The Quantum Rose (The Saga of the Skolian Empire)

The Quantum Rose is the sixth novel in the acclaimed Saga of the Skolian Empire, following the novels Primary Inversion, Catch the Lightning, The Last Hawk, The Radiant Seas, and Ascendant Sun. This intelligent, entertaining series combines space opera, hard SF, future history, military SF, and romance in a rare and potent blend. The Quantum Rose is an interplanetary adventure, but the space-opera and hard-SF elements are less prominent, as the plot focuses on a compelling and complicated love triangle, the clash of very different cultures, and an approach to war that SF has almost never considered.

A Nebula Award finalist, Catherine Asaro has won the Analog Readers' Poll, the Sapphire Award, and the Homer Award. In addition to the Saga of the Skolian Empire, she has written the near-future SF novels The Veiled Web and The Phoenix Code. --Cynthia Ward

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

It was a'right, 2007-12-03
Kamoj Quanta Argali is the 18 yr old governor of a planet of former slaves. When a newcomer on the world Havyrl arrives to recover from an ordeal which left him half mad, he spies Kamoj taking a bath in a river and falls for her. Impulsively Havryl offers to marry her which causes strife and conflict throughout the region, as Kamoj's spurned fiancee vows revenge.

I looked forward to this novel, but I admit I didn't care for Havryl. The drunken binges, the whining, and his 'tragic past' was a bit overdone. The relationship between Kamoj 18 year old (I don't care how biologically mature) and the Havryl 64 year old guy skeeved me out. I just don't like huge age differences between my romantic couples. At one point Havryl is talking about being a grandpa and described as being a hot-looking 40. Umm.. No.

There isn't much sci-fi in this one except for the revelations about Kamoj's people. I felt this was an okay book, which could've been better.

3 stars.


1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Science Fiction Sparkling with Romantic Resonance!, 2007-11-08
The Radiance War has ended leaving both the Skolian and Trader Empires in disarray. All of the webs have collapsed. Kurj Skolia had been killed just prior. Sauscony (Soz) and Althor Valdoria, two of his three designated heirs, are thought to have died as war heroes in the battle. Soz's husband Jabriol Qox II, the Eube Emperor, is also thought to have died. Kelric Valdoria, the third heir, had returned from the dead after nearly 2 decades, but is in the hands of the Traders, as is the Eldest Valdoria sibling, Eldrin. The second Triad key, Dyhianna Selei, along with her son, is missing and presumed dead. The surviving family members are being held under house arrest on their homeworld of Lyshriol by the Allied Worlds of Earth, in order to prevent them from resurrecting the Skolnet.

Eldrin's capture is a coupe for the Traders who have already captured a lock, one of three sites used by the Triad to enter the psiberspace web. This ability had been the Skolians one advantage over the more prolific Traders. With the death of family patriarch, Eldrinson Valdoria, the third Triad key, Eldrin would inherit that position. The Traders now had both a lock and a key.

THE QUANTUM ROSE is the sixth book in the Saga of the Skolian Empire. Timewise it parallels the fifth book, ASCENDANT SUN, in which Kelric attempts to shut down the captured lock, while young Jabriol III trades his own freedom for the release of his uncle Eldrin Valdoria, and becomes the new Qox Emperor.

The remaining Valdorias along with the ISC, unaware of what is transpiring, have devised a desperate plan to obtain freedom. Eldrinson is cremated, according to his wishes, and his ashes distributed over the lands he had loved. The AWOE representatives are told a different story. They are told that Eldrinson's dying wish had been to have his coffin put into orbit around Lyshriol. Havryl (Vyrl) Valdoria, fifth born of the ten siblings, is elected to fill the coffin. The plan is for ISC to recover him and take him to sanctuary until a plan can be devised to free the rest of his family. The plan goes awry and Havryl spends countless days orbiting the planet before he is finally retrieved.

