Synopses & Reviews
Catherine Asaro exploded on to the science fiction scene in 1995 with the publication of her widely acclaimed debut novel,
Primary Inversion, which introduced readers to the vast and intricate future Saga of the Skolian Empire. She won wide acclaim for her innovative blend of cutting-edge physics, interstellar intrigue, and passionate romance.
Booklist praised Primary Inversion as "an unusually masterful first novel combining hard speculative science and first-rate storytelling to look at the galaxy's distant future. This is one of the best SF first novels in years, a likely candidate for the genre's major awards." And Romantic Times called Catherine Asaro "a formidable new talent. Primary Inversion is a stunning, fast-paced novel of a future war between two human empires. Asaro's elegant scientific concepts of space and time play an exciting role in this absolutely nifty space drama."
Asaro continued the saga of the Skolian Empire in six subsequent volumes - Catch the Lightning, The Last Hawk, The Radiant Seas, Ascendant Sun, The Quantum Rose, and Spherical Harmonic - gaining a legion of devoted readers and regularly garnering nominations for the field's highest awards, culminating in her winning the 2001 Nebula Award for Best Novel for The Quantum Rose--in addition to winning the two most recent Romantic Times Awards for Best SF Novel.
With The Moon's Shadow, Catherine Asaro begins a thrilling new chapter in this galaxy-spanning epic, as the titanic conflicts which have raged across the cosmos at last come to a climax.
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.
Review
"A mesmerizing, passionate novel."--
Publishers Weekly"Asaro's vast, splendid Skolian Empire saga continues to successfully combine space opera, hard science, and romance."--Booklist
Synopsis
Catherine Asaro has just won the Nebula Award for Best Novel for The Quantum Rose, part of her Saga of the Skolian Empire, a sweeping, galaxy-spanning epic which features a unique blend of hard science fiction and heartrending romance.
With her most recent novel, Spherical Harmonic, Asaro tied together several strands of the Saga, setting the stage for The Moon's Shadow.
One young man gave up his freedom, his family -- perhaps even his soul -- to save an empire. The other was born a prince but was forced into slavery. Now he has become the Imperator of all of Skolia.
They stand opposed, ruling empires that have battled for supremacy for centuries. Both know peace is the only solution, but their people want only one thing: war.
Synopsis
Catherine Asaro exploded on to the science fiction scene in 1995 with the publication of her widely acclaimed debut novel, Primary Inversion, which introduced readers to the vast and intricate future Saga of the Skolian Empire. She won wide acclaim for her innovative blend of cutting-edge physics, interstellar intrigue, and passionate romance.
Booklist praised Primary Inversion as "an unusually masterful first novel combining hard speculative science and first-rate storytelling to look at the galaxy's distant future. This is one of the best SF first novels in years, a likely candidate for the genre's major awards." And Romantic Times called Catherine Asaro "a formidable new talent. Primary Inversion is a stunning, fast-paced novel of a future war between two human empires. Asaro's elegant scientific concepts of space and time play an exciting role in this absolutely nifty space drama."
Asaro continued the saga of the Skolian Empire in six subsequent volumes - Catch the Lightning, The Last Hawk, The Radiant Seas, Ascendant Sun, The Quantum Rose, and Spherical Harmonic - gaining a legion of devoted readers and regularly garnering nominations for the field's highest awards, culminating in her winning the 2001 Nebula Award for Best Novel for The Quantum Rose--in addition to winning the two most recent Romantic Times Awards for Best SF Novel.
With The Moon's Shadow, Catherine Asaro begins a thrilling new chapter in this galaxy-spanning epic, as the titanic conflicts which have raged across the cosmos at last come to a climax.
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.
Synopsis
"A mesmerizing, passionate novel."--
Publishers WeeklyAt the age of seventeen the young nobleman named Jaibriol Qox became ruler of a vast galactic empire-- and lost everything he had 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, which 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, in order to avert a conflagration which threatens to engulf a thousand worlds.
"Asaro's vast, splendid Skolian Empire saga continues to successfully combine space opera, hard science, and romance."--Booklist
Synopsis
At the age of seventeen the young nobleman named Jaibriol Qox became ruler of a vast galactic empire-- and lost everything he had 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, which 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, in order to avert a conflagration which threatens to engulf a thousand worlds.
About the Author
Catherine Asaro was born in Oakland, California and grew up in El Cerrito, just north of Berkeley. She received her Phd in Chemical Physics and MA in Physics, both from Harvard, and a BS with Highest Honors in Chemistry from UCLA. Among the places she has done research are the University of Toronto in Canada, the Max Planck Institut für Astrophysik in Germany, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Her research involves using quantum theory to describe the behavior of atoms and molecules. Catherine was a physics professor until 1990, when she established Molecudyne Research, which she currently runs.
A former ballerina, Catherine has performed with ballets and in musicals on both coasts and in Ohio. In the 1980s she was a principal dancer and artistic director of the Mainly Jazz Dancers and the Harvard University Ballet. Catherine still teaches ballet in Maryland.
Catherine's fiction is a successful blend of hard science fiction, romance, and exciting space adventure. She has published more than ten novels, almost all of which belong to her Saga of the Skolian Empire, including The Quantum Rose, which won the Nebula Award for best novel of 2001
Her husband is John Kendall Cannizzo, an astrophysicist at NASA. They have one daughter, a young ballet dancer who loves math.