The Radiant Seas

Saga of the Skolian Empire #4

by Catherine Asaro, Julie Bell (Illustrator)

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.

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Fiction, Romance, Audiobook, Space, Fantasy

512 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 15, 1998

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

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

This remains my favorite book in this series. I just love the storyline and non stop action in this book

[Soo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Notes:

Currently on Audible + (Publication Order)

Great narration by Anna Fields.

- Concepts for the series are grand & epic in scale.
- Character presentation & establishment range between well done and flat.
- For the past few books, I've been poking at the details & storytelling of the books. Dark themes and actions don't bother me. It's a mix of context, presentation and delivery that determines how I react to those themes. So, I was wondering why the slave, abuse and rape themes bugged me in this series. The scenes are brief and not overtly graphic. However, the context of those scenes should have a bigger impact in the way characters act within the established cultures/species/races. Too much is relied upon a 'take it as it's shown' and that rubbed me the wrong way. Most likely due to the fact that there are well-written passages for emotional and terrible scenes. The imbalance between details and execution bugged me. =P

Loved the way the original duo from the first book are brought back into the story line. I liked the first 1/3 of the story more than the rest.

[Lianne Pheno · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://delivreenlivres.blogspot.com/...

Ce second tome agrandit de façon vraiment intéressante l'ensemble de l'univers qui avait commencé à être abordé dans le premier tome. Et la ou le précédent m'avait laissé sur ma faim, celui ci se révèle être une totale réussite.

Suite à la mort des héritiers des deux empires rivaux, Skolien et Eubien, la situation se dégrade. La guerre est inévitable.

C'est sans doute le résumé le plus court que j'ai jamais fais d'un livre, mais vous en saurez plus quand j'aurais (ré)expliqué un peu plus le contexte.

Comme je l'avais bien détaillé dans ma chronique du premier tome, Point d'inversion, je ne vais pas revenir totalement en détail ici. Vous pouvez toujours aller la lire pour avoir plus d'informations.

L'empire Skolien protège la liberté de ses empathes que l'empire Eubien voudrait bien capturer pour son propre plaisir.
Pour l'instant les Skoliens ont la mainmise grâce à leur réseau instantané de communication qui ne peut être géré que par des Rhon, les élites empathe qui n'existent plus qu'en infime quantité dans le monde. Mais cette avantage est en train d'être grignoté par les Eubiens qui tentent par tout les moyens de reproduire le réseau de leur coté en croisant leurs esclaves Rhons avec des Aristos, leurs propres élites.


Le début de cette série a un peu la même structure que le début de la Ballade de Pern pour ceux qui connaissent. Le premier tome suivait un personnage unique dans une aventure épique, alors que le second lui sort de ce contexte un peu étriqué pour suivre de nombreux personnages éparpillés dans le monde et les différents camps pour nous donner un point de vue bien plus large des événements.

Au cours des 17 années qui sont passées depuis la fin de Point d'inversion, les relations entre les deux empires, qui étaient plus ou moins stables depuis un long moment, se sont vraiment mises a bouger.
C'est logique dans le sens ou chacun des empires reproche à l'autre la disparition de son propre héritier.

Du coté des Skoliens l’empereur a du choisir un nouvel héritier mais les choix sont limités finalement. Surtout qu'il ne faut pas qu'il choisisse un qui soit trop proche d'une des trois clés déjà existantes sinon le réseau ne sera pas stable et risque de crasher. Ils tentent de reprendre le dessus avec le projet Radiance, une nouvelle arme Les Eubiens se battent entre eux pour l'influence et savoir qui sera le prochain empereur, tout en prévoyant des attaques pour anéantir les Skoliens.

Du coté de Soz et de Jaibriol qui étaient les personnages principaux du premier tome, la vie est très détendue sur leur planète perdue. Ils font quelques drôles de découvertes sur leur monde mais profitent surtout pour fonder une famille nombreuse, avec 4 enfants tous aussi spéciaux les uns que les autres, et tous Rhons.
Jusqu’au jour ou la situation extérieur les rattrape et ou Soz doit à nouveau prendre les armes pour sauver les siens ...

