New Science Fiction Books in July 2010 - Revisited

Jul 012010

Lets have a look at July for books. I usually check my pre-orders mid June and then revisit the list around the start of July. These are the books I am interested in. I try to put new never before published books here, for me there is no difference if the book is first published in the US, UK or in Australia. The delivery time to the far north is about the same. So we are going for world’s first here.

This month holds some very anticipated books, two of them where on my list of New SF to Read 2010 in January. Honor Harrington is one of the most popular science fiction characters out there and David Weber [profile] is one of my favorite authors. Mission of Honor is the next main story novel and I can’t wait to get my hands on it (it is in transit atm, curse the slow mail service). The other book is Pathfinder by Laura E. Reeve [profile]. Her writing is influenced by Greek culture and feels refreshing and new. This time Ariane Kedros has a mission from the mysterious Minoans, I have been waiting since book one for her to go exploring again.

I realized I was missing out on Karl Schroeder who I haven’t read since Permanence (great book by the way). That book needs company on it’s shelf and the Virgo setting in its steampunk pocket universe sounded too good to resist. Gibson and Wooding have been on my radar for a while now so I felt it was time for a sample. Howard Birnberg is more of a shot in the dark from my side, I liked the blurb, hope it is good.

Since last time I also decided I need the new Ian McDonald – Dervish House.

The Puppets Masters is a book that has been with me from adolescence. It is a fun read and you should get a copy if you don’t own one.

And I always use the Publishers dates when release dates don’t match between the online stores and publisher, unless I know otherwise (like the book is in the mail from the store).

These are my recommendations for July

On Order

Title: Mission of Honor
Series: Honor Harrington 12
Author: David Weber
Genre: Military Science Fiction | Space Opera
Publisher: Baen
Hardcover: 864 pages
Buy: Amazon US | UK | B&N | sfbok

A new main story Honor Harrington is a must read for me, cant wait. It is on my list of New SF books to read in 2010.

The Star Kingdom of Manticore and the Republic of Haven have been enemies for Honor Harrington’s entire life, and she has paid a price for the victories she’s achieved in that conflict. And now the unstoppable juggernaut of the mighty Solarian League is on a collision course with Manticore. The millions who have already died may have been only a foretaste of the billions of casualties just over the horizon, and Honor sees it coming.

She’s prepared to do anything, risk anything, to stop it, and she has a plan that may finally bring an end to the Havenite Wars and give even the Solarian League pause. But there are things not even Honor knows about. There are forces in play, hidden enemies in motion, all converging on the Star Kingdom of Manticore to crush the very life out of it, and Honor’s worst nightmares fall short of the oncoming reality.

But Manticore’s enemies may not have thought of everything after all. Because if everything Honor Harrington loves is going down to destruction, it won’t be going alone.

Title: Pathfinder
Series: Major Ariane Kedros 3
Author: Laura E. Reeve
Genre: Military Science Fiction
Paperback 336 pages
Publisher: ROC 6 July 2010
Order from: ROC | Amazon US | UK | B&N | sfbok

Pathfinder is on my most anticipated books list for 2010.

Reserve Major Ariane Kedros needs a shot at redemption-and the mysterious aliens known as the Minoans need an extraordinary human pilot with a rejuv-stimulated metabolism like Ariane for a dangerous expedition to a distant solar system. But there’s a catch. The Minoans have to implant their technology in Ariane’s body, and it might not be removable. Ariane is willing, but as she begins the perilous journey, there is an old enemy hiding within the exploration team who is determined to see them fail…

The nova war has begun to spread as the Emissaries wage a fierce and reckless campaign, encroaching on the area of space occupied by humanity and forcing the Shoal into a desperate retreat. While Dakota goes in search of the entity responsible for creating the Maker caches, Corso, left in charge of a fleet of human-piloted Magi ships, finds his authority crumbling in the face of assassination attempts and politically-motivated sabotage.

