Review of The Last Hawk

	The Last Hawk by Catherine Asaro 480pp (Paperback) My Rating: 9.5/10 Amazon Rating: 4.5/5 LibraryThing Rating: 3.85/5 Goodreads Rating: 3.86/5

The Last Hawk is the third published novel in Catherine Asaro's Saga of the Skolian Empire series. The books within this romantic science fiction series are written about several different characters and many of the books can stand alone. The Last Hawk is the first book about Kelric, the Imperator's half brother and heir, whose story is continued in Ascendant Sun. Although this novel takes place outside of the Skolian Empire, it works well on its own and is a decent introduction to the series. It's also my favorite Skolian Saga book so far because of its well-developed society and excellent characters.

When Kelric's ship is attacked by the Traders, he is forced to land on the planet Coba before his vessel's last engine fails. The inhabitants are frightened to discover the nearly dead man is not from their world since they do not want to be part of the Skolian Empire and have convinced Imperial Space Command to mark them as a restricted world. If Kelric were to return home, the news that there was no reason not to incorporate Coba into the empire would spread and their society would be ruined. Although they feel threatened by his presence, two of the most powerful women within the matriarchy are intrigued by the handsome stranger so he is cared for and his ship is destroyed.

While Kelric is recovering, he becomes excellent at playing Quis, an intricate game that is interwoven into Coban politics. The strongest estates on the planet are those whose managers (queens) are the best players, aided by the skills of their Calani. The Calani is comprised of the very best male Quis players, whose lives are dedicated to serving their estate through their skills at the game. These men are bound by very strict rules and must take a vow to avoid reading, writing, contact with the outside world, and speaking to most people.

After discovering the deliberate destruction of his ship, Kelric becomes very upset and attempts to escape. He very nearly succeeds at stealing one of the Coban ships, and once he is recaptured, one of the managers suggests he should be executed just in case he ever does manage to leave. Deha, the manager of the fourth most powerful estate, has fallen for Kelric and saves him by making him one of her Calani and her husband. Thus begins Kelric's role as a political pawn - and sought-ought commodity - for the women of Coba.

---

With many books, there is one particular strength, but I felt this one excelled on all levels. It kept a great pace from start to finish, the society was fascinating, and the characters all felt unique. The Last Hawk also had a lot of diversity and it would be too narrow to classify it as a science fiction adventure or romantic science fiction. There was politics, action, focus on character relationships with some romance, and some elements of hard science fiction.

Although this novel is told from the perspective of several different characters, the main point of view character is Kelric, the Imperial heir from an empire with gender equality where his sister could be the next Imperator as easily as he. It's hard not to love and empathize with Kelric. Not only does quiet, reserved Kelric have no freedom due to being an outsider but also due to being a male in a world dominated by females. Coba is a study in complete gender reversal from the normal patriarchy - the women make the rules and decisions, the women pursue the men, the women only want to marry virgins, and the women have certain expectations for how men should behave.

Matriarchies have been done before and just making the society function exactly like a patriarchy could make it seem stale, but it did not even though it was not very subtle. I've read many books in which the female lead is in the middle of a love triangle, but I honestly cannot think of a single book where the main male protagonist was part of one. In The Last Hawk, the man is the exotic beauty pursued by hordes of women, the one with an ability that makes him special (his mastery of Quis). By writing from the perspective of the hero, the feminist aspects never seem heavy-handed or preachy. It's very clear that Kelric is equal to the women, not inferior. Also, each woman is very different and some are more sexist than others. One manager believed all men should dress in robes and only smile at their wives, and another caused a stir by promoting a man to a position previously only held by females.

In addition to the matriarchy, the culture is defined by Quis and its role in the civilization. For centuries, everyone has played Quis, a game played with colored dice. Wars are not waged through battle but via the game. One of the strongest assets to a manager is her Calani and Calani who have belonged to other estates are particularly prized for their knowledge and the political advantage the estate ruler gains from it. The most influential Quis players put some of themselves into the game and as various rulers play with each other, the ideas spread throughout the twelve estates. Quis is also used for figuring out scientific and mathematic concepts.