Ce tome se divise finalement en deux parties. La première raconte ce qui se passe durant les 17 années, petit à petit. Elle est la pour mettre en place les personnages et les événements. Cette partie la était assez calme finalement, même si on n'a pas un sentiment d'ennui car le temps avance vite. La seconde prend vraiment les choses en mains et l'action reprend de plus belle.

C'est cette seconde partie qui m'a totalement séduite. Je l'ai trouvé épique, grandiose. Tout les éléments sont la pour donner exactement le type de livre que j'avais envie de lire depuis des années. En fait depuis que j'ai terminé la saga Vorkosigan que j'avais adoré il y a une 10ène d'années. C'est donc dans ce tome ci que j'ai vraiment retrouvé les ingrédients qui m'avaient plu, et ce avec grand plaisir.

Enlèvements, intrigues politiques, flottes d'invasion et batailles intenses, trahisons, manipulation du réseau, scènes grandioses et flamboyantes, histoires de famille et de survie ... tout s'enchaine dans un tourbillon énorme qui emporte tout sur son passage. Pas le temps de souffler.
A certains moments épiques j'étais comme un fan de sport devant une victoire de son équipe, j'avais envie de me lever, de crier et de sauter de partout en étreignant les personnes à proximité pour partager ma joie.

J'ai bien aimé aussi le coté technique de ce livre, surtout concernant le projet Radiance. L'autrice étant une scientifique ça se sent dans ce livre car tout peut sembler crédible dans l'univers qu'elle met en place.

Au final je pense que ce livre est tombé au bon moment. Il était exactement ce que j'avais envie de lire au moment ou j'avais envie de le lire. Il a donc été une vrai réussite.


17/20

[Debbie is on Storygraph · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second of Asaro's Skolian Empire books that I've read, the first being Primary Inversion, which is chronologically before this one. I fell in loved with the characters and the world in the first book and continued to do so while reading the second. Asaro has crafted an intricate and complex universe, down to the technology that I can't even begin to understand, and characters that are memorable and human. Great series. I'll definitely be continuing.

[Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Radiant Seas has strong sentimental value for me, this book being my first introduction to the Skolian Saga. However, unlike a movie that one might have enjoyed as a teen that as an adult you feel no connection, this book is every bit as good a read now as it was then. The universe built in this series is one I would gladly revisit if not only for it's ideas of the future, but also for it's cast of people that must deal with living in it.
Suffice it to say, I look forward to read the works from Catherine Asaro, strengthened by my own voracious appetite for STEM topics and compelling storytelling.

[Susie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I very much enjoy this series. The author does a good job of merging space opera and hard science fiction. I'm not a big fan of hard science fiction, but I appreciate what she does to bring science into the equation. I read it for the characters. This is the book that follows Primary Inversion. Well written and engaging. The elements of torture between the Skolians and Aristos is disturbing, so be warned. This is a re-read for me and I was pleasantly surprised just how well put together this story is on the second, maybe even third pass.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

HOLY COW.

What an amazing universe. I am so impressed that someone was actually able to create a rich and fascinating science fiction universe that still managed to deal with character stories and emotional content. There's enough science to fully explain everything but enough leeway to keep things fast-paced and interesting. I'm going to find the rest of this series and.

[Elar · Rating 5 out of 5]

And finally good got better. In this book all the previous book characters make an appearance and adventurous fast pace thriller. There are quite shocking developments, but also new hope to end a long lasting feud.

[Anatoly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now, THIS is how you do space opera right! Intrigues, plot twists, space empires, amazing psychic powers, enormous space battles, blurring lines between good and evil, you name it. I've read many a space opera, and this one will definitely stay with me for a long time.

[Dena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soz and Jaibriol are my two favorite characters in this series though it is hard to choose among the Ruby Dynasty.

