The Ruby Dice
Two men, two empires. Jaibriol rules the Eubian Concord: over two trillion people across more than a thousand worlds and habitats. Kelric rules the Skolian Imperialate. Ten years ago, Jaibriol lost his parents in the final battle of the Radiance War between the Concord and the Imperialate. Now war again threatens to devastate vast swathes of the galaxy.
Neither Jaibriol nor Kelric want war, but neither is complete master of his realm. And each hides a secret that, if revealed, might be his downfall. Unbeknownst to most of his people, Jaibriol is a psion with telepathic abilities. Psions are treated as slaves by the Traders in the Eubian Concord--slaves tortured for the pleasure of their owners.
Kelric hides the truth about his whereabouts for nearly two decades during the war. He had been a prisoner and slave on the planet Coban, part of neither empire, until he managed to escape. If the Skolian Imperialate knew of his captivity, demands for vengeance would ravage Coban, killing the wife and children Kelric left behind when he escaped.
Neither man knows how much longer he can keep his secret—nor how much longer they can hold back the impending war and an even greater threat that could destroy hundreds of inhabited worlds.
The latest adventure in the Skolian Empire series.
From Baen Books, January 2008. To read an excerpt, click here.
"...an exciting outer space thriller..."
--Harriet Klausner, Genre Go Round Reviews
The Final Key
The Final Key (Triad, Book II) is the completion of the duology Triad, which began with the novel Schism (Triad, Book I).
An epic story of how the Ruby Dynasty reached maturity, Triad reveals how a war of galactic proportions first explodes between two great empires. Schism ended with the Skolian Empire torn asunder by personal conflict within the royal family. With The Final Key, the Skolian Empire comes under all-out assault from its nemesis, the Euban Concord (Traders), who have undermined the Empire via subterfuge and assassination, leaving it ripe for conquest. The Skolian Empire’s only hope? A young woman barely out of her teens who hasn't even completed her training as a cadet.
"Asaro’s Skolian saga is now nearly as long and in many ways as compelling as Dune,
if not more so, featuring a multitude of stronger female characters."
— Roland Green, Booklist
"[R]apid pacing and gripping suspense."
— Publisher’s Weekly
"Asaro's portrait of interstellar intrigue, weird socio-political
customs and galactic history has come to approach the neighborhood of
such classics as Frank Herbert's Dune series."
—Paul DiFillippo, SciFi.com
Schism
Schism (Triad, Book I) is the tenth novel in Catherine Asaro’s multiple-award-winning Skolian saga, and represents an excellent entry point into the series. An epic story of how the Ruby Dynasty reached maturity, Triad, divided into two books, reveals how a war of galactic proportions first explodes between two great empires.
Schism is how it all began, harkening back to the early years of the Skolian Empire, back to the beginning of the war between Skolia and the Euban Traders. Twenty-three years have passed since the fateful vote in the Skolian Assembly that Roca missed in Skyfall. It created the first open hostility between Eube and Skolia, which has only deepened in the ensuing years.
Now Eube senses an opportunity, for strife has riven the first family of the Skolian Empire. Sauscony, the daughter of Roca and Eldrinson, is ready to seek her fortune as an officer-in-training in the Skolian military. When her father forbids her to undertake such a dangerous path, a rupture develops as Soz chooses duty over family. Eube hopes to make this divide permanent, leaving the Empire ripe for conquest. And they’re willing to kill anyone to make it happen....
"Asaro’s strengths are in full force in Schism. She blends in-depth characterization, coming-of-age romance and royal intrigue with dollops of science to create a thought-provoking drama."
— SciFi.com
Skyfall
Skyfall is a stand-alone novel that predates the chronology of Catherine Asaro’s other books — and is an excellent book for new readers to start with.
Eldrinson Valdoria is a bard and leader on the planet Skyfall, a world with a culture considered primitive by the starflung civilization of the Imperialate. As adept with a sword as he is with a ballad, he is also an undiscovered telepath of great power.
