A Roll of the Dice

by Catherine Asaro

Harvard anthropology student Jeremiah Coltman has been doing field work for his thesis project on the planet Coba for three years. Coltman's immersion into the colony world's female-dominated culture has progressed far beyond his expectations, guided principally by his exceptional skill at Quis, a dice game played by a privileged but socially reclusive group of men known as the Calanyi. When word of Coltman's Quis prowess spreads to the high levels of the government, he is kidnapped and forced to marry against his will into the Calanyi ... a luxurious captivity for which there is no escape. Hugo Award Nominee, HOMer Award Winner, Analog Reader's Choice Winner, Nebula Award Preliminary Ballot Nominee, Nebula Award Finalist

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy

69 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 25, 2003

About the author

The 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

Reviews

[belleanndthebook · Rating 1 out of 5]

This novella, which gave more background to the Skolian Empire Saga was interesting in terms of the world-building and the character it portrayed. However, while I found it easy to read, I found it problematic, particularly in terms of consent given. While the story acknowledged that the main character was in a situation they needed to escape from, the very story romanticized that same situation.

Furthermore, I read this partially because after finishing The Ruby Dice, I wanted to know why everyone became so enamored with the game Quis. It quickly became clear that while Asaro conceptualizes what the sociopolitical effects of Quis are, she doesn’t actually have a concrete idea of the rules of the game.

[John Loyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in the July/August 2000 Analog.

Outstanding. Roll of the Dice is the kind of story that makes me look for an author's novels. In the case of Asaro a previous story in Analog had gotten me hooked on the Skolian stories. This one takes place on Coba set a few years after The Last Hawk.

Jeremiah Coltman goes to Coba to finish his thesis, but plays quis so well that he becomes a Calanyi. That traps him on the planet, and he is forbidden to have any contact outside.

[Elijah Madden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but packed with some interesting stuff. Gender-role reversals usually come off as cheesy and contrived but it works pretty well here. Even the computer drama toward the end is pretty good. That genre is almost impossible to get right.

[Kit · Rating 1 out of 5]

The male protagonist in this book is a spineless jellyfish... Gender reversal is one thing but it went too far. Even the most timid female would of put up more of a "Fight" than this donkey. A friend recommended I read this short story, I'm reconsidering associating with them.