Skyfall

"Skyfall (4 ½ Stars), the latest in Catherine Asaro's excellent Saga of the Skolian Empire, combines hard SF with evocative, personal storytelling. Asaro's saga merges sweeping space opera, military fiction and exhilarating romance. Impeccable world-building, flawless plotting, intriguing characters-there is not a fault to find with this book. Skyfall is a gift to established fans and the perfect chance for new readers to become addicted to Asaro's unique brand of storytelling."--Romantic Times

"It takes an intense, intrigue-filled climax before true love's course runs at all smoothly. Chronologically the earliest saga episode, Skyfall pleases like its predecessors."--Booklist

"The consistency of Catherine Asaro's Skolian Universe setting allows for the potential for many great and wondrous prequels and sequels, and the thrill of watching consistent and lucid character development is truly a joy in a genre increasingly filled with hackneyed and clichéd character stereotypes. Well written prequels are rare gems. Asaro mixes brilliantly designed and conceived characters with a great romantic plot to create an enticing and enjoyable story."--SF Revu.com

"Catherine Asaro's Saga of the Skolian Empire may be the most important and entertaining science fiction series to originate in the 1990s. Newcomers should start with the ninth novel, Skyfall (2003); it takes place a generation earlier than, and sets the stage for the previous novels."--Amazon.com

Skyfall goes back to the very roots of Skolia, showing how a chance meeting on a backwater planet forges a vast interstellar empire. Eldrinson, a provincial ruler on a primitive planet, is plagued by inner demons. But when he meets Roca, a beautiful and mysterious woman from the stars, he whisks her away to his mountain retreat, inadvertently starting a great interstellar war, and birthing the next generation of rulers for the Skolian Empire.

"Asaro's Saga of the Skolian Empire has quietly become one of the most interesting, ambitious, and popular science-fiction series since Dune, captivating readers with its complex universe, its diverse cast of sympathetic characters, and its imaginative blend of hard SF, future history, military SF, space opera, family saga, and romance."

--Romantic Times

"Asaro has quickly gained a reputation as a writer of very colorful space operas. Her novels are notable for such typical space operatic virtues as (literally) larger-than-life heroes and heroines, truly bad villains, extravagant technology, star-spanning empires, and action-filled plots. I hope that description doesn't seem dismissive: On the contrary, Asaro really does make virtues of each of these characteristics. In addition, her novels feature significant romance subplots . . . first-rate rip-roaring adventures."--SF Site

"This latest installment blends dynastic intrigue with theoretical physics to create a story that will appeal to fans of hard SF as well as grand-scale storytelling."

--Library Journal on Spherical Harmonic