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Saga of the Skolian Empire #3
The Last Hawk
When Kelric, a scion of the imperial family of Skolia, crash-lands his fighter on the off-limits planet of Coba, he figures it will be only a short time before he makes his way home. But he fails to account for the powerful matriarchy of Coba, the mistresses of the great estates who do not want the Empire to know about their recent cultural advances.
First they take him prisoner.
Then, one by one, the most powerful women on the planet fall in love with him!
First they take him prisoner.
Then, one by one, the most powerful women on the planet fall in love with him!
480 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
49 people are currently reading
587 people want to read
About the author
Catherine Asaro
93 books698 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 - 30 of 67 reviews
could-not-finish
October 23, 2017Audiobook
Okay, this book is awful. I'm very bored by the story. This supposedly superhuman is so not - he's weak and frail from the food and water!. The romance(s?) are strange. I can guess what's going to happen. And the world being ruled by people who can play dice well is - I can't even think of the word - it's worse than weird but really close to stupid. If you come up with it, let me know. Can't/won't finish it.
Okay, this book is awful. I'm very bored by the story. This supposedly superhuman is so not - he's weak and frail from the food and water!. The romance(s?) are strange. I can guess what's going to happen. And the world being ruled by people who can play dice well is - I can't even think of the word - it's worse than weird but really close to stupid. If you come up with it, let me know. Can't/won't finish it.
June 13, 2015
Blurb: The Last Hawk tells the tale of the lost heir to the Empire. Fleeing the heat of battle in a wounded spacecraft, Kelric crash-lands on a proscribed planet where a matriarchy rules through the medium of a complex game. The women in power help to heal him, but destroy his ship and determine that he can never leave - for his knowledge of their world, if revealed to the Empire, would cause the rapid fall of their civilization. And so his rescue turns into an imprisonment of years, decades, a time in which he finds love and a challenging place in the universal game.
This was a reread for me. I read the book last when I first discovered the series, back in the late '90s and I haven't had an opportunity to reread it since. I think this time around I loved the book even more than I did the first time.
I think that part of my problem on my first read was that I simply gobbled up the story and didn't have time to go slowly and savour the details. The thing that I had struggled most with was the Quis (the "complex game" mentioned in the blurb) and how it all worked.
On rereading I came to realise that I didn't need to know exactly how it worked (and indeed, that isn't explained) but to understand what it meant to Coba. It was like Kelric described it - as a communications network, but it was also a way of expressing abstract mathematics and physics concepts.
The thing I had missed before and that had made the story confusing, was that it also holds a lot of forgotten knowledge. Whether that was intentional when Quis was first developed or it just happened that the information went into the Quis even as it was being lost to everyday use isn't shown. I found it quite reminiscent (although a totally different method) of the Sybil network in Joan D. Vinge's Tiamat books. The lost knowledge is there for the asking - if you ask the sybil (or the Quis) the right question.
I also felt I got to know Kelric a lot better this time around. I'd always liked him, but I feel that now I understand more deeply what happens to him, I just love him to pieces and want to hold him close and heal all his hurts.
At one point in my reading, I both wanted to get some stitching done and keep up with the book. I managed to do both by moving to my audiobook for a bit. That lead to a previous post, the pertinent bits of which I'm going to reproduce here to have it all in one place.
Going back to why I've never reread my favourite series, it's because I keep putting off rereading them, both for matters of time and in case I don't like them as much. Also, bad stuff happens to the characters and I keep putting off reading that, even though I know things turn out fine in the end.
I've found I take things in better when I read them than when I listen to them. I followed the story fine, but I can't fall into an audiobook the way I can tumble into a paper (or electronic) book and just be absorbed into the story. So my previous intention of listening to books that aren't absolute favourites was probably right.
All the same, I made a point of stopping when the next part of The Last Hawk was one of the sections I wanted to savour and enjoy. I went back to reading the actual book. I love audiobooks, but I love "real" books even more.
