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j00j's review against another edition
2.0
Better than the first book in this series, though it still suffers from occasional bouts of tl;dr explanation. It takes a real gift to make that kind of detail in hard SF interesting to me-- the only author who's managed to do it is [author: Scott Westerfeld] in the Risen Empire books. Asaro's science is intriguing, but her explanations feel a bit clunky to me. Your mileage may vary, of course. In any case, the characterization in this book seemed improved, and the Mayan cultural elements she brought in were interesting, although unfortunately I'm not in a position to assess how well she did her homework.
lauriereadslohf's review against another edition
5.0
This is the second book in Catherine Asaro's Skolian Empire Saga and is also another not-to-be missed read for hard-core scifi fans and romance readers looking for a well-written futuristic love story.
Ms. Asaro has created another extraordinary heroine and hero while maintaining a non-stop action filled read. I now know why these books appeal to so many different types of readers - there's adventure, romance, political intrigue and interesting future societies and theories that boggle the mind.
The best thing about this book for me was the characters. If I can't care about them I just won't be able to get into a book no matter how interesting others may find it. The author takes as much care developing her characters as she does her plot which makes this book so special. Tina may only be seventeen but she was forced to grow up early and her actions, and responses to the unbelievable situations she's thrust into are very realistic. She's vulnerable and tough, smart and easy to like. Althor is a perfect match for her, he's strong, sensitive and moody and with her strong empathic abilities she's probably the only one who would be able to fully understand and love him.
My only complaint, and it's a minor one really, that can probably be attributed to the fact that I don't read much hard scifi, is that sometimes the book lapsed into long technical explanations that jogged me out of the story and because I read this book immediately after finishing PRIMARY INVERSION some of the explanations didn't seem necessary to me so I skimmed them. Despite that nit I can't recommend this one highly enough. The characterization is flawless, you'll love and route for these people as they face impossible odds.
Ms. Asaro has created another extraordinary heroine and hero while maintaining a non-stop action filled read. I now know why these books appeal to so many different types of readers - there's adventure, romance, political intrigue and interesting future societies and theories that boggle the mind.
The best thing about this book for me was the characters. If I can't care about them I just won't be able to get into a book no matter how interesting others may find it. The author takes as much care developing her characters as she does her plot which makes this book so special. Tina may only be seventeen but she was forced to grow up early and her actions, and responses to the unbelievable situations she's thrust into are very realistic. She's vulnerable and tough, smart and easy to like. Althor is a perfect match for her, he's strong, sensitive and moody and with her strong empathic abilities she's probably the only one who would be able to fully understand and love him.
My only complaint, and it's a minor one really, that can probably be attributed to the fact that I don't read much hard scifi, is that sometimes the book lapsed into long technical explanations that jogged me out of the story and because I read this book immediately after finishing PRIMARY INVERSION some of the explanations didn't seem necessary to me so I skimmed them. Despite that nit I can't recommend this one highly enough. The characterization is flawless, you'll love and route for these people as they face impossible odds.
spffng's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
bookadventurer's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
3.5
A stellar (pun intended, of course) addition to Asaro's Skolian Empire series. Why have I not read these before? Anyway, on to the fourth in the series!
In a distant future, two races dominate the universe: The Skolians, and the Traders. The Traders had been genetically engineered generations ago to make empathy an easier curse to bear. Unfortunately, the experiment went horribly wrong and now the ruling class, called Aristos, are sadists. They are in perpetual conflict with the Skolians, a race with a high percentage of empaths, who are the favorite prey of the Aristos.
Meanwhile, on Earth, a young woman in LA, named Tina, who meets an enigmatic stranger one night on her walk home. Althor, a Jag pilot and member of the ruling family of the Skolian Empire, has accidentally arrived in a different time and universe than the one from which he came, and is drawn to Tina by her empathic abilities. As they try to evade both her enemies and his, and to return Althor to his own timeline, they become attached and Tina faces a decision: remain in the world and timeline she knows, or follow him into the unknown future?
I found the technology, physics, math, and hard science easier to understand than the in-depth expositions of FTL in Asaro's first book. That might be because there was less of it, or because the main character comes from an alternate Earth in 1987. Fun romance, exciting action, fast-paced plot, well-drawn universe and interesting characters/cultures, the importance of Mayan culture ... I liked just about everything about this book.
The stumbling blocks: The convoluted Rhon family history - I could have used a genealogy. Some of the FTL specifics didn't seem to match - can they drink water and move and talk when they can't hold a new thought in inversion?
In a distant future, two races dominate the universe: The Skolians, and the Traders. The Traders had been genetically engineered generations ago to make empathy an easier curse to bear. Unfortunately, the experiment went horribly wrong and now the ruling class, called Aristos, are sadists. They are in perpetual conflict with the Skolians, a race with a high percentage of empaths, who are the favorite prey of the Aristos.
Meanwhile, on Earth, a young woman in LA, named Tina, who meets an enigmatic stranger one night on her walk home. Althor, a Jag pilot and member of the ruling family of the Skolian Empire, has accidentally arrived in a different time and universe than the one from which he came, and is drawn to Tina by her empathic abilities. As they try to evade both her enemies and his, and to return Althor to his own timeline, they become attached and Tina faces a decision: remain in the world and timeline she knows, or follow him into the unknown future?
I found the technology, physics, math, and hard science easier to understand than the in-depth expositions of FTL in Asaro's first book. That might be because there was less of it, or because the main character comes from an alternate Earth in 1987. Fun romance, exciting action, fast-paced plot, well-drawn universe and interesting characters/cultures, the importance of Mayan culture ... I liked just about everything about this book.
The stumbling blocks: The convoluted Rhon family history - I could have used a genealogy. Some of the FTL specifics didn't seem to match - can they drink water and move and talk when they can't hold a new thought in inversion?
brucefarrar's review against another edition
4.0
Tina Pulivok, a seventeen-year-old chicana of Maya Indian ancestry, meets the love of her life on a street corner in Los Angeles in 1987. He’s tall, dark, handsome, and projects a sense warmth and affection. He thinks she’s beautiful. He’s just out of this world. He does speak with a very strange accent, whether he’s speaking Spanish or English. And when she asks him, he claims to have been on his way to a diplomatic reception in Washington, when he got lost. And why would he be going to a reception dressed like the member of a gang? Oh this wasn’t his dress uniform; he’d left that back on his spaceship until he got his bearings. Tina figures he’s into some kind of role-playing game. In fact, Althor is not just out of this world; he’s from another universe, one in which Jamaica did not become the fifty-first state in 1981, one in which California was part of the United States of America, and one in which he is the target of a high level assassination plotted by members of his own government.
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