Roca Skolia, a former dancer, is now the Councilor for Foreign Affairs in the Imperialate’s governing Assembly -- and she is also heir to the Ruby Pharaoh of the Skolian Imperialate. Caught in a political struggle with her warlord son, she ends up stranded on Eldrinson’s world when she should be attending a vital meeting of the Assembly, a session where she had hoped to stop a vote that could start the first interstellar war known to humanity. Trapped on Skyfall, she finds herself drawn to Eldrinson, whose thoughts are as clear as the words he cannot write. As their attraction deepens into a love that the laws of both their peoples forbid, the flames of war ignite among the stars.
"Intrigue, drama and romance converge in Nebula winner Asaro’s latest Skolian Empire adventure (after 2003’s The Moon’s Shadow), an enthralling stand-alone that fills in the early history of the empire."
— Publisher’s Weekly
Moon's Shadow
At the age of seventeen the young nobleman named Jaibriol Qox becomes ruler of a vast galactic empire - and loses everything he has ever valued. Born of a clandestine liaison between a renegade daughter of the Skolian Imperialate and a scion of the genetically engineered Eubian Traders, Jai Qox grew up in exile, unaware of the powers that coursed through his noble blood.
In the waning days of the bloody Radiance War that ravaged the galaxy, Jai was captured and returned to the Traders to play a role as a puppet Emperor in their scheme to consolidate their domination of space.
Now Jai must walk a razor’s edge, to seize the power that is his by birthright without succumbing to its dark seduction and wield it for the good of all, and to avert a conflagration that threatens to engulf a thousand worlds.
"Fans of Catherine Asaro’s Skolian Universe series should rush to read this novel. For readers unfamiliar with earlier novels in this series, The Moon’s Shadow, which can stand alone, is an excellent place to start."
— a SciFi.com review by Pamela Sargent
Spherical Harmonic
Separated for decades by circumstance and political machinations, the Ruby Dynasty, hereditary rulers of the Skolian Empire, struggle to bring together the tattered remnants of their family in the shadow of a disastrous interstellar war. Too many have died, others are presumed lost, yet they must move quickly if they are to resume their rightful place as rulers of Skolia.
"Quintessential Catherine Asaro...A complex narrative using the printed page for wave imagery, the mathematical influence is cunningly portrayed. Machiavellian plots surface in a tightly woven story of deception and rebirth."
--Romantic Times (4 1/2 stars)
"Spherical Harmonic, the seventh Skolian tale is an engaging outer space novel that will excite fans of the series...[I]t is fun to watch the wonderful gender bender heroine struggle to save her people at what might cost her the lives of her family."
--Harriet Klausner, TheBestReviews.com
Ascendant Sun
Ascendant Sun is a stand-alone novel in the same universe as the Nebula Award finalist The Last Hawk, in which Kelric, a prince of Imperial Skolia, crashed on the planet Coba. Now eighteen years later he has escaped Coba and returned home—only to find Skolia in chaos.
In the aftermath of the Radiance War, all surviving members of his family are prisoners of Earth or the Trader empire. Only Kelric remains free. With no more than his clothes to his name and no one he dares trust, he must find a way to claim his title before his enemies discover his identity. His devotion to his family sustains him as he launches a silent, one-man battle against the Trader empire, initially as a weapons officer. Kidnapped and sold as a pleasure slave, he must overcome ever greater obstacles in his quest. So begins a journey that crosses three empires, as he strives to save his people.
“Asaro reveals fascinating new aspects of her talent with each new book, and readers can always expect something fresh, different, and absolutely wonderful.”
— Melinda Helfer, Romantic Times
“Physicist Catherine Asaro combines hard speculative science and first-rate storytelling to look at the galaxy's distant future. ... Asaro innovatively blends computer technology and telepathy into the electrifying, action-rich drama she creates.”
— Booklist
The Quantum Rose
**Nebula Award Winner**
Kamoj Argali is the young ruler of an impoverished province on a backward planet. To keep her people from starving, she has agreed to marry the boorish, brutal ruler of a neighboring province. But before the wedding takes place, a mysterious stranger from a distant planet sweeps in and unwittingly forces Kamoj into marriage, throwing her world into utter chaos.