It was, in a way, disappointing that the most significant relationship Kelric was to have on Coba, ended just as it was truly beginning. This was his marriage to Ixpar Karn. Despite their being together for several years, it was only as circumstances forced Kelric to leave Coba that there were in the right place to truly work and love together.
I did like the synchronicity of the way Kelric took the flyer Ixpar had left for him, not knowing she had left it, while Ixpar saw it was gone, but didn't know Kelric had taken it. It was sad neither of them knew what the other had come to realise - Ixpar that Kelric had to leave and Kelric that he loved her - but beautifully written the way it was done.
I suspect Catherine Asaro always knew she'd be writing about Kelric and Ixpar later and it was more important in this book to show the other interactions. Also, the relationship with which we spent the most time was one that ended badly. Rashiva pretty much betrayed Kelric and you've got to have relationship and trust for a betrayal to be devastating, so that relationship had to be built up first.
One thing that did trouble me, especially in my first reading, was that Kelric went through a lot of women in this book. Or, more accurately since Coba is a matriarchy and the men still clearly the subservient gender, a lot of woman went through Kelric. But I do realise that the book covers about 20 years, and it was made clear that Kelric was perfectly attractive to the Coban psyche. First time round I found it difficult the way Kelric seemed to come to love most of them (well, four out of six and of the other two, one was never a personal relationship and the other seriously mistreated him). But this time round I saw that he was never willing to offer any emotion when he still felt linked to the previous "wife". Only after they had died (Dahl and Savina) or rejected him (Rashiva) was he willing to risk. By Ixpar, he wasn't willing at all, but found love crept up on him all the same.
I think Kelric, adored littlest brother of a large family, must simply have a great capacity to love.
It'll be interested to see how that plays out as he redevelops a relationship with Ixpar - or at least I hope that's what he'll be doing in the new book.
This is a bit messier than my usual reviews as I've pulled it together from comments I posted on the [asaro] mailing list rather than making my brain start from scratch, so I hope it still makes sense.
The Last Hawk
Catherine Asaro
part of the Skolian series
10/10
[Copied from LibraryThing.]
This was a reread for me. I read the book last when I first discovered the series, back in the late '90s and I haven't had an opportunity to reread it since. I think this time around I loved the book even more than I did the first time.
I think that part of my problem on my first read was that I simply gobbled up the story and didn't have time to go slowly and savour the details. The thing that I had struggled most with was the Quis (the "complex game" mentioned in the blurb) and how it all worked.
On rereading I came to realise that I didn't need to know exactly how it worked (and indeed, that isn't explained) but to understand what it meant to Coba. It was like Kelric described it - as a communications network, but it was also a way of expressing abstract mathematics and physics concepts.
The thing I had missed before and that had made the story confusing, was that it also holds a lot of forgotten knowledge. Whether that was intentional when Quis was first developed or it just happened that the information went into the Quis even as it was being lost to everyday use isn't shown. I found it quite reminiscent (although a totally different method) of the Sybil network in Joan D. Vinge's Tiamat books. The lost knowledge is there for the asking - if you ask the sybil (or the Quis) the right question.
I also felt I got to know Kelric a lot better this time around. I'd always liked him, but I feel that now I understand more deeply what happens to him, I just love him to pieces and want to hold him close and heal all his hurts.
At one point in my reading, I both wanted to get some stitching done and keep up with the book. I managed to do both by moving to my audiobook for a bit. That lead to a previous post, the pertinent bits of which I'm going to reproduce here to have it all in one place.
Going back to why I've never reread my favourite series, it's because I keep putting off rereading them, both for matters of time and in case I don't like them as much. Also, bad stuff happens to the characters and I keep putting off reading that, even though I know things turn out fine in the end.
I've found I take things in better when I read them than when I listen to them. I followed the story fine, but I can't fall into an audiobook the way I can tumble into a paper (or electronic) book and just be absorbed into the story. So my previous intention of listening to books that aren't absolute favourites was probably right.
All the same, I made a point of stopping when the next part of The Last Hawk was one of the sections I wanted to savour and enjoy. I went back to reading the actual book. I love audiobooks, but I love "real" books even more.