[Hildegart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now that I am going through the list of books by Asaro, I think this book is my favorite one!

[Karin Granström · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reminds me of Game of thrones. Much intrigue and epic fights and no guarantee of any happy ending for the characters I've come to care for.

[Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book! Great mix of hard sci-fi, military action, futuristic science, & best of all, an amazing romance and love.

[Kathy KS · Rating 3 out of 5]

I began this series years ago and enjoyed it. However, I know I was just randomly reading books in the series. So, I decided to go back and read the series, it looks like I'm using the publication order. Unfortunately, I'm having trouble feeling that good about the last couple I've read.

This novel was sometimes confusing with so many characters and jumping between their different storylines. I thought it might be because I listened to this one because it makes it harder to follow, especially when the names are unfamiliar (and you can't see them written out) and several sound very similar. Actually, I enjoy much of the main story and it would be more enjoyable as a linear story, rather than making the jumps. Some of the science gets a little to wordy for my own tastes, but others may just love that, since Asaro is actually a scientist.

The ending of the story was somewhat stronger, although I'm not sure we learned enough about young Jabriol (there are, at least, three mentioned in the book) to understand his full motivation for his final actions of the book. I guess that will be leading up to another story, but I don't know.

The last previous volume I read didn't do much for me. I'll try one or two more, since I know I liked some of the first ones I read and now can't remember exactly which ones those were; and, then I'll re-evaluate to continue the series. I believe my next read won both science fiction and romance awards. {hopeful face}The Radiant Seas

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ages ago, I read The Dark Between the Stars , which was purportedly the first book in a new series, but that series was actually a sequel series to a seven book series, and it very much read like "Oh here's what everyone's kids are up to, and maybe something else is happening I guess?" I imagine I would have liked it a lot more if I were already invested in the characters and the world, but given that I wasn't, it was plain that the book itself was deeply flawed. Ever since then, I have been somewhat aware of the way that books later on in a series tend to have accumulated a decently large ensemble cast, and end up sacrificing compelling plot for a number of incremental advancements to the stories of each of the myriad characters.

Even though I liked this book, it was definitely closer to the "just advancing the positions of all the players on the board" end of the spectrum than the "compelling independent book" end. Some of Asaro's earlier books definitely feel like they started in media res and I liked those in spite of it, and I suspect that if I read this one first I'd still find it mildly interesting (as opposed to The Dark Between the Stars, which I hated), but beware that this book is much better if you read the first 3 books.

What happens in this book:


- Soz and Jaibriol, having faked their deaths and eloped, strand themselves on a planet they call Prism and have 4 children.
- Imperator Skolia Kurj and Emperor Ur Qox both react negatively to their presumptive heirs dying and end up killing each other, leaving both empires in a somewhat uncertain state.
- Althor is captured by the Eubians and tortured for information, causing his nanobots or whatever to erase his memory. The Eubians still eventually manage to extract from him that Soz and Jaibriol are both still alive (which he learned soon before being captured).
- The Eubians come to Prism and manage to extract Jaibriol. No one on either side knows that Soz and Jaibriol are married or that they have children. The Eubians attempt to raze the planet, but Soz saves her children and gets out (though she suffers a miscarriage in the process).
- Soz drops off her kids on Earth to be raised under an alias, then returns to Skolia to become Imperator.
- A war ensues between the Skolians and Eubians. Jaibriol is a puppet emperor and Soz is actual military commander. This culminates in the rescue of Althor and Soz and Jaibriol once again faking their deaths.
- Soz and Jaibriol return to Earth to retrieve their children, only to learn that their oldest, Jaibriol III, believing his parents to be dead, has surrendered himself to the Eubians and become their emperor.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of this novel reminded me of the middle of Romeo and Juliet. The lovers are secretly married and no one knows where they are (presumed dead!). We get little glimpses of their life together in between boring sub plots about interstellar intrigue and war where Kurj (Tybalt) runs around being a rapey, unlikable, genius, and generally an unsympathetic character.

