A review by annieeditor
The Quantum Rose by Catherine Asaro

4.0

There's a lot to like about "Quantum Rose," but I think what I liked best was how it totally immerses the reader in a sci-fi world that exists in a time and galaxy far, far away, but it doesn't sacrifice plot and character at the expense of world building. It is equal parts romance and science fiction. The story is driven by character motivations and emotion, but as it is revealed how those things have been manipulated through science, it is up to the characters to either give into it or find some kind of hope in humanity.

The plot would be fairly typical for a regency romance novel: boy meets girl, girl forced into arranged marriage, girl and boy fall in love, but boy has dark past and girl has a tendency towards self-sacrifice. Instead of drawing rooms, however, it takes place on spaceships and planets with forests of trees that have bubbles for leaves.

"The Quantum Rose" manages to have more complexity than the typical fare in either genre, and is a satisfying read.