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Lightning Strike #1
Lightning Strike: Book 1
Tina Pulivok is returning home one night to her tough Los Angeles neighborhood when she is saved from local thugs by a man who seems lost -- an understatement, as he and his advanced Jag ship arrived from a distant galaxy, a different timeline and an alternate universe. As Tina struggles to understand Althor, this strange, attractive man with golden, metallic-looking skin and other variations from Earth humans -- she and Althor find themselves the targets of a manhunt by police and by the military, who have captured the damaged starship.
From memories of her childhood in a Mayan village, to the streets of Los Angeles, to a military base and a chance to reach the stars, Tina comes alive as an astute, sympathetic narrator, facing life and tough choices with courage, wit and compassion.
Part of Asaro's highly acclaimed Skolian Empire/Ruby Dynasty series which SF Chronicle called "One of the major series in the genre, which Booklist found "in many ways as compelling as Dune, if not more so", LIGHTNING STRIKE, Book I is an expanded and revised version (along with LIGHTNING STRIKE, Book II) of her novel CATCH THE LIGHTNING.
From memories of her childhood in a Mayan village, to the streets of Los Angeles, to a military base and a chance to reach the stars, Tina comes alive as an astute, sympathetic narrator, facing life and tough choices with courage, wit and compassion.
Part of Asaro's highly acclaimed Skolian Empire/Ruby Dynasty series which SF Chronicle called "One of the major series in the genre, which Booklist found "in many ways as compelling as Dune, if not more so", LIGHTNING STRIKE, Book I is an expanded and revised version (along with LIGHTNING STRIKE, Book II) of her novel CATCH THE LIGHTNING.
Kindle Edition
First published April 3, 2014
About the author
Catherine Asaro
97 books718 followersThe author of more than twenty-five books, Catherine Asaro is acclaimed for her Ruby Dynasty series, which combines adventure, science, romance and fast-paced action. Her novel The Quantum Rose won the Nebula® Award, as did her novella “The Spacetime Pool.” Among her many other distinctions, she is a multiple winner of the AnLab from Analog magazine and a three time recipient of the RT BOOKClub Award for “Best Science Fiction Novel.” Her most recent novel, Carnelians, came out in October, 2011. An anthology of her short fiction titled Aurora in Four Voices is available from ISFiC Press in hardcover, and her multiple award-winning novella “The City of Cries” is also available as an eBook for Kindle and Nook.
Catherine has two music CD’s out and she is currently working on her third. The first, Diamond Star, is the soundtrack for her novel of the same name, performed with the rock band, Point Valid. She appears as a vocalist at cons, clubs, and other venues in the US and abroad, including recently as the Guest of Honor at the Denmark and New Zealand National Science Fiction Conventions. She performs selections from her work in a multimedia project that mixes literature, dance, and music with Greg Adams as her accompanist. She is also a theoretical physicist with a PhD in Chemical Physics from Harvard, and a jazz and ballet dancer. Visit her at www.facebook.com/Catherine.Asaro
Catherine has two music CD’s out and she is currently working on her third. The first, Diamond Star, is the soundtrack for her novel of the same name, performed with the rock band, Point Valid. She appears as a vocalist at cons, clubs, and other venues in the US and abroad, including recently as the Guest of Honor at the Denmark and New Zealand National Science Fiction Conventions. She performs selections from her work in a multimedia project that mixes literature, dance, and music with Greg Adams as her accompanist. She is also a theoretical physicist with a PhD in Chemical Physics from Harvard, and a jazz and ballet dancer. Visit her at www.facebook.com/Catherine.Asaro
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 22, 2014
This extensively revised version of "Catch the Lightning" is well worth the read even if you've already read the original. I didn't leave myself a review to tell me why I rated the original three stars, but obviously I feel quite differently about this version. Once I started, I couldn't put it down - so in trying to guess what's changed (I don't have a copy of the original), I'd say the narrative flow is likely much tighter than it used to be. This book has everything I love about the Skolia novels in general: space opera with romance, strong & smart heroines, and enough real physics behind the fantasy physics to make it feel plausibly real. There's something about SF written by Ph.D. scientists - they've lived the life, they can make it real - this Ph.D. scientist appreciates the touch.