If any hope exists at all, it lies in an abandoned asteroid a thousand light-years beyond the Consortium’s borders, and with Ty Whitecloud, the only man alive with the skill to decipher the messages left behind by an ancient race of star travellers. Unfortunately Whitecloud is locked in a prison cell aboard a dying coreship adrift in space, awaiting execution for war crimes against Corso’s own people. But if humanity has any hope of survival, Corso is going to have to find some way to keep him alive – and that’s only if Dakota doesn’t kill him first …

In the CHAGA novels Ian McDonald brought an Africa in the grip of a bizarre alien invasion to life, in RIVER OF GODS he painted a rich portrait of India in 2047, in BRASYL he looked at different Brazils, past present and future. Ian McDonald has found renown at the cutting edge of a movement to take SF away from its British and American white roots and out into the rich cultures of the world. THE DERVISH HOUSE continues that journey and centres on Istanbul in 2025. Turkey is part of Europe but sited on the edge, it is an Islamic country that looks to the West. THE DERVISH HOUSE is the story of the families that live in and around its titular house, it is at once a rich mosaic of Islamic life in the new century and a telling novel of future possibilities.

Title: The Black Lung Captain
Series: Tales of the Ketty Jay 2
Author: Chris Wooding
Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Gollancz 29 July 2010
Order from: Gollancz | Amazon US | UK | B&N | sfbok

Review on Speculative Horizons

Darian Frey is down on his luck. He can barely keep his squabbling crew fed and his rickety aircraft in the sky. Even the simplest robberies seem to go wrong. It’s getting so a man can’t make a dishonest living any more. Enter Captain Grist. He’s heard about a crashed aircraft laden with the treasures of a lost civilisation, and he needs Frey’s help to get it. There’s only one problem. The craft is lying in the trackless heart of a remote island, populated by giant beasts and subhuman monsters. Dangerous, yes. Suicidal, perhaps. Still, Frey’s never let common sense get in the way of a fortune before. But there’s something other than treasure on board that aircraft. Something that a lot of important people would kill for. And it’s going to take all of Frey’s considerable skill at lying, cheating and stealing if he wants to get his hands on it . . . Strap yourself in for another tale of adventure and debauchery, pilots and pirates, golems and daemons, double-crosses and double-double-crosses. The crew of the Ketty Jay are back!

Title: The Genius Gene
Series: Catherine Fox Trilogy 1
Author: Howard Birnberg
Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Book Guild Ltd 29 July 2010
Order from: Book Guild | Amazon US | UK | B&N | sfbok

Einstein, Newton, Da Vinci. The names are synonymous with genius; however, is genius nurtured or does nature provide it? In the fictional scientific thriller, The Genius Gene, young geneticist Catherine Fox has the surprising answer. She has discovered a source of genius in our genes. Unfortunately, her former mentor and spurned lover, Nobel Prize-winning geneticist, Stephen Yates would do anything to obtain her confidential research. Backed by greedy pharmaceutical companies, Yates has become corrupt and he wants to engineer the genius gene into the unborn children of wealthy parents. The time is the mid-21st century and Stephen has established clinics to design the genome of children according to their parents’ preferences. Catherine calls these offspring ‘Frankenstein children’ and she fears the creation of a master race. Her research may make this possible and she struggles to prevent Yates from learning the workings of the genius gene. Unknown to Catherine, there are other secrets to protect. On the eve of crucial hearings on legalizing Yates’ process, he vanishes and Catherine becomes a suspect in his disappearance.

On Order New ReReleases

Virga: Cities of the Air
Series: Virga
Omnibus: Sun of Suns (2006), Queen of Canedsce (2007)
Author: Karl Schroeder
Paperback: 592 pages
Publisher: Tor 6 July 2010
Order from: Tor | Amazon US | UK | B&N | sfbok

Sun of Suns – It is the distant future. The world known as Virga is a fullerene balloon three thousand kilometers in diameter, filled with air, water, and aimlessly floating chunks of rock. The humans who live in this vast environment must build their own fusion suns and “towns” that are in the shape of enormous wood and rope wheels that are spun for gravity.

