by Catherine Asaro
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| List Price: | $6.99 |
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| Lowest New Price: | $24.94 |
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Product Description
Living in exile on a deserted planet, Sauscony and Jaibriol, each the heir to an interstellar empire, become entangled in the machinations of the Skolian Empire. Interstellar war erupts and Jaibriol is snatched away to be the unwilling ruler of the Highton Aristos. Sauscony must lead an invading space fleet to rescue him from his own Empire-without revealing that they are married. 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 forge a new order.
Amazon.com Review
Sauscony of Skolia and Jaibriol of the Highton Aristos are truly star-crossed lovers: They are the heirs to interstellar empires that are implacable, age-old enemies. When they seek to save their secret relationship in an exile disguised as death, they disturb the delicate balance of power among Skolia, Aristo, and Earth. Interstellar war erupts, empires rise and fall, and it looks as though the Highton Aristos may recover first, with their dark lust for conquest intact. The Radiant Seas follows the critically acclaimed novels Primary Inversion, Catch the Lightning (the 1997 Sapphire Award winner), and The Last Hawk as the fourth of a proposed seven novels in the Saga of the Skolian Empire, an exceptionally well-written and well-plotted series that mixes space opera, future history, hard SF, military SF, and romance. By internal chronology, The Radiant Seas is the direct sequel to Primary Inversion. It is also Catherine Asaro's most ambitious novel to date. Fans of the earlier books will find The Radiant Seas less focused on romantic aspects, and readers new to the series may find this novel starts slow, but the complex story is always clear and soon picks up speed. Hard SF fans will revel in the numerous brilliant ideas extrapolated from physics and genetics (the author is a physicist), while readers uninterested in science will find the novel unmarred by chunky speculative-science digressions. All will find The Radiant Seas bursting with fascinating characters and subplots, and will quickly discover they can't put the novel down. --Cynthia Ward
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 A Perfect Blend of Science Fiction and Romance, 2007-11-08
Sauscony Valdoria and Jaibriol Qox II, each the designated heir to their warring interstellar empires, had left the world they'd known behind to be together. The shocked world had witnessed their "deaths" and had grieved for them. Only a select few knew that they'd not died. Instead they had done the unthinkable, they had married aboard the ship that had carried them to sanctuary.
Adapting to life on a deserted planet had not been easy, but love had gotten them through the worst of it. They had made a family, four beautiful children, who were the best of both of them. They were happy. Unfortunately Eden always comes seems to come with a serpent.
Over the past fifteen years, the Eubians have not given up trying to gain access to the Skolweb, the one thing that gives their vastly outnumbered enemies, the Skolians, the edge in their war against them. The tide may be turning in their favor, as they've captured the new Skolian heir, Althor.
When both Imperator Skolia and Emperor Qox are killed in battle, both sides are in need of leadership. Unfortunately the Eubians have discovered that Jaibriol still lives. They are determined to recover him and restore him to the throne. Though to the rest of the world the new Emperor appears to be in command, Jabriol is in truth and unwilling puppet, helpless to protect those he loves. His captors know the truth of his origins. He is vulnerable to torture.
A new leader emerges among the Skolians as well. Having secreted the children safely on Earth, Soz will stop at nothing to get Jaibriol back.
As with Ms. Asaro's other works, this story is rich in multi dimensional characters and unlikely heroes. We see Soz as a loving wife and mother as well as unstoppable warrior queen, and Jabriol as a man of courage, determined not to give his loved ones away no matter what he must suffer. We watch as Jabriol's "mother", is torn between unaccustomed emotion for a son and ingrained Highton doctrine. We empathize as one Skolian heir is broken, but still retains the essence of the man he has always been. We watch a child grow up overnight, to become a man who would have made his parents proud. In addition Ms. Asaro treats us to fascinating and believable technology, making this work the perfect blend of science fiction and romance. Bravo!--- Reviewed for PNR Reviews
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Wonderful sci-fi book series., 2006-12-25
Read 1, you'll want to read the rest. Great Sci-fi series. The family the stories are centered around grabs your attention & holds it from 1 book to the next. Read all of them!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 Slightly disappointing, but decent , 2006-03-05
The Radiant Seas is not as incredible as its predecessor Primary Inversion, which I loved, but it was ok. For the most part, Asaro shows again that she is a skilled writer. It features fleshed out, interesting characters, an imaginative, well developed future universe with some interesting science/technology and a mostly smooth, pleasing writing style. So what's wrong with it? Well, the story is so big that a lot of things seem glossed over, for example the description of a space battle in the middle was cool but could have been better had it been explained with more depth. Also at the end a character we've barely met turns out to be the most important person in the book which I think mars the book's conclusion and makes it feel tacked on. And what is with the word "gentled"? As in, "his face/expression/voice etc gentled." That was used literally dozens of times in the book and I found it mildly irritating after awhile. Still, overall the book was reasonably entertaining and I will checking out another of Asaro's books, probably The Last Hawk, at some point.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Good read!, 2006-02-25
Good read--ties together several other books in the series if you have read them in random order.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
It's a love story, 2005-11-19
This is the best Asaro book out of 4 or 5 I have read so far. Unique setting. The heroine Soz is a telepath-warrior who is also leader-heir to an interstellar kingdom called Skolia. Her husband Jaibriol is also a telepath and emperor of a rival kingdom. That kingdom Eube is ruled by anti-empaths who get pleasure torturing strong telepaths such as Soz and her husband. Jaibriol has lived his entire life hiding that fact from the anti-empaths. If they discover, he will be tortured. When the book starts Soz and Jaibriol live happily in exile on an unknown planet. However Eube discovers them and Jaibriol is taken back. To rescue Jaibriol, Soz must claim leadership of the Skolian Imperialate and become a warrior again. How she succeeds is the meat of the matter. When you read the book, you get the impression that it is a science fiction story featuring war between two rival interstellar empires. This is not a mistake. However what makes this book truly interesting is the human drama between Soz and Jaibriol; Soz and her brothers; Soz and her parents. I read the whole book in a single sitting. I was fascinated by the fantastic setting and the drama. I am now gathering as many Asaro books as possible.
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