At times, I did have to suspend my disbelief with this novel but it was good enough that I mostly told my brain to just shut up and enjoy the story. The main part I had to quit thinking about was how it was possible for Quis to be able to convey so much. The way it was described with dice and colors that had some symbolism and a few rules about which shapes and colors could be next to each other made it seem very simple. This was explained when Kelric was first learning the game and could be attributed to taking baby steps. It was vague enough later that I decided to just go with it, especially since I loved the concept, and after that, I could find explanations for the other parts I found a bit incredulous. Initially, Kelric's aptitude for Quis seemed believable since he had an internal computer system that helped him. Ever since his injury, this system had been malfunctioning and it was soon unable to help him, though, but he still continued to become an amazing player. It does make sense that he would be better at it than average due to his more advanced knowledge of science, math, and military strategy and would account for him being a genius at it. Also, every woman thought Kelric was beautiful, which seemed a bit over the top, but could also be explained by the fact that he was an exotic foreigner, plus his family had dabbled in genetic engineering. This also did not bother me too much since it was very much a reversal of the usual woman who is loved by every man who sees her. The aspect that I found most difficult to swallow was how willing several of these women were to trust a foreigner who seemed to have some dangerous tendencies. However, some women were more accepting than others and it was explained that Deha believed in him because she understood him from playing Quis with him. The others just wanted to like him because they thought he was pretty and it is true that people can be blinded by beauty.

The Last Hawk is one of those rare books with an entertaining story, great characters, and a fantastic culture. It's easily my favorite book I have read so far this year.

9.5/10

Review of The Radiant Seas

	The Radiant Seas by Catherine Asaro 512pp (Paperback) My Rating: 8.5/10 Amazon Rating: 4.5/5 LibraryThing Rating: 3.93/5 Good Reads Rating: 4.07/5

The Radiant Seas is the direct sequel to Primary Inversion, an earlier novel in Catherine Asaro's Skolian Saga. Although Asaro's website says all the books in the series are intended to be stand alone with the exception of the Triad duology (originally written as one book until it became too long), I would recommend reading Primary Inversion first. I don't think I would have enjoyed this novel to the same extent if I did not have the background information on the characters and world provided in its predecessor.

Since this is a review of a book that picks up immediately at the end of the sequel, spoilers for Primary Inversion are contained in this review.

The Skolians and Eubians have been at war for a very long time. The former are empaths and the latter are their antithesis - experiments in counteracting the Skolian's abilities led to their development as a race of anti-empaths who derive great pleasure from torturing them. After the Eubian heir Jaibriol II was captured by the Skolian Empire, he was rescued by the Skolian heir Sauscony, who had fallen in love with him after discovering he was actually a strong psion like herself. Unknown to anyone from either of the empires other than Sauscony's father, Sauscony and Jaibriol were married and faked their deaths under the pretense that both were killed when Sauscony pursued the escaping prisoner Jaibriol. Instead, the two took refuge on an uninhabited planet and began a new life together away from the animosity between their two worlds. They face obstacles such as allergic reactions to their new home and violent sentient plants and raise a family.

On Skolia, Sauscony's parents and siblings grieve her passing and her brother Kurj, the Imperator, selects their brother Althor as his new heir. Althor has reason to be suspicious that his sister is actually alive and manages to get the truth about her "death" from his father. He is sworn to secrecy, but is later captured by the Eubians who torture him mercilessly. Even though his mind is in the process of automatically erasing his memories, the empress discovers that Jaibriol is still alive. She sends forces to capture Jaibriol and bring him back to the Empire, and soon afterward, Sauscony returns to Skolia determined to rescue her husband without revealing to anyone that they are married and have four children.

---

The Radiant Seas was more difficult for me to get interested in than Primary Inversion, but it became very difficult to put down later. Sauscony was no longer the point of view character nor was she the main character since the story focused on her, various members of her family, and the Eubian emperor and his wife. She was not as compelling a character in the beginning, either, since a lot of the beginning of her story involved having and raising children, which I didn't find that interesting. However, I did really enjoy getting to see the softer side of the hard-hearted Imperator Kurj as well as glimpses into life in Eube. Although the anti-empaths were still not as sympathetic as the Skolians, they were more humanized than they were in the previous novel.

This novel combines the politics and adventure of space opera with hard science fiction. At times, there was quite a bit of technical discussion as theoretical scientific concepts were explored. This also dragged on a bit too much for my taste at times (although it probably didn't help that I was reading it when I should have been going to sleep).

One other aspect of this book that bothered me was Sauscony's AI developing a personality and attitude. It was not so much the way this was handled as it was that it seemed out of place to me since this AI was the very matter-of-fact type in Primary Inversion.

My favorite part of this book was definitely the world that Asaro has created in this series. The two sides are more black and white than I normally like, but I still can't help but love the intergalactic opposition between the Eubians and Skolians. The idea of telepaths and empaths is always appealing to me, and I am fascinated by the idea of a kind of far-future Internet powered by minds.

Fans of Primary Inversion likely will not be disappointed with its sequel. It does take a little more time to become immersed in the story, but the wider scope of character viewpoints gives a better perspective of the world Asaro has created.