Young, fit, bitter, and friendless, Hayden Griffin is a very dangerous man. He’s come to the city of Rush in the nation of Slipstream with one thing in mind: to take murderous revenge for the deaths of his parents six years ago. His target is Admiral Chaison Fanning, head of the fleet of Slipstream, which conquered Hayden’s nation of Aerie years ago. And the fact that Hayden’s spent his adolescence living with pirates doesn’t bode well for Fanning’s chances.

Queen of Cadansce – Venera Fanning was last seen falling into nothingness at the end of Sun of Suns. Now, in Queen of Candesce, Venera finds herself plunging through the air between the artificial continents of Virga, far from home and her husband, who may or may not be alive. Landing in the ancient nation of Spyre, Venera encounters new enemies and new friends (or at least convenient allies). She must quickly learn who she can trust, and who she can manipulate in order to survive. Queen of Candesce is her story.

Titel: Diamond Star
Series: Saga of the Skolian Empire
Author: Catherine Asaro
Paperback: 448 pages
Publisher: Baen (1st 2009)
Order from: Amazon US | UK | B&N | sfbok
Excerpt: Chapter 1-8

I have started to dive into the Skolian Empire series my first book was Primary Inversion and I liked it. It was a Romantic science fiction with space opera, military scifi and hard science influence about a formidable yet human Julia character and it avoids the usual pitfalls of that genre, it is not action packed but there is enough thrill to go around. This looks like something a bit different in the same universe.

Del was a rock singer. He was also the renegade son of the Ruby Dynasty, which made his career choice less than respectable, and gave him more to worry about than getting gigs and not getting cheated by recording companies, club owners, or his agent. For one thing, the Ruby Dynasty ruled the Skolian Imperialate, an interstellar Empire, which had recently had a war with another empire, the Eubian Concord. For another, Del was singing on Earth, which was part of a third interstellar civilization, and one which had an uneasy relationship with the Imperialate.

Del undeniably had talent, and was rapidly rising from an unknown fringe artist to stardom. But, with his life entangled in the politics of three interstellar civilizations, whether he wanted that or not, talent might not be enough. And that factor might have much more effect than his music on the lives of trillions of people on the thousands of inhabited worlds across the galaxy.

Other books of Interest

I should also mention the anthology Gateways that will be out in July. Anthologies and collections of short stories isn’t my thing but this one looks promising. I might change my mind and include it in the later post.

Title: The Restoration Game
Author: Ken MacLeod
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Orbit 1 July 2010
Order from: Amazon US | UK | B&N | sfbok

There is no such place as Krassnia. Lucy Stone should know – she was born there. In that tiny, troubled region of the former Soviet Union, revolution is brewing. Its organisers need a safe place to meet, and where better than the virtual spaces of an online game? Lucy, who works for a start-up games company in Edinburgh, has a project that almost seems made for the job: a game inspired by The Krassniad, an epic folk tale concocted by Lucy’s mother Amanda, who studied there in the 1980s. Lucy knows Amanda is a spook. She knows her great-grandmother Eugenie also visited the country in the ’30s, and met the man who originally collected Krassnian folklore, and who perished in Stalin’s terror. As Lucy digs up details about her birthplace to slot into the game, she finds the open secrets of her family’s past, the darker secrets of Krassnia’s past – and hints about the crucial role she is destined to play in The Restoration Game …

New ReReleases

Title: The Puppet Masters
Author: Robert A. Heinlein
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Baen 27 July 2010 (First published 1951)
Order from: Amazon US | UK | B&N | sfbok

This is one of my favorite Heinlein book, the perfect summer read. It has a afterword by Sarah A Hoyt.