On the planet Balumil, Kamoj Quanta Argali, the young governor of Argali province is taking a break from her heavy responsibilities when a group of men, led by Lord Havryl Lionstar, happen upon her bathing hole. Lionstar is an off worlder whose strange ways and unfamiliarity with her peoples customs have caused quite a stir.

Kamoj returns home to learn that Lionstar has entered a bid for her hand that cannot be matched by any other. This disrupts lifelong plans of a merger between Argali and Ironbridge, an arrangement that would have been beneficial to her people. Kamoj is well aware that her former betrothed, Jax the governor of Ironbridge would not be pleased.

Jax is a descendant of the Trader breeders who had created bred Kamoj's ancestors to be slaves, and who had become stranded on Balumil. Jax had been alternately cruel and kind to her, keeping the conciliatory Kamoj completely off balance. He had blamed her for his moods. While her uncle is convinced that a Lionstar merger will be better for her, she is not sure what it will mean for her people. Lionstar is a mystery; no one had ever even seen his face.

The merger/wedding goes through without Havryl's knowledge that the "dowry" he had offered had been construed as a purchase price, but he is currently too drunk to puzzle it out. He can't even get his bride's name right. The lengthy sensory deprivation, exacerbated by an empath's need for close human contact, had driven him to drink in order to squelch his endless nightmares.

When he passes out in the coach on the way home, Kamoj cannot resist the temptation to see the face, hidden beneath his ever present cowl. She is shocked to find a sightless metal face but her nature urges her to seek out positive aspects of his appearance. His hair is beautiful, and unable to resist touching it, she discovers that the metal is a fa�ade hiding a face of exquisite beauty. He is human but the atmosphere of her world is hostile to her new husband. He is unable to breath outdoors without the mask.

It matters little, for she soon learns that the Ruby prince will not be staying long. For all that his drinking concerns her for the sake of his health, he is kind and gentle with her. Her mind resonates with his, comforting him when his demons have him in their thrall,l and giving her the ability to discern the emotions of others.

While the pair are falling in love with each other, Jax Ironbridge is not taking his disappointment well. He has accused Vyrl of coercion, kidnapping, and rape. The scandal would jeopardize Vryl's mission if the charges were exposed. Jax believes he is justified in taking her back, and she bears the brunt of his ire. The crimes that Vryl has been accused of become reality, though Jax feels his own actions are well justified. Now Kamoj is faced a very difficult choices. Vryl wants her back, and she has to decide what will be best for herself, the man she loves who will soon be leaving her world behind, and the Argali people who she has spent her life protecting. While the two men vie for her, Kamoj realizes through Vyrl's methods, so different from that of Jax, that the ways of her people, ingrained by virtue of their genetics, are not etched in stone. Her choice is made.

I truly liked Kamoj. While most of her pleasing characteristics have been bred into her, she is a strong enough to break through her conditioning and stand up to the men who vie for control over her life. She refuses to bring Vryl drink even though she knows he will push her away because of it, and she stands up to Jax for the first time in her life. She braves the unknown for the sake of her husband's sanity, and for a family she has never met.

Vryl is an interesting man, the first Valdoria hero who is not a Jagernaut warrior. He is described as a simple man, like his father, who wanted nothing more than a wife, some land, and lots of children. He is a dancer, forced to hide his art on a world where men don't do those things. He strikes one as being vulnerable and in many ways he is. But he has a core of steel that allowed him to survive the horror of being "buried alive", to face the fear and carry out the duty that he is charged with. On his home world the love he has inspired is quite plain, as its inhabitants gather from all corners to stand with him against their captors. Kamoj is not a psion but is soon accepted by his family and her resonance with Vryl produces a surprising gift for his people.

I really love these off world pairings. Dealing with different cultures teaches the Skolians so very much about themselves and humanity in general. Where would Kelric have been without his Quis skills to show him the way to escape his Trader captors? Hopefully in a future work we will discover what Kamoj's gift will mean to them. I also like the subtle role reversal of the genders in these books. It makes one think, and as this genre is widely read by both men and women, I think that is a very good thing.