It was, in a way, disappointing that the most significant relationship Kelric was to have on Coba, ended just as it was truly beginning. This was his marriage to Ixpar Karn. Despite their being together for several years, it was only as circumstances forced Kelric to leave Coba that there were in the right place to truly work and love together.
I did like the synchronicity of the way Kelric took the flyer Ixpar had left for him, not knowing she had left it, while Ixpar saw it was gone, but didn't know Kelric had taken it. It was sad neither of them knew what the other had come to realise - Ixpar that Kelric had to leave and Kelric that he loved her - but beautifully written the way it was done.
I suspect Catherine Asaro always knew she'd be writing about Kelric and Ixpar later and it was more important in this book to show the other interactions. Also, the relationship with which we spent the most time was one that ended badly. Rashiva pretty much betrayed Kelric and you've got to have relationship and trust for a betrayal to be devastating, so that relationship had to be built up first.
One thing that did trouble me, especially in my first reading, was that Kelric went through a lot of women in this book. Or, more accurately since Coba is a matriarchy and the men still clearly the subservient gender, a lot of woman went through Kelric. But I do realise that the book covers about 20 years, and it was made clear that Kelric was perfectly attractive to the Coban psyche. First time round I found it difficult the way Kelric seemed to come to love most of them (well, four out of six and of the other two, one was never a personal relationship and the other seriously mistreated him). But this time round I saw that he was never willing to offer any emotion when he still felt linked to the previous "wife". Only after they had died (Dahl and Savina) or rejected him (Rashiva) was he willing to risk. By Ixpar, he wasn't willing at all, but found love crept up on him all the same.
I think Kelric, adored littlest brother of a large family, must simply have a great capacity to love.
It'll be interested to see how that plays out as he redevelops a relationship with Ixpar - or at least I hope that's what he'll be doing in the new book.
This is a bit messier than my usual reviews as I've pulled it together from comments I posted on the [asaro] mailing list rather than making my brain start from scratch, so I hope it still makes sense.
The Last Hawk
Catherine Asaro
part of the Skolian series
10/10
[Copied from LibraryThing.]
December 16, 2023
Meh.
A generous 2.5 mostly because I like the handling of Quis.
The story is slow, drags in many places & has uncomfortably dated toxic romance tropes.
A generous 2.5 mostly because I like the handling of Quis.
The story is slow, drags in many places & has uncomfortably dated toxic romance tropes.
October 17, 2021
Notes:
Currently on Audible + (Publication Order)
Currently on Audible + (Publication Order)
November 2, 2008
It’s been awhile since I’ve picked up anything by Asaro, and now I’m wondering why that’s the case. I’m still reeling from finishing this book. I read it in less than a day, and I’m not the world’s quickest reader. I like to soak. Well, that was impossible this time.
The Last Hawk is another installment in Asaro’s Skolian Empire series. It’s the story of Kelric, one of the three heirs to the Imperialate throne. He crashes on a relatively unknown world- Coba- where the ISC is an unwanted presence. He is taken as captive, but his strange mix of allure and otherness make him irresistible to the forces of government on Coba- women managers who run their estates with various styles and with ever-changing politics.
Thrust into the midst of Coba’s wargame, Kelric becomes a catalyst to the inevitable struggle between factions, and is himself torn apart in the process. At first only wanting to return to his own, he finds himself changed by the game, and by his unexpected discovery of love. Can he save Coba from the destruction his presence has brought? Will he desert them for his own homeland? A terrifying struggle to endure, yet through it, Kelric shows why he is a true hero. He might just render you captivated to his charms, too.
10/10.
The Last Hawk is another installment in Asaro’s Skolian Empire series. It’s the story of Kelric, one of the three heirs to the Imperialate throne. He crashes on a relatively unknown world- Coba- where the ISC is an unwanted presence. He is taken as captive, but his strange mix of allure and otherness make him irresistible to the forces of government on Coba- women managers who run their estates with various styles and with ever-changing politics.