Looking forward to the release of Part II in the fall.
Looking forward to the release of Part II in the fall.
January 9, 2015
A young waitress is saved from a vicious assault by a handsome stranger.
Tina soon discovers that Althor is not only from the future but is not even from her universe and soon finds that her Mayan heritage may be the key to helping her new friend return home.
Asaro's novel is well written and the story flows cinematically. It feels like a wry, self conscious look back to the eighties as a time period akin to the Stone Age. The blend of romance and hard SF is interesting but perhaps the pure mathematics and imaginary number resolutions to hyperdrive could have been toned down somewhat.
Tina soon discovers that Althor is not only from the future but is not even from her universe and soon finds that her Mayan heritage may be the key to helping her new friend return home.
Asaro's novel is well written and the story flows cinematically. It feels like a wry, self conscious look back to the eighties as a time period akin to the Stone Age. The blend of romance and hard SF is interesting but perhaps the pure mathematics and imaginary number resolutions to hyperdrive could have been toned down somewhat.
August 31, 2017
I really want to get part 2. I went to Toronto's gigantic science fiction bookstore.They can't find anything about it. It says on Amazon.com that the book is called Lightning Strike part 2. Does anyone know how I can get ahold of book 2?
May 4, 2014
Loved this rewrite! But now I am jonesing for part two! Anyone know when it will be published?
May 18, 2017
Loved it, trying to find part 2.
Did Not Finish
August 17, 2026No star rating because I dropped it after the admittedly pretty long first chapter. I have a feeling that if I had continued for a little longer I'd just be validated in my instinct that this is a one star read, though.
This reads like someone's first attempt at a novel. Clunky sentences that act as stumbling blocks and are often really silly. Some of them might have been funny if this had been satire, but unfortunately, we're supposed to take them seriously.
Some examples:
> We sat on the bench at the bus stop and he put his arm around my shoulders, not like a boyfriend, which he had never been, but like the best friend I had known for six years, since 1981, the year that Jamaica became the fifty-first state and the Hollywood sign burned down in the hills above LA.
> He had fair skin and curly hair that, as far as I could tell, was the same color as the bronze bracelet my mother had given me before she died.
> His smile caught me by surprise. No cruelty showed in it, no malice or anger. Nor was it a false smile or the too easy expression of someone who had never had reason to cry. His smile had history, complicated history. It was beautiful.
Bad prose aside, there's lengthy infodumping about the first person narrator's past you don't have a reason yet to care about and stupid dialogue and stupid character actions.
Tina, the MC, ends up making out with a stranger she met on a deserted LA street in the middle of the night on said street itself, after having talked to him for probably what amounts to 20 minutes. She is fascinated by this weirdo stranger who doesn't have a good grasp of the language, is fiddling with some weird technology and appears to her as a college kid telling her bogus claims. She is intrigued by him because he uses the word "whom"!
The first chapter ends with Tina almost getting raped and the stranger swooping in to save her. Hard pass.
This reads like someone's first attempt at a novel. Clunky sentences that act as stumbling blocks and are often really silly. Some of them might have been funny if this had been satire, but unfortunately, we're supposed to take them seriously.
Some examples:
> We sat on the bench at the bus stop and he put his arm around my shoulders, not like a boyfriend, which he had never been, but like the best friend I had known for six years, since 1981, the year that Jamaica became the fifty-first state and the Hollywood sign burned down in the hills above LA.
> He had fair skin and curly hair that, as far as I could tell, was the same color as the bronze bracelet my mother had given me before she died.
> His smile caught me by surprise. No cruelty showed in it, no malice or anger. Nor was it a false smile or the too easy expression of someone who had never had reason to cry. His smile had history, complicated history. It was beautiful.