"Connoisseurs of good science writing, vivid imagery and powerful emotional intensity are in for a real treat."
--Romantic Times (4 1/2 stars)
"The writing is strong and the plot and characters engaging, and Asaro walks the line well, holding it all together with a complexity of situations, scientific marvels, and loads of intrigue."
--Locus
"Be prepared to stay up late, you won't want to put this book down."
-- Romance Reviews Today
The Radiant Seas
The Radiant Seas continues the story of Soz and Jaibriol, each the heir to an interstellar empire, as their lives become entangled again in the machinations of the Skolian Imperialate. They are beginning to pick up what’s left of their lives, in exile on a deserted planet with their children, when the fate of much of the known universe comes to rest on the shoulders of their fragile young family. Interstellar war erupts, and Jaibriol is snatched away to be the unwilling ruler of the Highton Aristos. Soz must fight her way at the head of an invading space fleet to rescue him from his own empire—without revealing that they are married. And with much of interstellar civilization poised on the brink of destruction, it is the devotion of these two lovers, their sacrifices and their heroism, that might just found a new order.
"More notably for SF readers, the science and technology, for all its extravagance, is grounded in either real physics, or at least plausible, if extremely speculative physics... a first-rate rip-roaring adventure story"
--Rich Horton, the sfsite.com
This action-packed novel is chock full of love, valor, and sacrifice in the face of a ruthless enemy. If you're in the mood for rousing adventure, glittering (sometimes literally!) larger than life characters, gripping human drama, and a plot that holds surprises right up to the end, The Radiant Seas is for you."
--The Romance Reader Reviews
The Last Hawk
The Last Hawk tells the tale of the lost heir to the Empire. Fleeing the heat of battle in a wounded spacecraft, Kelric crash-lands on a proscribed planet where a matriarchy rules through the medium of a complex game. The women in power help to heal him, but destroy his ship and determine that he can never leave - for his knowledge of their world, if revealed to the Empire, would cause the rapid fall of their civilization. And so his rescue turns into an imprisonment of years, decades, a time in which he finds love and a challenging place in the universal game.
The Last Hawk is a true gem, with believable hard science, human drama, and people and events that will draw in any perceptive reader. Impossible to put down, The Last Hawk embodies excellence in prose and science fiction, an excellence all too rare in any era.”
—L.E. Modesitt, Jr, author of The Spellsong Cycle
“Catherine Asaro’s The Last Hawk is not the usual sort of thing, for it hybridizes sf with romance, turns the mix on its head, and makes it all work quite well. … this one’s a winner.”sp
—Tom Easton, Analog
“Rising star Catherine Asaro exploded onto the science fiction scene with all the blazing glory of a supernova with her first book called Primary Inversion. Now, in the third tale of the Skolian Empire, we see not only the powerful characterization and intriguing scientific concepts of the first two books, but also an elegant subtlety and a far-reaching sense of destiny that carries her to the highest rank of master storyteller.”
—Melinda Helfer, Romantic Times
Catch the Lightning
In the distant future, the Skolian empire rules one third of the human galaxy, and is the most powerful of all. For the ruling family has the power of telepathy, and through it, the ability to communicate faster than light across the interstellar space. but their most determined enemy, the Traders, who thrive on human pain, need to interbreed with a Skolian to gain their powers. And now they have her.
"...this book is excellent, and comes close to matching Primary Inversion for compulsive readability and sympathetic characters. Exciting action sidetrips, lost ruins, a funny, sympathetic Evolving Intelligence, encounters with the evil Aristos -- the book has variety and excitement."
--James Schellenberg, Challenging Destiny Reviews
"Catch the Lightning hooked me and made me care about the characters, and that's what every reader wants. Kudos to Catherine Asaro for bringing hard science-fiction into the realm of romance, and doing it with style."
----Cathy Sova, The Romance Reader.com
Primary Inversion
The Skolian Empire rules a third of the civilized galaxy through its mastery of faster-than-light communication. But war with the rival empire of the Traders seems imminent, a war that can only lead to slavery for the Skolians or the destruction of both sides. Destructive skirmishes have already occurred. A desperate attempt must be made to avert total disaster.