Thrust into the midst of Coba’s wargame, Kelric becomes a catalyst to the inevitable struggle between factions, and is himself torn apart in the process. At first only wanting to return to his own, he finds himself changed by the game, and by his unexpected discovery of love. Can he save Coba from the destruction his presence has brought? Will he desert them for his own homeland? A terrifying struggle to endure, yet through it, Kelric shows why he is a true hero. He might just render you captivated to his charms, too.
10/10.
December 15, 2008
Okay, I am an unabashed Asaro fan. There is little she writes about the Skolian empire that I don't love. This was my first by her that I had read and now I often find myself looking for her work everywhere I go. Kelric won my heart within the first few pages. The world Asaro created was unique from any others I had read about and she crafted it so well I actually felt pulled into it during the reading of this story. This was one of the finest written books I'd read in the last 2 months and I was sorry to see it end...of course, now I'm obligated to find more works by Asaro.
December 26, 2019
I liked this book, a lot, but also thought it dragged, a lot. I didn't realize until sitting down to write this review that it was #3 in a series, but I am not sure it makes a difference. So many, MANY names of characters and places and titles, it was a bit dizzying. Kelric (also called Kelrickson, also called Sevtar) was, overall, a sympathetic character, but also a little too convenient. Conveniently weak/injured, conveniently strong and powerful, conveniently attractive to the female leaders of planet Coba.
He was the man with the golden... well, skin, among other things. I really liked the role reversal and world-building, and the integration of Quis, a game that seems to be the bastard child of Jenga and Stratego and chess, into every part of everyday life. The rather violent ending felt a little contrived. I am glad I read this (book club pick), but don't feel the need to pick up other books by this author.
He was the man with the golden... well, skin, among other things. I really liked the role reversal and world-building, and the integration of Quis, a game that seems to be the bastard child of Jenga and Stratego and chess, into every part of everyday life. The rather violent ending felt a little contrived. I am glad I read this (book club pick), but don't feel the need to pick up other books by this author.
August 12, 2016
After the jarring universe jump from book #1 to book #2, I was prepared to drop into yet another separate/parallel storyline in book #3 in the Skolian universe. And Kelric's adventures on Coba might be my favorite isolated storyline in this branch of the series.
Just like the Chora in Jane Kindred's The House of Arkhangel’sk books, the Quis in the Last Hawk made me want to learn to play along. Of course, the point of the Quis seems to be that it's more complex than I can imagine, and it makes me want to go take some abstract match classes. Again, I always love when a fiction book makes me want to learn a new skill!
The foreshadowing is a little more obvious in Last Hawk than some of the other Skolian books, but it still sets up cliffhangers that were okay with me as a reader. I look forward to seeing how some of these stories get resolved.
Just like the Chora in Jane Kindred's The House of Arkhangel’sk books, the Quis in the Last Hawk made me want to learn to play along. Of course, the point of the Quis seems to be that it's more complex than I can imagine, and it makes me want to go take some abstract match classes. Again, I always love when a fiction book makes me want to learn a new skill!
The foreshadowing is a little more obvious in Last Hawk than some of the other Skolian books, but it still sets up cliffhangers that were okay with me as a reader. I look forward to seeing how some of these stories get resolved.
August 31, 2014
In the end, I was just glad that this book was over. Even though it is #3 in a series - I bought it in the days before Audible thought to include this information in its catalogue - it started out strong and I was quite enjoying it. From about halfway through it descended from its stranger in a strange land theme into an episodic "...her bosom heaved at the sight of his thrustful loins..." type of pulp fiction and the story became more difficult to follow. I don't think it mattered so much that this was the third of a series as there seemed to be a distinct change of narrative style midway in the book. It was well read but I don't think I'll be in a big hurry to hunt down the rest of the saga in any format...
December 3, 2014
Although I usually like Asaro's books, I agree with some of the others reviewer's comments about how irritating it becomes to read about how irresistible Kelric is to every single female he seems to encounter.
It reminded be how I felt when reading the Twilight series... if I had to hear about how wonderful Edward's cold, hard chest was, I began to feel nauseous.
The story itself didn't engage me either, although the main saving grace is highlighting women's role in modern society by turning the tables and placing men in the secondary role.
If this is the first of the Skolian Empire books you've read, try another before you give up.
It reminded be how I felt when reading the Twilight series... if I had to hear about how wonderful Edward's cold, hard chest was, I began to feel nauseous.
The story itself didn't engage me either, although the main saving grace is highlighting women's role in modern society by turning the tables and placing men in the secondary role.
If this is the first of the Skolian Empire books you've read, try another before you give up.
September 29, 2014
I am not reading any of Asaro's books in order so I'm never quite sure where I am in the timeline when I pick up a book of the Skolian Empire.
This one is more of a romance than a science fiction book for the most part. From the moment that Kelric Valdoria crashes on the matriarchal run planet of Coba, to the moment he escapes, it is more about the women who want to own him than about anything else. The dice game of Quis is an interesting part of the story, mostly in respect to how it effects society.
In short, not one of Asaro's better works but interesting none the less.
This one is more of a romance than a science fiction book for the most part. From the moment that Kelric Valdoria crashes on the matriarchal run planet of Coba, to the moment he escapes, it is more about the women who want to own him than about anything else. The dice game of Quis is an interesting part of the story, mostly in respect to how it effects society.
In short, not one of Asaro's better works but interesting none the less.
December 10, 2015
Author introduces in this book another lost heir to Skolian empire (mhmh third book in the series with same starting point :). This time interesting game is thriving everything and it is fascinating to see how our hero learns and masters it. In this book women are really sexists pigs, but they also try to see men more than reproducing organs although some scenes are really vivid and reflect problem in out current social situation.
September 15, 2019
Imagine you land on a world. Imagine the inhabitants of that world destroy your ship, poison you, imprison and enslave you, and force you into a marriage with one of their leaders.
Imagine calling the rape that follows "making love".
Imagine and insane universe where that "marriage" is legally binding in your home system.
Imagine a trial for "murders" made while attempting to escape this slavery.
That's this trash in a nut-shell.
Imagine calling the rape that follows "making love".
Imagine and insane universe where that "marriage" is legally binding in your home system.
Imagine a trial for "murders" made while attempting to escape this slavery.
That's this trash in a nut-shell.
January 17, 2010
Ugh. OK, but not really good. There is a marking time aspect to the book - a filler for the series? And sometimes the book's varied conceits (oooo a world dominated by women and the men are helpless sex objects) is just overdone. Also far far overdone is the authors infuriating use of "gentle" as a verb. "Her face gentled." It really detracts.
October 28, 2010
This might be the least interesting thing I wasted my time reading since I was dumb enough to read Twilight.
I wont elucidate the many things I didnt care for - suffice it to say I found the characters boring, 1 dimensional, and I just wasnt able to find half a red damn to give about any of them.
I wont elucidate the many things I didnt care for - suffice it to say I found the characters boring, 1 dimensional, and I just wasnt able to find half a red damn to give about any of them.
July 12, 2016
I finished this one last night... stayed up too late reading but it was worth it! The only reason I didn't give this book a 10 is that it ended too soon! Now I'll have to find other books in the Skolian Empire series...
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/9...
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/9...
August 28, 2018
re-read 2/9/2005
re-read 5/26/2014
Kelric -- poor Kelric. I wish I had a mind for maths the way he does!
re-read 5/26/2014
Kelric -- poor Kelric. I wish I had a mind for maths the way he does!
March 18, 2012
The first Skolian book I read and I've kept coming back. I really like the world building and of course Kelric is a very likable character.
April 30, 2012
I found the first few chapters of this book on the publisher's website and decided I just had to read this author! I'm glad I did!!
August 24, 2016
One of the better books in the Skolian series.
January 1, 2015
The culture(s) created in this novel are fascinating! I've read this book several times and always enjoy it immensely.
June 26, 2024
I find modern fantasy and science fiction inferior to older stories and a skim of the reviews remind me why the older stuff is better. The chronological snobbery combined with how many people barely paid attention to what they were reading just reinforces that in this particular case.
First, a brief introduction: after a battle, the protagonist Kelric crashlands on a Restricted planet, which means he is not supposed to be there because it's too primitive or unpleasant for the Imperialate (his employers). However, that Restricted status is less than truthful, since the natives connived to get it in order to keep the Imperialate out and continue their own culture without interference. A native search party finds him and are forced to chose between letting him die or letting the secret get out. They chose to compromise: they save him, but they also refuse to let him go. In other words, he's free to live among them, with the only restriction being he cannot leave the planet. The conflict that drives the story proceeds from there.
With regards to the story itself, there are times when it's a bit slow as certain sections can appear to drag on longer than necessary. It's not a killer, but it can make some readers a bit impatient. Part of that is related to how Catherine Asaro chose to focus most of the metaphorical action on Quis, a game that is some insane lovechild of Jenga, Legos, and differential equations, invented by an uber physics nerd (Asaro got her Ph.D in chemical physics). The way it works can be both fascinating and a bit of a pace killer. However, I certainly consider it to be innovative, as it changes the focus from traditional battles to something both accessible and abstract. As it's my first encounter with Skolia, I was certainly startled at how often Kelric engages in coitus. Good on him, though. He's got it bloody rough as it is and I do not begrudge the man a handful of bosoms. It's not a deep read, but it has excellent worldbuilding and some particularly good characters. It's worthwhile for those interested in good old 90s science fiction, very light on the preachy tendencies and hamfisted current year stand-ins of what gets published these days.
The rest of this review is to challenge a number of other reviews I saw while preparing mine, since it demonstrates a combination of chronological snobbery, lack of reading comprehension, and plain old misdirection. First, someone complained about the food and water making Kelric sick. This was not only addressed within the first few chapters, but it has precedent, not only in the H.G. Wells' classic The War of the Worlds, but our own first contact scenarios between the Old World and the New. It's simple: a body that encounters unfamiliar bacteria and microbes will react negatively. Why else do you think people are told not to drink the water in foreign lands?
Next, someone complained about Kelric being a Mary Sue for being the best at Quis. The narration documents early on that he is a math nerd who does higher-order math for fun. What did you expect would happen when It was a choice between going insane and obsessing over Quis, so he obsessed to the point where he invented new pieces and concepts because the standard game was inadequate for all the math he was doing.
Then lots of people complained about the "dated toxic romance tropes." I'm sorry, the man is cut off from his own civilization, slowly being poisoned by his environment, and it's bad that he accepts emotional bonds and intimacy from four out of the five women who express their interest in him? You'd have a case if he'd gotten Stockholm Syndrome there, but you've got nothing.
Then there's the comments about the matriarchy being genderbent patriarchy and surely that wouldn't be how women would run things. I do believe Catherine Asaro intended for this to be a sort of challenge to sexism, since she even sets up a proto-men's rights movement in the worldbuilding. However, I think it falls flat. It's been historically documented that female rulers are greater warmongers than men are, to say nothing of what women say in their subreddits and forums which go farther than men. Heck, just look at this article on a real life matriarchal society and tell me it doesn't seem familiar after reading the book. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-165...
First, a brief introduction: after a battle, the protagonist Kelric crashlands on a Restricted planet, which means he is not supposed to be there because it's too primitive or unpleasant for the Imperialate (his employers). However, that Restricted status is less than truthful, since the natives connived to get it in order to keep the Imperialate out and continue their own culture without interference. A native search party finds him and are forced to chose between letting him die or letting the secret get out. They chose to compromise: they save him, but they also refuse to let him go. In other words, he's free to live among them, with the only restriction being he cannot leave the planet. The conflict that drives the story proceeds from there.
With regards to the story itself, there are times when it's a bit slow as certain sections can appear to drag on longer than necessary. It's not a killer, but it can make some readers a bit impatient. Part of that is related to how Catherine Asaro chose to focus most of the metaphorical action on Quis, a game that is some insane lovechild of Jenga, Legos, and differential equations, invented by an uber physics nerd (Asaro got her Ph.D in chemical physics). The way it works can be both fascinating and a bit of a pace killer. However, I certainly consider it to be innovative, as it changes the focus from traditional battles to something both accessible and abstract. As it's my first encounter with Skolia, I was certainly startled at how often Kelric engages in coitus. Good on him, though. He's got it bloody rough as it is and I do not begrudge the man a handful of bosoms. It's not a deep read, but it has excellent worldbuilding and some particularly good characters. It's worthwhile for those interested in good old 90s science fiction, very light on the preachy tendencies and hamfisted current year stand-ins of what gets published these days.
The rest of this review is to challenge a number of other reviews I saw while preparing mine, since it demonstrates a combination of chronological snobbery, lack of reading comprehension, and plain old misdirection. First, someone complained about the food and water making Kelric sick. This was not only addressed within the first few chapters, but it has precedent, not only in the H.G. Wells' classic The War of the Worlds, but our own first contact scenarios between the Old World and the New. It's simple: a body that encounters unfamiliar bacteria and microbes will react negatively. Why else do you think people are told not to drink the water in foreign lands?
Next, someone complained about Kelric being a Mary Sue for being the best at Quis. The narration documents early on that he is a math nerd who does higher-order math for fun. What did you expect would happen when It was a choice between going insane and obsessing over Quis, so he obsessed to the point where he invented new pieces and concepts because the standard game was inadequate for all the math he was doing.
Then lots of people complained about the "dated toxic romance tropes." I'm sorry, the man is cut off from his own civilization, slowly being poisoned by his environment, and it's bad that he accepts emotional bonds and intimacy from four out of the five women who express their interest in him? You'd have a case if he'd gotten Stockholm Syndrome there, but you've got nothing.
Then there's the comments about the matriarchy being genderbent patriarchy and surely that wouldn't be how women would run things. I do believe Catherine Asaro intended for this to be a sort of challenge to sexism, since she even sets up a proto-men's rights movement in the worldbuilding. However, I think it falls flat. It's been historically documented that female rulers are greater warmongers than men are, to say nothing of what women say in their subreddits and forums which go farther than men. Heck, just look at this article on a real life matriarchal society and tell me it doesn't seem familiar after reading the book. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-165...
October 5, 2022
I like this Saga of the Skolian Empire, though it does still feel very 90s for some reason. The plot here is a mildly interesting one; entertaining but Asaro doesn't delve too deeply into any of the interesting parts of the world-building here. There's a sort of gender-swapped matriarchy thing going on but it doesn't feel like a realistic assessment of what would happen if women were always in charge, it feels more like someone had women doing all of the sketchy stuff that men do in stereotypical depictions of the patriarchy.
The plot itself is a bit wild. (What follows is a spoiler-y description of what happens)
One thing that's interesting about the world is that the Calani go up in "levels" by switching which Calanya they are associated with, and apparently this makes them much better (can't tell how much is correlation and how much is causation here). Seems dubious, but also a terrible way to handle promotions. That said, it totally reminds me of the memes about (and within) Google about how the best way to get promoted is to go to another company, so maybe they're on to something 😛.
3.5 of 5 stars
The plot itself is a bit wild. (What follows is a spoiler-y description of what happens)
One thing that's interesting about the world is that the Calani go up in "levels" by switching which Calanya they are associated with, and apparently this makes them much better (can't tell how much is correlation and how much is causation here). Seems dubious, but also a terrible way to handle promotions. That said, it totally reminds me of the memes about (and within) Google about how the best way to get promoted is to go to another company, so maybe they're on to something 😛.
3.5 of 5 stars
November 27, 2021
1.5 stars, but I've rounded down to 1 because although the writing was good, the story made it the most uninteresting Skolian Saga book I've read so far.
I wasn't interested in the world for once. So much attention was on the dice game and how the world used it for matters from politics to physics... but I had no real reason to care about it because of course Kelric was the best at it ever (#MarySue).