Bad prose aside, there's lengthy infodumping about the first person narrator's past you don't have a reason yet to care about and stupid dialogue and stupid character actions.
Tina, the MC, ends up making out with a stranger she met on a deserted LA street in the middle of the night on said street itself, after having talked to him for probably what amounts to 20 minutes. She is fascinated by this weirdo stranger who doesn't have a good grasp of the language, is fiddling with some weird technology and appears to her as a college kid telling her bogus claims. She is intrigued by him because he uses the word "whom"!
The first chapter ends with Tina almost getting raped and the stranger swooping in to save her. Hard pass.
August 2, 2017
Lightning Strike (2014) 263 pages by Catherine Asaro.
In the Skolian universe some starfaring race took people from Earth several thousand years ago and settled them on Raylicon. The colonists discovered spaceflight and settled several planets before their genetics/inbreeding caused a fall back into a non technological age. Civilization made a comeback. Meanwhile Earth discovered space travel and the Allied worlds made contact.
Althor is on his way to Earth where his mother is getting an award. His ship is damaged and he arrives in 1987 Los Angeles, on an alternate Earth. Tina's mother, Manuela, is a Mayan who got pregnant when she was a teenager. The father left before Tina was born and years later they left to go looking for the father. Tina ended up in LA with her cousin, recently killed in gang violence. She works as a waitress and one day on her way home from work she meets the newly arrived Althor. They talk for a while and then she goes on her way. As she gets to her apartment she is accosted by Nug, the gang leader that killed her cousin, and just as it looked like she was in a desperate situation Althor steps in and helps her. Althor's damaged ship loses it's shroud and is captured by the military. He is desperate to get his ship back.
I read Catch the Lightning in 2013 and remembered most of the plot. I was waiting for my pizza at lunch, started reading this on my phone, thinking I'd just read a few pages. I read it all the way through, interupted by work, and finished it around nine. It was a fantastic read even the second time through. Asaro writes great romance. Whether it's Althor and Tina, Soz and Jabriol, Vyrl and Kamoj, Roca and Eldrinson, and the list goes on. The only scifi romance that I've read that's on same level would be Bujold's Sharing Knife series. The best part is that the romance fits in so well with the story.
In the Skolian universe some starfaring race took people from Earth several thousand years ago and settled them on Raylicon. The colonists discovered spaceflight and settled several planets before their genetics/inbreeding caused a fall back into a non technological age. Civilization made a comeback. Meanwhile Earth discovered space travel and the Allied worlds made contact.
Althor is on his way to Earth where his mother is getting an award. His ship is damaged and he arrives in 1987 Los Angeles, on an alternate Earth. Tina's mother, Manuela, is a Mayan who got pregnant when she was a teenager. The father left before Tina was born and years later they left to go looking for the father. Tina ended up in LA with her cousin, recently killed in gang violence. She works as a waitress and one day on her way home from work she meets the newly arrived Althor. They talk for a while and then she goes on her way. As she gets to her apartment she is accosted by Nug, the gang leader that killed her cousin, and just as it looked like she was in a desperate situation Althor steps in and helps her. Althor's damaged ship loses it's shroud and is captured by the military. He is desperate to get his ship back.
I read Catch the Lightning in 2013 and remembered most of the plot. I was waiting for my pizza at lunch, started reading this on my phone, thinking I'd just read a few pages. I read it all the way through, interupted by work, and finished it around nine. It was a fantastic read even the second time through. Asaro writes great romance. Whether it's Althor and Tina, Soz and Jabriol, Vyrl and Kamoj, Roca and Eldrinson, and the list goes on. The only scifi romance that I've read that's on same level would be Bujold's Sharing Knife series. The best part is that the romance fits in so well with the story.
September 7, 2026
Good SciFi storytelling with empaths!
