathing naked he makes another offer she can not refuse in his offer of marriage. She is reluctant to marry him. While she is relieved to get out of the marriage to Jax, she knows the marriage to Jax would have benefited her people and while Havyrl is wealthy, he is not a leader on her planet. Jax Ironbridge is also reluctant to lose Kamoj, much more reluctant than either Kamoj or Havyrl realize.
This novel deals with many issues. On one hand it is about the complex relationship between an abuser and the abused. On another hand it is about finding you are not alone in the universe and what your culture is really about. It is also about Havyrl finding peace in his place as a member of an important political family. I liked it, a lot. I especially liked the scenes on Lshyriol with the whole clan-it was interesting to really have a chance to read about Soz and Kelrics siblings and their lives.

Ascendant Sun: Book 5 Skolian Empire by Catherine Asaro

Ascendant Sun: Book 5 Skolian Empire by Catherine Asaro
This novel picks up where The Last Hawk left off in the story of Kelric. I like Kelric, he is an interesting and complex character. He is large and sweet and very cute and sexy-my kind of man. Kelric has escaped from Coba leaving behind his wives and children. He returns to a Skolia in ruins. The Skolian Empire is fractured and Kelric decides not to announce his return. His sister, Soz-the last Imperator of Skolia-has just perished in her fight with the Eubian Emporer Jaibriol II taking him with her into death. Now Kelric is the new Imperator of Skolia, if he can only find his way to the Skolians to let them know. He gets stuck on Delos and decides to find out what he can about the state of affairs between Skolia, Eube and the Allieds before allowing the powers that be to know who he really is. He ends up working as a part of a crew in Eubian Territory and being captured and sold as a “provider”. This novel introduces Tanquil Iquar as a character as well as the concept of Eubians who no longer wish to “transcend” through the pain of their providers. Ultimately Kelric escapes from his Eubian owner-who he likes more than he should and falls in love with one of his recuers. He is also dying, after his years on Coba his system was already denigrated and badly in need of repairs he could not afford in the new Skolia regime. I like Kelric and his stories seem to follow a theme with him as the prize being fought over by powerful women with lots of political power.
Not my favorite book in the series nor the best book, but well placed in the series.

The Radiant Seas: The Skolian Empire Book 4 by Catherine Asaro

The Radiant Seas is the fourth installment in the Saga of the Skolian Empire and it takes off right with a bang where Primary Inversion left off.
Soz and Jaibriol II are on Prism-the planet they live on in exile from both of their respective, warring Empires. The novel breaks its time focusing on Jaibriol and Soz on Prism, Ur Qox-Jaibriol's father-the Emporer of Eube, and Soz's family on Skolia.
Soz and Jaibriol get to know each other, forge a relationship, build a house and start a family on Prism-which is what they eventually name the planet of their exile. They have both escaped their familial duties and never ending war by faking their deaths at the end of Primary Inversion. Their first born son-Jaibriol III (Jai) is followed by RocaLisa, Vitar and Kelric. They live an idyllic empathic-centered family filled with love, tenderness and support. Jai is about 16 when things change drastically over night. He has always realized that one day he will have to leave Prism, but he naively thinks he will find some wonderful woman, marry her and rbing her back to live with his empathic family in total bliss. Sadly, as his mother is pregnant for the 5th time, his father is suddenly stolen by Eube who has managed to locate his father-now the Eubian Emporer on Prism. Jai and his surviving siblings are taken to Earth where they are fostered by Seth Rockworth-the ex-husband of the Ruby Pharaoh, Dehya. As his father-Jaibriol II-assumes the Eubian throne as Emporer-under duress. His mother-Soz- returns to Skolia and assumes the role of Imperator left vacant by the death of her brother Kurj-who also killed Ur Qox-and the capture of her brother Althor by the Skolians.
As Jaibriol and Soz are setting up house keeping on Prism, Kurj is taking stock and evaluating his life. He begins to see-and express in a very limited way-how his pursuit of the Eubians as well as his early childhood trauma-involving the death of his father and the abuse of his mother at the hands of his step-father as well as the revelation that his beloved father was actually his genetic father- have served to shape him into a less than ideal person. He marries his true love, fathers a child on her, apologizes to his mother and then is capptured by the Eubian Emporer Qox. Kurj manages to kill himself and destroy his ship with the Eubian Emporer on it.
Prior to Kurj's death, Althor-Soz's brother not Tina's husband from Catch The Lightening-finds some disturbing evidence that his sister Soz and Jaibriol II may not have died after all. He confronts his father and the truth of his sister's escape into exile with her Eubian husband is confirmed. Athor mourns for his sister and agrees to honor his father by keeping their secret. Then Althor is captured by the Eubians-they torture him for information which causes his brain to begin to erase all of the information it holds. It is harrowing to follow Althors decline, he eventually does not even know who he is-but before he slips that far he does give the information about Jaibriol II in exile on Prism.
Meanwhile, Soz returns to Skolia, assumes Imperator and is on a mission to rescue her husband, pick up her kids and return her family to the relative safety of their self-imposed exile on Prism. Soz has to hide the identity of her children and husband from her family-difficult to do in a family of empaths. Soz is ultimately who I enjoyed the most about this book. Her single-minded pursuit of her husband against staggering odds, all while not being able to share her turmoil with a single soul in her family-not even her own mother. I never doubted for one instant that Soz would rescue Jaibriol.
This novel is fast-paced and enjoyable from begining to end. It is my favorite of the novels so far and is only passed or equaled by Moon Shadow's-the story of Jaibriol III's assumption of the Eubian Throne.
~~~~Where ever you go, There you are!

The Last Hawk: The Skolian Empire Book 3 by Catherine Asaro

This third novel in the Sage of the Skolian Empire focuses on Kelric-Soz's brother who goes missing-presumed dead-in Primary Inversion and begins about the same time as well. Kelric's Jag fighter ship is damaged during combat forcing him to crash-land on an off-limits planet-Coba. Coba is a rustic civilization-similar to the 1800's america-ruled entirely by women. Coba is a Skolian world but through subterfuge has managed to retain an off-limits status to protect the inhabitants from becoming pawns in the Skolian Empire at large. Coba has a somewhat simple government. The planet is divided into 12 houses, each house is ruled by a "manager" who picks her successor from the girls within her house. Kelric is rescued from the wreck of his plane and nursed back to health by the Cobans-once he begins to recover he realizes that he is in fact being detained indefinetely on Coba. The Cobans will lose their off-limits status if Kelric is able to tell his family or the Skolian Empire what Coba is really like. Men are a protected class on Coba-much like women have been historically in this country. The Houses of Coba once warred incessantly, but it was destroying them, now they all play Quis. Quis is much more than a game-it is politics, enterntainment and news on Coba-to be profficient at it is to be important on Coba-even for a man. Kelric is passed from woman to woman and though his cybernetically enhanced body and brain are not understood by the less advanced Cobans he is valued and appreciated for both his physical beauty and his skill with Quis. Kelric is a complex and easily likeable character. He more than wants to leave Coba-he needs to leave Coba. The food, water and even the air are damaging his cybernetic and physical systems-slowly poisoning him. It is causing him to be ill, malfunction, sleep all of the time and age. Yet, as he comes to live on Coba for 20 years- father 2 children there and become a concubine in many different Houses on Coba-he also comes to love Cobans and their culture and also does not want to see them destroyed upon exposure to the Skolian Empire. Ultimately Kelric escapes-as we know he must. Yet, his leaving is bittersweet for the reader as well as Kelric.
This book was excellent. The culture, the world-building, the characters, very well done. This could easily have been a femi-nazi slanted book, with men relagated to the roles history has often assigned to women-property, coveted, abused, passed along and married off with no say so-losing value due to casual sexual encounters-yet causing wars to be possessed. Asaro handles this story delitcately and never allows to assume a femi-nazi tone.
~~~~Where ever you go, There you are!

Catch The Lightening: Book 2 Skolian Empire by Catherine Asaro

Catch The Lightening takes place about 50 years after Primary Inversion in the same universe and the same family. Althor the 2nd being the nephew-not brother of Soz. Althor through some kind of damage to his Jag ends up on an alternate historical Earth-1987-where he meets Tina- a 17 year old empathic direct descendant of the Mayan Native Americans. Tina lives in a scary, gang-infested alternate 1987 Los Angeles. One night on her way home from her waitressing job she meets a strange gold man holding a box and mumbling to himself. He is looking for the White House where his mother is being presented with an award and his english is very poor. Against her better judgement she speaks to him, he saves her-predictably-from mean gang bangers and eventually she invites him into her home, heart and body. What follows is Althor malfunctioning-though a very interesting mix of computer and man as seen through the eyes of someone like myself. The powers that be in 1987 Los Angeles discovering Althors ship and responding predictably by trying to capture and study both Althor and the ship. Althor ulitmately escaping with the help of some brilliant students from CalTech. Returning, with Tina, to his own time and universe where he must unravel if his ship malfunctioned or was sabotaged. The story line was pretty weak from begining to end with this story. The fact that Tina lives in a gang-infested area on her own at 17 should make her far to savvy to take home a huge stray man-no matter what empathic connection they share. The idea that a bunch of kids from CalTech-however brilliant-are able to break security on a military base to even get back to Jag is shaky at best. The story was just highly implausible to begin with.I like Tina and Althor but this was a weak book to have second in the series. It is almost jarring having read first Primary Inversion and then jumping to this. Although, having read the entire series, I can say that this book certainly has its place and even makes sense about 6 books after this one. I hope Asaro eventually returns to this time period in the Saga of the Skolian Empire-many unfinished business needs to be worked out just about 50 years after Primary Inversion.

