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Title: The Radiant Seas by Catherine Asaro ISBN: 0-8125-8036-2 Publisher: Tor Science Fiction Pub. Date: 15 November, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.48 (21 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Well-Done Sequel to Primary Inversion!
Comment: For fans of Catherine Asaro, THE RADIANT SEAS does not disappoint! In it is the continuing saga of the Skolian Empire. Although the blurb implies that much of the book is focused on Sauscony and Jaibriol, it's actually an epic of two empires struggling for power and the political intrigues involved.
Asaro takes time to develop her characters and make them believable. She evokes the readers' emotions with introspective examinations of characters' decisions and actions, and the sacrifices that each of them makes. But she also keeps the action and plot moving along at a rapid pace. I literally could not put this book down and found myself wanting more when it ended. Fans of sci-fi, romance, and action novels will definitely want to read this once you finish with PRIMARY INVERSION.
Rating: 4
Summary: Probably the most intricately written Asaro...
Comment: I have read so far (in that order) QUANTUM ROSE, THE LAST HAWK, ASCENDANT SUN, and now THE RADIANT SEAS. Of these, I will say unhesitatingly that the last book has caught my attention the most, even though it has been roundly criticized by some people for a complicated plot and for various other things.
Why do I recommend this book despite its flaws? Because of the love story of Sauscony and Jaibriol (and I wish there had been more of it!), and because of the attempt, however flawed, to combine various narratives into one grand overarching story of a family and couple's story set against grand interstellar intrigue and warfare.
For those who come new to this series, the Skolians are descendants of people moved mysteriously off Earth at some earlier period, but moved across time and space. They come from different parts of Earth, and the resultant civilization they develop (their captors disappear, leaving them behind) draws from different Earth civilizations but is technologically far more advanced. At some point, this space civilization splits into two civilizations - the Skolians who depend on telepathy and empathy to control an interstellar and interplanetary form of communcation called the Web, and the Eubian Concord, led by the Aristos (short for Aristocrats) who use telepaths and empaths rather sadistically. These two civilizations are at war, with the Aristo aim being to destroy the leaders of the Skolians - a hereditary family, led by the Ruby Pharaoh. In this context, Earth discovers space travel and forms the Allied Worlds, only to discover that there are these two contending human civilizations before them.
THE RADIANT SEAS is thus a story not only of a couple who are in love and who are trying to build a life together against tremendous odds, or of a ruling family trying to survive (in which each member has different traumas to overcome, and the expectations of their people to fulfill), but also a story of high politics - a tripolar (three-power) conflict in which each civilization believes that only one can emerge victorious. Most of the conflict, and it is bitter conflict, is between the Aristos (called the Traders) and the Skolians.
The story is told in bits and parts, shifting from the personal experiences of the hero and heroine (and their relatives), to high politics - and showing where personal wishes interact with and sometimes conflict with high politics. If you enjoy reading this kind of a saga, you will enjoy THE RADIANT SEAS.
If you find a fractured narrative, focusing on many many characters, hard to follow, you will definitely not like this novel. The list of characters at the start focuses on only some of the characters, and not all the important secondary characters at that.
Some warnings should be issued however:
1) There is a considerable age difference between the hero and heroine (and the opposite of what we see in QUANTUM ROSE). I find this typical of Asaro, and perhaps unavoidable given the longevity of her major characters. Some readers, especially the more conventional kind, may find this uncomfortable.
2) Some of the technological (or SF) terms used are not well-explained. I would have loved to see a glossary of these terms such as IR at the back, for those of us not familiar with hard science. As someone with little science background, I found the photograph of the Klein bottle useful, even though I could not quite understand how an entire fleet could fit into one. An explanation similar to that offered at the end of THE QUANTUM ROSE would be useful.
3) There are many many secondary characters in this book, of whom only a fraction are listed in the list of characters. Some people might find this book hard to follow not just because of this, but because they pop up in unexpected places (and yes, there are references to characters appearing in the other books). By the way, if you want to understand who is related to whom, you would be well advised to take a look at the back of QUANTUM ROSE which outlines the main imperial line.
4) And yes, there is a lot of description of sex and torture on the part of the Aristos, although I personally found the sex more dominant in THE LAST HAWK, ASCENDANT SUN, and even THE QUANTUM ROSE. I don't feel...that the sex descriptions was necessarily gratuitous, although I could have wished to have seen less of it. I found it interesting that Asaro chose to describe what the Aristos did sexually to a slave Cirrus, rather than to one of the major characters, Althor. The torture scenes, as far as Althor was concerned, were important, even if unpleasant reading. Without that, we as readers would have little idea of what happens to a Rhon who falls into Aristo hands. Fortunately for my squeamish self, Asaro does not include details of what happened to other Rhons who are similarly unfortunate.
I think that this novel would appeal most to those who are able to follow the kind of story written by Leo Tolstoy (the War and Peace comparison is irresistible, in terms of the scope of the novel and the numerous characters with their own stories). It would not appeal to those who are used to the more typical Asaro plotline which focuses strongly on one hero (or heroine) and his or her life experiences.
Despite all its flaws, and there are many, I give this book a four (although it actually rates at a 4.5). For one, it kept me up and reading until 3 am (something that really means something). For another, it made me determined to acquire the rest of Asaro's books, which is a second plus. For a third, I simply like this kind of narrative strategy.
Rating: 4
Summary: A Fast Paced Mixture of Cyberpunk and Interstellar Intrigue
Comment: Catherine Asaro's "The Radiant Seas" may be her finest work of fiction to date. It certainly kept me interested, and I read it in a single day. She does a splendid job in offering what may be some of the most realistic battles between opposing fleets of manned and unmanned interstellar warships. And those interested by romance may find most intriguing the saga between Sauscony and Jabriol, heirs to two rival interstellar empires founded by humans who left Earth mysteriously thousands of years ago. Yet I will caution readers that she leaves too many gaps in her fast-paced story, starting with her too terse description of "psiberspace" to the seemingly implausible acceptance of Jabriol as the new emperor of the Eubian Concord towards the end of the tale. Those who seek more eloquent tales from a literary perspective will certainly find other, perhaps more rewarding, accounts from the likes of Dan Simmons, Iain Banks and Gene Wolfe, yet they may agree with me that Asaro is certainly a writer worth reading.
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Title: Catch The Lightning (The Saga of the Skolian Empire) by Catherine Asaro ISBN: 0812551028 Publisher: Tor Science Fiction Pub. Date: 15 October, 1997 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Primary Inversion (The Saga of the Skolian Empire) by Catherine Asaro ISBN: 0812550234 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 15 May, 1996 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Spherical Harmonic (The Saga of the Skolian Empire) by Catherine Asaro ISBN: 0812568826 Publisher: Tor Science Fiction Pub. Date: 19 August, 2002 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Quantum Rose (The Saga of the Skolian Empire) by Catherine Asaro ISBN: 0812568834 Publisher: Tor Science Fiction Pub. Date: 18 February, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The Moon's Shadow (The Saga of the Skolian Empire) by Catherine Asaro ISBN: 076534324X Publisher: Tor Science Fiction Pub. Date: 02 March, 2004 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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