Love the twist with empaths being the major characters. Good read with lots of scientific theories explained for the lay person. Good adventure and action to accompany the storyline. It isn’t all action and there is a plot and good character development. On to the sequel for me!
Love the twist with empaths being the major characters. Good read with lots of scientific theories explained for the lay person. Good adventure and action to accompany the storyline. It isn’t all action and there is a plot and good character development. On to the sequel for me!
November 7, 2019
It's 2019, where is the 2nd half?
I gave the original hardcover 5*s, and so I bought this digital copy. Imagine my surprise when I got to page 250 and it says 'second half will be published in 2014' ! It is now 2019 and still no ending, no 2nd part !
I gave the original hardcover 5*s, and so I bought this digital copy. Imagine my surprise when I got to page 250 and it says 'second half will be published in 2014' ! It is now 2019 and still no ending, no 2nd part !
September 19, 2024
Amazing Fiction
A pleasant and interesting rather personal story with fantastic characters and very interesting reference to Tina’s Mayan background. A space love story that’s great.
A pleasant and interesting rather personal story with fantastic characters and very interesting reference to Tina’s Mayan background. A space love story that’s great.
July 8, 2025
Pacey, readable space opera. Not especially high literature, and it sometimes seemed the author was more excited to write about the mathematics underlying the FTL system of the main character's starfighter than the plot or the characters, but a lot of fun nonetheless.
January 8, 2018
Fun read, and way less disruptive Earth setting than in Diamond Star, IMO. But why isn't the second half out yet? It was supposed to be out almost 4 years ago!
October 20, 2019
Enjoyed this re-write.
August 25, 2023
3.5 stars
July 3, 2025
Creepy. As if a “Spock” stuck on earth is trying to make a living writing, with no comprehension of misogynistic.
May 1, 2026
Fun!
Delicious space opera with R bits. And the physics is mostly correct. Hmm. Eight more words... now just one more....
Delicious space opera with R bits. And the physics is mostly correct. Hmm. Eight more words... now just one more....
February 5, 2024
My new favorite Sci fi read
Not knowing Catherine Asaro’s work, this book caught me by surprise because everything about it drew me in. From the first intro of the “read inside” function of Amazon all the way to the end. Good descriptions. Good premise. Good characters. Good action. Good translations of the Sci parts. In short, a highly satisfying read for Sci Fi lovers who enjoy a new kind of twist on the genre.
Not knowing Catherine Asaro’s work, this book caught me by surprise because everything about it drew me in. From the first intro of the “read inside” function of Amazon all the way to the end. Good descriptions. Good premise. Good characters. Good action. Good translations of the Sci parts. In short, a highly satisfying read for Sci Fi lovers who enjoy a new kind of twist on the genre.
February 1, 2015
The latest installment in Asaro's Skolian Empire/Ruby Dynasty series is an updated version of Catch the Lightning. This prequel epitomizes "sciFi meets romance."
Warning: this is part one of a two-part story.
Warning: this is part one of a two-part story.
June 2, 2015
Rewrite is better than original book
This is a well done and much improved rewrite.
Still some cringey/ romance-ish elements as well as what feels like a bit of poverty stereotyping.
I'd give this a 3.5 rounded up to 4.
This is a well done and much improved rewrite.
Still some cringey/ romance-ish elements as well as what feels like a bit of poverty stereotyping.
I'd give this a 3.5 rounded up to 4.
January 27, 2024
I read the original form "Catch the Lightning" ages and ages ago so was happy to get my hands on the revamped/revised longer tale. I really like the new details(?) on Althor's cybernetics and how he's integrated with his starship and how Tina interacts with both of them.
October 3, 2015
Read the original but long enough ago that I only remembered one scene and most of it felt new. loved it more than I remember loving the original.
October 18, 2023
Asaro
Enjoyed this book. Good for a travel read. Ready for the next one to continue the adventure. Where's Tina going?
Enjoyed this book. Good for a travel read. Ready for the next one to continue the adventure. Where's Tina going?
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews