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A review by bookadventurer
The Quantum Rose by Catherine Asaro
4.0
One of the things I like best about [a:Catherine Asaro|34854|Catherine Asaro|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1246654947p2/34854.jpg]'s books is the mix of incomprehensible quantum physics, great plots and story lines, and the romantic-science fiction genre.
I love the cerebral themes underlying the fast-moving plot and well-drawn, complex characters:
- immersion into different cultures
- humans seeking freedom
- gender roles
- the nature of human relationships
- emotional distress and healing (caveat: there are some distressing abuse scenes)
She explains the themes: "So this arc of stories deals with two themes: how humans seek freedom and how coming to appreciate cultural differences may help make the world more peaceful. The idea of understanding the "other" is, I think, a major aspect of science fiction. We look at what is different - the alien - and in doing so, perhaps better understand ourselves." - Catherine Asaro.
At the end of this book, Asaro explains her quantum physics allegory for these themes (or is it vice versa?). Reading the explanation at the end of the novel, I found out that each protagonist represented a particle involved in quantum scattering.
This story is about a love triangle, in essence. A young governor of a province on a simple agricultural world is about to become betrothed to the governor of the neighboring province, who she has known since she was a child, when strangers arrive from outer space. One of the strangers, a man with a metal face named Lionstar, jumps in before the betrothal with a dowry offer of his own, throwing confusion and complications into what would have been a simple province merger/marriage alliance. The plot follows the three characters involved in the love triangle, but the scope pans out to cover the entire universe, since Lionstar happens to be the son of a universe-spanning imperial dynastic family.
As usual, the author mixes Mayan alternate history (as contextual information), space opera, agricultural societies, interstellar politics, and interpersonal relations in a complex and vivid tapestry.
I love the cerebral themes underlying the fast-moving plot and well-drawn, complex characters:
- immersion into different cultures
- humans seeking freedom
- gender roles
- the nature of human relationships
- emotional distress and healing (caveat: there are some distressing abuse scenes)
She explains the themes: "So this arc of stories deals with two themes: how humans seek freedom and how coming to appreciate cultural differences may help make the world more peaceful. The idea of understanding the "other" is, I think, a major aspect of science fiction. We look at what is different - the alien - and in doing so, perhaps better understand ourselves." - Catherine Asaro.
At the end of this book, Asaro explains her quantum physics allegory for these themes (or is it vice versa?). Reading the explanation at the end of the novel, I found out that each protagonist represented a particle involved in quantum scattering.
This story is about a love triangle, in essence. A young governor of a province on a simple agricultural world is about to become betrothed to the governor of the neighboring province, who she has known since she was a child, when strangers arrive from outer space. One of the strangers, a man with a metal face named Lionstar, jumps in before the betrothal with a dowry offer of his own, throwing confusion and complications into what would have been a simple province merger/marriage alliance. The plot follows the three characters involved in the love triangle, but the scope pans out to cover the entire universe, since Lionstar happens to be the son of a universe-spanning imperial dynastic family.
As usual, the author mixes Mayan alternate history (as contextual information), space opera, agricultural societies, interstellar politics, and interpersonal relations in a complex and vivid tapestry.