First came the news that a flying saucer had landed in Iowa. Then came the announcement that the whole thing was a hoax. End of story. Case closed. Except that two agents of the most secret intelligence agency in the U.S. government were on the scene and disappeared without reporting in. And four more agents who were sent in also disappeared. So the head of the agency and his two top agents went in and managed to get out with their discovery: an invasion is underway by slug-like aliens who can touch a human and completely control his or her mind! Sam Cavanaugh was one of the agents who discovered the truth. Unfortunately, that was just before he was taken over by one of the aliens and began working for the invaders, with no will of his own. And he has just learned that a high official in the Treasury Department is now under control of the aliens. Since the Treasury Department includes the Secret Service, which safeguards the President of the United States, control of the entire nation is near at hand…

You might also want to check out recommendations from some other bloggers:
YetiStomper | Walkerofworlds | Fantasy Book Critic

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Formidable Female Protagonists in Science Fiction Part 8

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Jun 042010

Athena and Nell are two of my top Formidable Female Protagonists and they both made the list this week.

As always it has been fun researching the list, I pick up new books to read all the time. 40 down and 34 more protagonists to go. The females are carefully selected by me, their names written on paper, folded and put in one of two bowls, one for new-to-me and one for read-by-me. I then select four read and one new-to-me and write about them. I am open to suggestions for more females to include.

Here is the list, read about them below.

Athena Hera Sinastra – Intrepid Rebel (Sarah A. Hoyt)
Nell – Mouse Queen (Neal Stephenson)
Nicole des Jardins Wakefield – Stowaway to the Stars (Arthur C. Clarke & Gentry Lee)
Sauscony ‘Soz’ Valdoria – Empath Commando (Catherine Asaro)
Festina Ramos – Expendable (James Alan Gardner)

Athena Hera Sinastra – Intrepid Rebel

Books: Darkship Thieves
Series: Darkship Thieves
Author: Sarah A. Hoyt
Publisher: Baen 2010
Genre: Space Opera

For being the daughter of a seacity ruler Athena Hera Sinistra, our protagonist picked up an amazing skill set while going rampage through military schools, instructors, reformatories, madhouses and ballet school.

It helps a lot when she wakes up with an unknown man leaning over her aboard her father’s space cruiser. She succeeds in subduing him and flees the ship half naked in an escape pod. In a desperate attempt to escape her pursuers she heads into the dangerous power-tree forest and crashes into a dark ship. She is rescued by the pilot.

She has run into the Darkship Thieves of legend. This is a really mesmerizing book, I started reading and after a few pages I was in the world Sarah A. Hoyt created experiencing it from the slightly disturbed mind of a captivating young woman. Athena Hera Sinistra is as much a handful as her name, but it is a handful easy to love as a reader. The book reminds me of old Space Opera classics like the Skylark series but with much better characterization and world building.

24th century Earth has outlawed all bio-engineering since the revolt against the super engineered sterile Mules that ruled humanity. All Mules and their bio-engineered servants where killed but legend has it a few escaped in a spaceship. Earth civilization is centered on the seacities, each ruled by a Good Man with dictatorial powers, and Daddy Dearest is one of them. The Darkship Thieves home, Eden is quite different but I won’t ruin the surprise for you.

At the core of the story is the morality of bio-engineering and cloning humans.

I first learned about Sarah A. Hoyt from The Big Idea article about Darkship Thieves on John Scalzi’s blog Whateverand found it quite entertaining that the Big Idea started with Sarah being annoyed. But it wasn’t until I read a rant Blame It on the Girls on Darwin’s evolutions I started to suspect I found a new favorite author. And I was right. Now I can’t wait to read more by Sarah and any sequel to Darkship Thieves would be on the top of my list.

I love Darkship Thieves and Athena the strong heroine, you will too.

Nell – Mouse Queen

Books: The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer
Author: Neal Stephenson
Publisher: Bantam 1995 | Penguin
Genre: Cyberpunk

One of the best cyberpunk novels I have ever read.