"In an unusually masterful first novel, physicist Asaro combines hard speculative science and first-rate storytelling to look at the galaxy's distant future. Earth's peaceful Alliance shares power with two other empires, those of the Skolians and the Traders, who are mortal enemies of each other. Heir apparent to oversee the Skolian empire, Sauscony Valdoria is a bioengineered fighter pilot who has inherited rare psychic abilities that link her to the powerful "psiberspace" Skolian Web. Taking shore leave on a neutral planet, Sauscony encounters Jaibriol, an heir to the throne of the sadistic Trader Empire. During a fortuitous melding of minds, Sauscony not only recognizes Jaibriol as her psychic soul mate but realizes her new love has been bred specifically to give Traders the power to vanquish the Skolian empire. Asaro innovatively blends computer technology and telepathy into the electrifying, action-rich drama she creates. This is one of the best sf first novels in years, a likely candidate for the genre's major awards."
--Booklist
"The Shadowed Heart"
in
Best New Paranormal Romance
Twelve tales of love and wonder...
Nymphs, starfighters, magical women, mystical men, ordinary mortals, and extraordinary beings populate stories that range from engagingly whimsical to profoundly moving. Highly imaginative short fiction and novellas from outstanding fantasy romance writers -- both bestselling authors and new talent.
"Guran's pioneering "best of" anthology, the first in a projected series, offers twelve enthralling tales of romance that incorporate supernatural, fantasy or SF elements. A few of these "stories of love and wonder" end with a standard HEA (romance-speak for "happily ever after"), but all avoid cliche. Among the best are Catherine Asaro's "The Shadowed Heart," about a battle-fatigued starfighter pilot."
--Publishers Weekly
------------also in-----------
The Journey Home
The Journey Home is a collection of ten paranormal romance short stories about soldiers coming home. Each of these tales features a hero with deep emotional wounds that only love can heal.
In addition to Catherine Asaro, contributors include Mary Jo Putney, Patricia Rice, Rebecca York, Linda Madl, Mallory Kane, Lucy Grijalva, CB Scott, Candice Kohl, and Diane Chamberlain.
Fifty percent of authors’ royalties will be donated to Support Our Soliders America, Inc. (SOS), a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing support for American troops stationed overseas and recovering in military hospitals across the U.S.
"This celebration of wounded warriors and those who love them is emotionally wrenching yet tremendously uplifting."
— Romantic Times
"Readers will thoroughly enjoy this book as the strength of the human spirit shines through."
— Enchanted in Romance
"The City of Cries"
in
Down These Dark Spaceways
**winner of Prism Awards for Best Novella 2006 and Best of the Best 2006**
Down These Dark Spaceways, edited by Mike Resnick, is an original science fiction mystery anthology from the Science Fiction Book Club, composed of six futuristic hard-boiled private eye stories. In addition to Catherine, the contributors are Robert J. Sawyer, David Gerrold, Jack McDevitt, Robert Reed, and Mike Resnick. For more information on this anthology, go to the Science Fiction Book Club web site.
Note: membership in the Book Club is required to purchase this anthology.
"A Roll of the Dice"
novella originally published in Analog Magazine*
** Nebula Award Finalist, Hugo Award Nominee, HOMer Award Winner, Analog Reader's Choice Award Winner, Nebula Award(R) Preliminary Ballot Nominee
Harvard anthropology student Jeremiah Coltman has been doing field work for his thesis project on the planet Coba for three years. Coltman's immersion into the colony world's female-dominated culture has progressed far beyond his expectations, guided principally by his exceptional skill at Quis, a dice game played by a privileged but socially reclusive group of men known as the Calanyi. When word of Coltman's Quis prowess spreads to the high levels of the government, he is kidnapped and forced to marry against his will into the Calanyi ... a luxurious captivity for which there is no escape.
*now available through Fictionwise
Also originally published in Analog:
"Aurora in Four Voices"
"Light and Shadow"
"Walk in Silence"
and coming soon:
"The Spacetime Pool"