Primary Inversion
Catch The Lightening
The Last Hawk
The Radiant Seas
Ascendant Sun
The Quantum Rose
Spherical Harmonic
The Moon's Shadow
Skyfall
Schism
The Final Key-Not yet published due 11/29/05
~~~~Where ever you go, There you are!

Primary Inversion:Book1 of the Skolian Empire by Catherine Asaro

I recently read this series. I had been reading reviews about the Skolian novels-mostly favorable-for years. A few years ago I read the first two books but lost interest because the first, second and third books really only have a very loose connection.

Let me lay the groundwork for these novels. In the distant space traveling future, humans leave Earth to explore space and find, quite to their surprise shock that humans from Earth already have established two warring, space faring civilizations. In the mostly good corner you have the Skolians with their Ruby Empire. The Skolians are the descendants of the Mayan Native Americans taken from Earth by some benevolent race of aliens given advanced technology and then left on a planet-Raylica- to make their way home as best they can. They are a empathicly capable matriarchy-following Raylican/Mayan traditions with a female Pharaoh-the Ruby Pharaoh. Eventually the Skolians are able to leave the planet they have been left on and they become a mighty space faring civilization colonizing mulitple planets and with a vast intergallatic empire. Eventually, for unclear reasons, the empire begins to fail and Skolians lose their space faring technology. Skolian civilization again manages to gain space travel and around that time a geneticist-Rhon-is trying to develop a less sensitive empath. He blunders and creates the Eubians-the anti-empaths. Eubians are able to feel intense sexual pleasure by causing pain to empaths. Naturally, these two people are at war and have been for generations by the time the Allied Worlds of Earth reach space. Both Skolia and Eube have strong technically advanced societies. Skolia is able to use the empathic leaders-the Ruby Pharaoh, the military leader Imperator and sometimes one other empathic member of the family, to power vast psibernets which allow instanteous communication between planets, ships and military. So far this ability is pretty much all that is keeping the Skolians free of Eubian rule. The Eubians have a larger society and are more advanced technicially-they are also brutal monsters with over 90% of their population slaves. The Allied Worlds of Earth are minor players mostly trying to keep the peace between the two major powers.

My least favorite of any series is usually the first book. The first seems to always be more concerned with introducing and building characters and plots than truly telling a story. I would say that is true with this series, but not as true. My favorite character in this series is definetely Soz. Her and Jaibriol II's meeting is told in the first novel of this series-Primary Inversion. For that reason alone I liked this introduction to the series more than I usually like introductions to series. Primary Inversion introduces readers to my favorite aspect of the Skolian universe-Jagernauts(Jags). Jags are cybernetically enhanced empathicly capable human fighter pilots. They can stay connected psychically with each other and their ships which make them capable to coordinate the attacks that keep Skolia free from Eubian rule. Yet, what must it be like to be empathic and a soldier? To die with every enemy you kill? I liked that this novel focused somewhat on what long term effects of constant battle are. What it is like to be a soldier on active duty for 40 years-with no real end in sight of either the war nor your active role in it. Sauscony (Soz) is in line to inherit her older half-bothers' (Kurj) military leadership and place in the psibernet. She is competing with her older full-brother(Althor) in a battle to see not only who is best suited to replace Kurj as Imperator and leader of the military, but also who is left alive to do so. Her youngest brother (Kelric) and the third Imperator-in-waiting is declared missing and presumed dead at the begining of the story. The toll all of this death, killing and in Soz's case even capture and torture have placed on the soul of an already sensitive psychic. What living under these conditions have warped and will warp her into being Not able to lay down the load cause millions of lives are at stake and there is no one else to shoulder the burden. Having the courage to ulitmately walk away from power, from war, from hate-to build your own way. All of those conflicts are in a story that is in many ways a futuristic re-telling of Romeo and Juliet. Only in this story, Juliet is the soldier and Romeo is along for the ride.

Primary Inversion
Catch The Lightening
The Last Hawk
The Radiant Seas
Ascendant Sun
The Quantum Rose
Spherical Harmonic
The Moon's Shadow
Skyfall
Schism
The Final Key-Not yet published due 11/29/05
~~~~Where ever you go, There you are!