The second half of the novel is better if you can get past all the hard science fiction. The Radiance War is told in a digestible way by focusing on characters you can understand rather than spaceship battles or anything like that.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Radiant Seas is the 4th book in Asaro's Skolian Empire series. It follows on timewise from the 1st and 3rd books although the main characters are from the 1st.

I found the story interesting and fast moving with a number of plot threads that all came together in the end to a successful conclusion then split off again ready for another book. This could be anoying, but as I intend to read the next book in the series I didn't think so.

I think this is probably the best book I have read in the series so far, although it may not be for everyone.

[Rumavidz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am glad I continued reading the series. Writing has improved. Also characters got more complex and interesting. The explanation of sci-fi got better and feels integral to the story telling (rather than thesis recital as in 1st book.) The idea was interesting from the 1st book, and world building continues here. Some things like the Lock, Keys, Psyweb communication are still not well explained so it seems there are asyncrosities.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one stepped up to the plate. A lot happens, thank goodness, and between the space battles, the intrigue, the more fleshing out of the royal Skolian family, including the brothers I've by now read in two other novels as well as the sister, I'm really getting a cool feel for the intrigue.

The tragedies are pretty spot on and entertaining. If anything, I'm rearing to get to the next book in the series.

This is now -- fully -- space opera.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 5th book of the Skolian empire I've read, but the first one that really made it feel like an interesting coherent space opera. Before this all the books just felt like standalone stories in the same universe. This book really starts to build on an overarching story.

[Josephine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new dawn begins, a well written and thought out book. But the saga continues in the series

[Patricia Litz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuation of the skolion ruling family.

[Anthony Faber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Skolian Empire book. If you like the others, you'll like this.

[Crystal Foley · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I wanted to see what happened to Soz and Jaibriol, I can't read any more of this series because the slavery is too disturbing.

[Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oof, this book has several scenes that hit different than they did when I was younger.

[Jennifer]

was

[Tsana Dolichva · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Radiant Seas by Catherine Asaro is the second book I’ve read in the Skolian Empire saga (which actually has three empires in it with the two main ones having different names so it gets confusing but that’s the term I’m going to stick with). The other book that I’ve read was Primary Inversion which, chronologically, immediately precedes The Radiant Seas. For this review to make sense, I’m going to have to include a spoiler for the end of Primary Inversion, but I’ll put in a warning when I get to that.

Asaro’s universe contains three interstellar empires:

~ The Skolians whose ruling family are powerful telepaths and who can communicate instantaneously through a telepathic web that three of the imperial family hold in place with their minds (and to do so they have to be the most powerful type of telepaths, a condition that involves recessive genes and can’t be genetically engineered.
~ The Eubians who are ruled by the irredeemably evil (and genetically specific) class of Aristos. Evil because they literally gain transcendent pleasure from being in proximity to the suffering of telepaths. Their mission in life is generally to acquire as many telepathic slaves as they can, the more powerful the better (and, incidentally, they don’t see anyone else as fully human, especially the telepaths but including ordinary humans).
~ And then there’s the Earth and Allied Worlds who try to stay out of the never ending conflicts between the other two empires and don’t entirely believe how horrible the Eubians are with their slavery and torture.

The main characters are mostly Skolian and the antagonists are all Eubian although they’re not all as automatically evil as it might seem (but most are) and do have proper motivations for what they do, always an important trait in bad guys. The story in The Radiant Seas picks up exactly where Primary Inversion left off and spans many (17ish) years.

Before I get to the spoilers, a few words on the science because I can’t review an SF book without commenting on that. Asaro’s science, real and made up, is pretty good and (most importantly ;-p ) didn’t annoy me. It was a good mix between made up stuff (the telepathy) told from a scientific point of view and fairly hard semi-plausible science like the propulsion systems. Asaro actually has a PhD in physical chemistry theoretical atomic and molecular physics so much of the quantum and relativity stuff is plausible. She even published a paper about the theory behind her faster than light travel system. In short, nothing to complain about here.