8.5/10

Reviews of other books in this series:
Primary Inversion

Review of Primary Inversion

	Primary Inversion by Catherine Asaro 384pp (Paperback) My Rating: 8.5/10 Amazon Rating: 4.5/5 LibraryThing Rating: 3.63/5 Good Reads Rating: 3.94/5

Primary Inversion, a novel in the Skolian Saga, is the debut novel of Nebula Award winner Catherine Asaro. Although it is not chronologically the first novel in the series, it is supposed to be a good place to start. The series mostly focuses on the story of different members of one family and a few of the books are closely linked (for instance, The Radiant Seas continues the story begun in Primary Inversion and is about the same characters). This partially space opera, partially hard science fiction novel had me hooked from the early pages and proved to be difficult to put down.

The universe is comprised of two main empires that are at war with each other - the Skolians and the Traders (there is also a third empire that is neutral and is not mentioned very much in this book). The Traders, due to a flaw in their engineering, not only can withstand pain but derive great pleasure from it and therefore particularly enjoy torturing the empathic Skolians.

Primary Inversion is told from the first person point of view of Sauscony, otherwise known as Soz, a Jagernaut Primary (a soldier fairly high in the hierarchy with advanced technology making her strong and quick). While on a neutral planet with her colleages, Soz is hit on by a man who is obviously a Trader and most likely of the ruling family. She notices he does not seem like the other Traders, but cannot immediately figure out why.

---

This novel has almost everything one could hope for in a space opera - interesting technology and societies, political intrigue, and a pretty cool space battle. A lot of the focus in the middle of the story is on Soz, as she deals with the after-effects of her experience as a spy on a Trader planet and some events in the present. Some may find this to be a little too emo, and there is also some romance, although not too much. This book is certainly not a straight romance novel, as I have heard some of the other books in the series are. The beginning and the end (especially the end) are rather fast-paced and make up for what some may consider to be a slow middle.

Soz is an interesting and well-developed character, both because of her life as a Jagernaut and a member of the royal family and her internal conflict. She is an empath, one who can feel others emotions as though they are her own, yet she is in many ways an emotional cripple. Soz has a hard time expressing her thoughts and feelings and being truly close to people. Her character is likable - believable yet flawed.

This book was very easy to read quickly in spite of a lot of technological explanations (particularly in the beginning when much of the Jagernaut technology was explained to a young man in training). It was mixed in with plenty of dialogue and insight into the characters that kept it from being heavy reading.

If you don't mind some internal struggle and romance but enjoy space opera featuring well-developed characters and societies, I would recommend giving Primary Inversion a shot. It is very easy to begin reading and very difficult to stop reading. I look forward to reading more books in this series.

8.5/10

Update and Review Previews

I haven't put up a review in two weeks even though I have two to do. I feel like a horrible reviewer. Unfortunately, I have a big project at work due the end of next week and I knew there was no way I'd finish it on time with all my other projects if I didn't work extra, so a lot of my spare time has been going into that and I haven't had time to actually write a review (or read all that much). I'll just be glad when this month this over.

So I thought in the meantime I'd take a little break from my project and write a few brief thoughts on the books I've read recently before I get to review them. These are not reviews and my brain is pretty much mush right now, but hopefully it will at least give an idea on the books since I don't know when I'll get a chance to actually write in-depth reviews of them.

Catherine Asaro's Primary Inversion, the first book in the Skolian saga, took me about 1 1/2 days to start and finish. This space opera was very easy to get absorbed in from early in the novel, and it kept me wanting to find out what happened. It may be a bit angst-filled for some people's taste (and it had some romance, although the romance was not the entire plot or anything). It reminded me somewhat of a more connected version of C.S. Friedman's In Conquest Born with it's slightly telepathic race of empaths and empires at odds with one another. I can't wait to read the rest of the books in the Skolian Saga.

Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow was good, but a little disappointing after all I had heard about it. I had heard that the characterization was wonderful, but even though I liked the characters in the story, I felt they lacked something. I'm not sure what, though, since there were certainly a lot of gray areas and the depictions of their motives are problems were very real. There were a few elements of the story that I found hard to swallow even for science fiction - for instance, using an asteroid as a transport vessel to Alpha Centauri. The writing was ok, but nothing exceptional. The mystery of what had happened was riveting, but at times, the story dragged a little. This story was worth reading for the way it brought up interesting questions about religion and how it depicted Emilio's descent from a godly priest to a bitter man with a bad reputation.

Now I am back to fantasy and reading Melusine by Sarah Monette a little in the evenings when I have time. So far, it is very promising although I've only read the first three chapters.