Stephenson’s fourth solo novel, set primarily in a far-future Shanghai at a time when nations have been superseded by enclaves of common cultures (“claves”), abundantly justifies the hype that surrounded Snow Crash, his first foray into science fiction. Here, the author avoids the major structural problem of that book-a long lump of philosophical digression-by melding myriad perspectives and cogitations into his tale, which is simultaneously SF, fantasy and a masterful political thriller. Treating nanotechnology as he did virtual reality in Snow Crash-as a jumping-off point-Stephenson presents several engaging characters. John Percival Hackworth is an engineer living in a neo-Victorian clave, who is commissioned by one of the world’s most powerful men to create a Primer that might enable the man’s granddaughter to be educated in ways superior to the “straight and narrow.” When Hackworth is mugged, an illegal copy of the Primer falls into the hands of a working-class girl named Nell, and a most deadly game’s afoot. Stephenson weaves several plot threads at once, as the paths of Nell, Hackworth and other significant characters-notably Nell’s brother Harv, Hackworth’s daughter Fiona and an actress named Miranda-converge and diverge across continents and complications, most brought about by Hackworth’s actions and Nell’s development. Building steadily to a wholly earned and intriguing climax, this long novel, which presents its sometimes difficult technical concepts in accessible ways, should appeal to readers other than habitual SF users. [Publishers Weekly]

Nicole des Jardins Wakefield – Stowaway to the Stars

Books: Rama II (1989), The Garden of Rama (1991), Rama Revealed (1993)
Series: Rama
Author: Arthur C. Clarke & Gentry Lee
Publisher: Gollancz | Random House
Grene: Science Fiction

It was a fair time since I read the Rama series. Nicole des Jardins Wakefield is the formidable protagonist in the sequels of Rendezvous with Rama.

[Rama II] Years ago, the enormous, enigmatic alien spacecraft called Rama sailed through our solar system as mind-boggling proof that life existed — or had existed — elsewhere in the universe. Now, at the dawn of the twenty-third century, another ship is discovered hurtling toward us. A crew of Earth’s best and brightest minds is assembled to rendezvous with the massive vessel. They are armed with everything we know about Raman technology and culture. But nothing can prepare them for what they are about to encounter on board Rama II: cosmic secrets that are startling, sensational — and perhaps even deadly.

[The Garden of Rama] In the spellbinding Arthur C. Clarke tradition, here is an exhilarating adventure into the hearts of both the Universe and mankind…
By the twenty-third century Earth has already had two encounters with massive, mysterious robotic spacecraft from beyond our solar system—the incontestable proof of an alien technology that far exceeds our own. Now three human cosmonauts are trapped aboard a labyrinthine Raman vessel, where it will take all of their physical and mental resources to surviv. Only twelve years into their journey do these intrepid travelers learn their destination and face their ultimate challenge: a rendevous with a Raman base—and the unseen architects of their galactic home. The cosmonauts have given up family, friends, and possessions to live a new kind of life. But the answers that await them at the Raman Node will require an even greater sacrifice—if humanity is indeed ready to learn the awe-inspiring truth.

[Rama Revealed] On its mysterious voyage through interstellar space, a massive alien starship carries its human passengers to the end of a generations-long odyssey. But the great experiment designed by the Ramans has failed, and Rama III has become a battleground. Fleeing a tyrant, a band of humans ventures into the nether regions of the ship, where they encounter an emerald-doomed lair ruled by the fabulously advanced octospiders. As the octospiders lure the humans deeper into their domain, the humans must decide whether the creatures are their allies of enemies. All the while, Rama III continues its inexplorable journey towards the node, where the climax of their voyage awaits the stunning revelation of the true identity of the beings behind this glittering trek across the cosmos.

Sauscony ‘Soz’ Valdoria – Empath Commando

Books: Primary Inversion (1995), The Radiant Seas (1998)
Series: Saga of the Skolian Empire
Author: Catherine Asaro
Publisher: Tor
Grenre: Space Opera

The Formidable protagonist is Sauscony Lahaylia Valdoria Skolia, also called Soz or Soshoni. She is a member of the Ruby Dynasty ruling the Skolian Empire and has the empathic and telepathic abilities of a Rhon psion. She ranks Jagernaut Primary (Admiral or General) in the ISC. A Jagernaut is a biomechanically enhanced fighter and pilot.

Catherine Asaro is pretty new to me as an author. Primary Inversion is a fantastic first novel with remarkable storytelling. It is a Romantic science fiction with space opera, military scifi and hard science influence about a formidable yet human Julia character and it avoids the usual pitfalls of that genre, it is not action packed but there is enough thrills to go around. It reads well as a standalone novel. I will read The Radiant Seas that continues Soz’s story next.

[Primary Inversion] The Skolian Empire rules a third of the civilized galaxy through its mastery of faster-than-light communication. But war with the rival empire of the Traders seems imminent, a war that can only lead to slavery for the Skolians or the destruction of both sides. Destructive skirmishes have already occurred. A desperate attempt must be made to avert total disaster.

[The Radiant Seas] Living in exile on a deserted planet, Sauscony and Jaibriol, each the heir to an interstellar empire, become entangled in the machinations of the Skolian Empire. Interstellar war erupts and Jaibriol is snatched away to be the unwilling ruler of the Highton Aristos. Sauscony must lead an invading space fleet to rescue him from his own Empire-without revealing that they are married. With much of interstellar civilization poised on the brink of destruction, it is the devotion of these two lovers, their sacrifices, and their heroism, that might just forge a new order.

Festina Ramos – Expendable

Books: Expendable (1997), Vigilant (1999), Hunted (2000), Ascending (2001), Radient (2004)
Series: Legaue of Peoples
Author: James Alan Gardner
Publisher: Eos
Genre: Space Opera

This is the one not read by me yet, looks interesting. Festina Ramos is only protagonist in the first book but she features as a prominent characters in the others.

[Expendable] Introducing the League of Peoples Universe and Festina Ramos of the Technocracy Explorer Corps. Festina and her partner are assigned to escort an admiral on an exploration mission…but it soon becomes apparent that the mission is simply an excuse to get rid of the admiral before he becomes a public embarrassment.

[Vigilant] On the planet Demoth, the Vigil is a watchdog agency keeping watch for government corruption. Members of the Vigil are kept honest by a brain implant that makes it impossible for them to ignore the consequences of their actions. In Vigilant, a member of the Vigil and Festina Ramos investigate a threat that might kill every human on the planet.

[Hunted] Edward York doesn’t think he’s special. He’s wrong. In fact, he’s about to find out he holds the key to ending a twenty-year-long civil war on the alien planet Troyen, not to mention revealing corruption at the heart of the Technocracy navy. [Yes, Festina Ramos is in this one.]

[Ascending] Oar is beautiful. Oar is made of glass. Oar is smarter than you…except that her brain is getting tired. She must go on a Great Adventure with her faithful sidekick Festina in order to conquer her enemies. [I think Oar is the funniest character I've ever written. She's a hoot.]

[Radient] First, there’s the sentient red moss that invades and envelopes a domed city. Then, there’s the mayday from a newly-colonized planet where everyone has disappeared. And that’s not to mention that our heroine is being eaten from within by an alien parasite that’s affecting her mind. [The most recent Festina Ramos story, where a number of secrets are revealed.]

Read part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | index | afterword

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Primary Inversion by Catherine Asaro (Saga of the Skolian Empire 1)

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May 232010

This is Catherine Asaro’s first published novel and new to me. Physicist and ballerina, hmm wonder what kind of books she writes. Read the review below to find out.

The Skolian Empire rules a third of the civilized galaxy through its mastery of faster-than-light communication. But war with the rival empire of the Traders seems imminent, a war that can only lead to slavery for the Skolians or the destruction of both sides. Destructive skirmishes have already occurred. A desperate attempt must be made to avert total disaster.

The Author

Catherine Asaro is pretty new to me; I picked up the first books the summer of 2009. She has an impressive background; she was a professor in physics until 1990; she is a member of SIGMA, a think tank of speculative writers that advises the government as to future trends affecting national security and she is a former ballerina. She is married to Kendall Cannizzo, and astrophysicist at NASA and they have one daughter

Information

This is Catherine Asaro’s first published novel, her first novella Light and Shadow was published 1994 in Analog.

The book is dedicated to her husband Kendall Cannizzo with love.

The protagonist of this book is Sauscony Lahaylia Valdoria Skolia, also called Soz or Soshoni. She is a member of the Ruby Dynasty ruling the Skolian Empire and has the empathic and telepathic abilities of a Rhon psion. She ranks Jagernaut Primary (Admiral or General) in the ISC. A Jagernaut is a biomechanically enhanced fighter and pilot.

I suspect but don’t know that Catherine is of Finnish Swedish speaking descent as many of her terms make sense for me in Swedish. Skola is the Swedish word for school and is also used to in expressions concerning knowledge. Jägare is the Swedish word for hunter or in Finland it is what they call their Special Forces soldiers.

Worldbuilding

In the universe of the Saga of the Skolian Empire there are two mayor power blocks that locked in conflict the Skolian Empire and the Eubian Concord. It seems like the Eubian Concord is the original aggressors, they have a society built on might is right, where their leaders basically are mental vampires that keep empaths as slaves to feed on. While the The Skolian Empire built on the power of faster than light communications made possible by linking the mental powers of the powerful empaths that rule it.

We get to know quite a bit about the social and political situation in both empires. Soz thinks of the Skolian Empire as the good guys, but that might not be totally true. It is not according to the people of the planets they occupy to ‘save’ them from the Concord.

You will also notice that Catherine is a physicist in the info dumps about future technology even if Psionics might take you into the land of fantasy.

Plot

The book is divided into three parts Delos, Forshire Hold, Diesha.

A romance is central to the story but it is also about two Empires on the brink of a major war our protagonist wants to avoid.

Delos tells the story of how Romeo and Julia, sorry Soz and Jaibriol Qox II meet. Like Soz, Jaibriol is also a Rhon psion, but he was also a member of the Aristo Highton caste and heir to the enemy of Skolians, the Eubian Concord.

Fordshire Hold is where Soz goes to heal after the fateful space battle that cripples her best friend and lover.

Diesha is when she realizes she have to rescue Jairiol who have been captured by Skolian forces.

Characterization

The characters are complex even if they have a romance novel feel to them at times. Soz have many inner demons and doubts to fight, she is also the only character that is well developed, which is understandable since she is the protagonist, and the story is about her.

The Fordshire Hold part of the book is where Soz grows most as a character and comes to realize the world is more than she thought it was, that was a part I liked to read.

My View

Primary Inversion is a fantastic first novel with remarkable storytelling by Catherine Asaro. It is a Romantic science fiction with space opera, military scifi and hard science influence about a formidable yet human Julia character and it avoids the usual pitfalls of that genre, it is not action packed but there is enough thrill to go around. It reads well as a standalone novel. I will read The Radiant Seas that continues Soz’s story next.

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Ove’s Monthly Journal April 2010

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May 022010

I want to interest new people to Science Fiction, this vibrant genre of new ideas and wow moments, thus the 10010 Top Military Science Fiction Series and the new Formidable Female Protagonists in Science Fiction part 1, part 2 and part 3 in April.

I read 16 books in April, helped by the weather and Easter holidays. As I am writing this, I see the brown grass, even some green grass coming out of the snow, there are still piles of snow lying around and our two weeks of spring is just around the corner.

Writing is fun, doing research for the articles is also fun as I had to go back to many of my favorites and recap a little of the adventures we had together. As a ‘punishment’ for that I got a long list of rereads to do, 20 something novels or series, sweet joy.

I am a bit backlogged when it comes to reviews but the unpublished ones are halfway finished or better, I dream of having a pile of 20 or so reviews ready for when ever I need them.

These are the most popular posts in April according to Google Analytics. I am a bit sad flickering pictures of SciFi is more popular than novels but I see where it is coming from.

My backlog of reviews finished in April:

The Crucible of Empire by Eric Flint & K. D. Wentworth (Jao Empire 2)
Coyote Destiny by Allen Steele (Coyote Chronicles 2)
Trade of Queens by Charles Stross (Merchant Princes 6)
Gardens of the Sun by Paul McAuley (The Quiet War 2) review on Temple Library Review
The Myriad by R. M. Meluch (Tour of the Merrimack 1)
Wolf Star by R. M. Meluch (Tour of the Merrimack 2)
Pleasure Model by Chrisopher Rowley (Netherworld 1) review on Temple Library Review

Books read this month:

Dust by Elizabeth Bear (Jacob’s Ladder 1)
Chill by Elizabeth Bear (Jacob’s Ladder 2)
Shadow of the Scorpion by Neal Asher (an Agent Cormac novel)
Grindlinked by Neal Asher (Agent Cormac 1)
The Line of the Polity by Neal Asher (Agent Cormac 2)
Brass Man by Neal Asher (Agent Cormac 3)
Quarter Share by Nathan Lowell (Golden Age of the Solar Clipper 1) – audio book
Half Share by Nathan Lowell (Golden Age of the Solar Clipper 2) – audio book
Full Share by Nathan Lowell (Golden Age of the Solar Clipper 3) – audio book
Double Share by Nathan Lowell (Golden Age of the Solar Clipper 4) – audio book
Captain’s Share by Nathan Lowell (Golden Age of the Solar Clipper 5) – audio book
The Sagittarius Command by R. M. Meluch (Tour of the Merrimack 3)
Strength and Honor by R. M. Meluch (Tour of the Merrimack 4)
A Mighty Fortress by David Weber (Safehold 4)
South Coast by Nathan Lowell (A Shaman’s Tale in the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper) – audiobook
Primary Inversion Catherine Asaro (Saga of the Skolian Empire 1)

I listen to a number of short stories mainly from my list of Science Fiction Podcasts and one stood out:

His Master’s Voice By Hannu Rajaniemi on Escape Pod 227 a Review

I curse the postal services in multiple countries as the books I ordered takes forever to arrive. How is it possible that a single book in an ‘envelope’ can takes 30 days from the US or in some cases even from UK to Sweden at this age? These books arrived this month (bought by me) some even on time, that’s what makes it so hard to understand why some doesn’t.

Necromancer by Eric Brown (Bengali Station 1)
Strength and Honor by R. M. Meluch (Tour of the Merrimack 3)
The Sagittarius Command by R. M. Meluch (Tour of the Merrimack 4)
A Mighty Fortress by David Weber (Safehold 4)
The Orphaned Worlds by Michael Cobley (Humanity’s Fire)
Deliverer by C. J. Cherryh (Foreigner 9)

Don’t miss my series of

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Day 6 Book catch

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Jul 152009

Today was Grail II, Forbidden Planet. The catch was:

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London Day 5 Book Catch

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Jul 142009

Today was spent on Charing Cross Road in and out of Book shops. This is a great place to find budget books for a few pounds. I am afraid I will pull a lot of books home. Today’s catch is 20 books:

Alternate Generals (short stories) edited by Harry Turtledove
The Dinosaur Planet Omnibusby Anne McCaffrey
Ashes & Starsby George Zebrowski (Omega Point 1/3)
Survival Kitby Fredrik Pohl (short stories)