With Kelric poised to be the next Imperator, Eldrin free to serve as Web Key, and the Valdoria family liberated, all that remains is to recover the third member of the Triad. Look for the seventh book of the Skolian saga, Spherical Harmonic, in which Dehya coalesces. --- Reviewed for PNR Reviews


1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Fascinating series, 2007-04-27
I stumbled into the series with this book and was very pleasantly surprised by the author's thoughtful attention to detail and plot. Next I read Primary Inversion, which was excellent. I'm planning to read the rest as fast as I can find them.

Don't be put off by the R-word other reviewers have bandied about. It seems women who write SF about women who have men in their lives are tarred with the romance keyword, but there is nothing formulaic or bodice ripping about Asaro's women or their stories. This is space opera and it's a lot of fun to read.


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

A "science-fantasy" adventure-romance (with little hard science except as analogy), 2006-09-01
The first question a reader such as myself (who is unfamiliar with Asaro's work) might ask is the following: If I want to read this book, which won the 2001 Nebula Award, do I have to read the other 5 books in the "Skolian Empire" series to be able to follow it? The answer, fortunately, is "no." This book works very well as a stand-alone story, presumably because it focusses on a Skolian character who is not prominent in the other books, and because the main character has not appeared before in the series. I'm sure that a veteran Asaro reader will find things here that enrich his/her reading experience. To an Asaro rookie, it will read much like Lord of the Rings - this is a rich and well-developed universe, and there are lots of things going on that don't directly impact the story at hand.

To quickly summarise the story: a planet (so far off the beaten path that its impoverished and mostly illiterate citizens have forgotten they are part of an interstellar empire) is divided into small provinces each ruled by a "Governor." Two of these governors - Jax and Kamoj - are engaged to marry, which will effectively merge their provinces. The advantage to Jax: a beautiful young bride with ancient family connections. The advantage to Kamoj: Jax's province is wealthy (hers is not) and Jax is a skilled administrator. The problem: Jax is also physically and mentally abusive. Into this dynamic drops Prince Havyrl who, on a drunken whim, outbids (with a bigger dowry) Jax for Kamoj's hand.

This sounds like the setup for a standard romance adventure. I think it's obvious from the start that Havyrl is not what he seems (a ditzy drunk) and that Kamoj will fall in love with him. The only question that arises is, "When, and in what form, will Jax's revenge appear?" Fortunately, there is more to the story than that, as we soon meet the remainder of Havyrl's retinue, including officers from the Imperial Fleet who have plans for Havyrl and his skills as a Ruby Psion (a type of telepath able to link with advanced weapon systems).

As a romance, I suppose the story works (I am not a big fan of the genre). Many reviewers have mentioned the quantum mechanical analogy that runs through the book, but really, that is just the inspiration for the chapter titles (as every quantum chemist has said in every class s/he's taught, "Beware of the dangers of applying quantum theory to the macroscopic world!"). Mostly, this is a story of politics - the politics of governorship on Kamoj's world, the politics between the Prince's Royal Family and their subjects, and between the "Allied Worlds" and the ISC (the military umbrella under which the prince's world falls). There is a parallel between the struggle between governors on a backwater world and the fate of two interstellar empires, but unfortunately, the bridge between the two stories is jarring and precariously thin. It's almost like Asaro had two short stories and tried to cram them together into one novel with a flimsy connector.

That problem notwithstanding, the two halves each work on their own. The stories are well-written and entertaining. The rich background provided by the first 5 novels is never intrusive, but lends positively to the feel of authenticity and richness of the reading experience. And really, the romance is not so bad, even for a male reader.


1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Lots Of sleeping, Lots Of Drinking, Not Much Quality Writing, 2006-08-08
I ordered this book and suffered through it because it won the Nebula Award. If you enjoy good writing, in-depth characters, fascinating Science Fiction or Fantasy worlds I feel certain this book is not for you. On the other hand, if you like a fast read romance loaded with cliches you may like this book. Never again will I assume a book is at the top of its genre because it is a Nebula winner.

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