And to be able to talk about the plot, I have to mention a spoiler for the end of Primary Inversion…

At the end of Primary Inversion, Soz, next in line to be the Imperator (Skolian), and Jabriol II, heir to the Imperial throne (Eubian), fall in love when Soz discovers Jabriol isn’t in fact an Aristo but part of a secret genetic experiment to breed telepathy into the imperial line. Rather than feeding on telepaths, he is the most powerful type of telepath himself (as is Soz). Since peace between their empires is inherently impossible while there are still Aristos running around, they ran off to a deserted planet together. The Radiant Seas picks up when they’re busy making copious babies while their families mourn them, then get on with waging war against each other.

Because the story spans so many years, it really felt like the first half was setting up the events of the second half. There were some action scenes in the first half and the story definitely progressed, but there were moments when it felt like it was dragging. In the second half, Soz and Jabriol (and their kids) rejoin civilisation and their respective empires, the story really picks up. Soz trying to rescue Jabriol was much more exciting than them making babies while their families fought.

Aside from the few boring bits (which weren’t enough to ruin anything, in my opinion), I quite enjoyed this novel. I mostly liked Soz because she kicks arse but I did find the whole running away from imperial duties thing a bit selfish. However, it was also nice to see an alternative narrative where duty isn’t held up as the most important thing and the character chooses family. (I still think they should’ve hung around to fix things up more first…)

Overall, I would recommend this book to people who enjoy science fiction with epic world-spanning empires, lots of political intrigue and long range plots. I definitely suggest reading Primary Inversion before The Radiant Seas, however, since a lot of world building and, more importantly, plot set up, takes place in the earlier book.

4 / 5 stars

You can read more of my reviews on my blog.

[Gena Kukartsev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Notes to self - but everyone is welcome. 3 out of 5 stars - meaning that I liked the book well.

Another book from the Skolian cycle. Characters and the Aristo-Ruby differences feel deeper, more fully fleshed out than in earlier books. For the first time, you see Aristos not just like a race of superficial sadists but understand why and how it turned out to be like that, and how "good" Aristos might look like.

[belleanndthebook · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5/5 stars)

This book is the continuation of the story involving the characters who we met in Primary Inversion. It takes place over a long period of time, and most of the story is told in snapshots of what each character is doing in each year. For the first half of the book, I loved the pacing, but by the end, I forgot what year things happened. This wasn’t too irritating though because the author did put in some cues. The yearly spacing of this book also didn’t allow for much character development, so while the story was nice, my attachment to the characters was entirely spillover from the previous book. Also, I’ll have to give Asaro credit for the sci-fi in this book, which was great!

[Shara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise: ganked from BN.com: 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.


My Rating: 5 - It's a Gamble

So, this is not the best book to start with if you haven't yet read any of Asaro's space opera/SFR. No, the best book to start with is Primary Inversion, and even that's been the best book of the series to date (and by date, I mean by how far I've read). Asaro's at her best when her characters have something to lose and she can focus on the action of bringing a story to a close. But in The Radiant Seas, there were a lot of world-building sections that had me utterly disengaged, and really, there were too many POV characters (I'm remembering at least eight) and that always dilutes a story for me. I was so tempted to put this book down and declare myself done with the series, but I pushed onward, because I want to see what else the series has to offer, and it didn't seem right to make this book a DNF and still read more of the series. And the ending does redeem my enjoyment of the book, though sadly, it takes a long, long time to get to that point. I still plan on continuing the series with the next book in the publication order, which is Ascendant Sun, but after that, I'll probably be taking a break.

Spoilers, yay or nay?: Yay. You'll get some spoilers for Primary Inversion too, so please, if this is a series you're interested in, don't read the full review. However, if you're caught up on at least Primary Inversion and The Radiant Seas, feel free to read the full review, which is in my blog and I've linked to it below. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.

REVIEW: Catherine Asaro's THE RADIANT SEAS

Happy Reading!