His romances were basically steeped in Stockholm Syndrome which made them decidedly unsexy. Maybe when this was written (in 1997), gender-flipping the "protagonist-in-distress to a stronger, more powerful love interest" trope was unusual, but when no matter how much I love a good gender-flipped trope, the fact that these people are holding him captive on a world that is slowly poisoning him to death, all of the "romance" just came across as gross. I really didn't enjoy this book, but I do like Asaro's writing and hope the rest of the series gets better.
I wasn't interested in the world for once. So much attention was on the dice game and how the world used it for matters from politics to physics... but I had no real reason to care about it because of course Kelric was the best at it ever (#MarySue).
His romances were basically steeped in Stockholm Syndrome which made them decidedly unsexy. Maybe when this was written (in 1997), gender-flipping the "protagonist-in-distress to a stronger, more powerful love interest" trope was unusual, but when no matter how much I love a good gender-flipped trope, the fact that these people are holding him captive on a world that is slowly poisoning him to death, all of the "romance" just came across as gross. I really didn't enjoy this book, but I do like Asaro's writing and hope the rest of the series gets better.
January 6, 2019
Hmpf. There were parts I liked and parts I couldn’t wait to be over. The initial plot was a annoying because it was basically the same as book 2: a wayward space fighter pilot / member of royalty gets stranded on a more primitive planet and falls in love with women that happen to have the supposedly exceedingly rare genes to make more members of royalty. The romance stuff is not my bag. The dice game the society played in lieu of war and normal politics was pretty interesting. It was also enjoyable to see the main character rank up over the course of the book and become a legend but the end of his story felt rushed. There were way too many character names toward the end of the book and I found it hard to follow, though it was fun to read about this society falling apart and all of the intrigue that went with it.
September 1, 2017
I liked The Last Hawk, it was certainly better than the previous book I read in the series (Catch The Lightening).
The story was a bit more explicit than previous books so be warned if this offends, but I didn't think it was too bad.
The story is very planet based where a pilot is marooned on the planet without space travel except via an off world space port which he cannot get to. So if you like a lot of space battles this probablyisn't for you, but it does have plenty of action and intrege.
Overall well worth the read and I will go on to another book in the series sometime in the future.
The story was a bit more explicit than previous books so be warned if this offends, but I didn't think it was too bad.
The story is very planet based where a pilot is marooned on the planet without space travel except via an off world space port which he cannot get to. So if you like a lot of space battles this probablyisn't for you, but it does have plenty of action and intrege.
Overall well worth the read and I will go on to another book in the series sometime in the future.
April 29, 2023
I enjoyed the start of this book as a tropey romp where a beautiful metallic-skinned soldier crash lands in a primitive planet run by women, but it dragged by the end and just like book 1, was kind of pointless.
Coba is all of Earth's sexism flipped one for one by binary gender, including all the same catcalls, stereotypes, and eventually marital rape. Everything on Coba is filtered through a mysterious chess-like dice game, including physics, and the B plot is Coba rediscovering technology. Otherwise there's not much plot. It gets old pretty quickly. By 75% I was speeding up the audiobook and by 90% I was at 1.35x speed.
Coba is all of Earth's sexism flipped one for one by binary gender, including all the same catcalls, stereotypes, and eventually marital rape. Everything on Coba is filtered through a mysterious chess-like dice game, including physics, and the B plot is Coba rediscovering technology. Otherwise there's not much plot. It gets old pretty quickly. By 75% I was speeding up the audiobook and by 90% I was at 1.35x speed.
November 29, 2021
Primary Inversion was good. This is a travesty. Let's start with the start. Kelric crash lands on a planet that's interdicted by his Skolian Empire. It has an automated base, but his ship doesn't contact the base. Then the people want the interdiction, don't want him finding out, but don't kill him or stabilize his injuries, keep him in a coma, and send him to the base before he learns anything.
Instead, all the women want him and the plot gets more stupid as it progresses. Also, the gender politics inversion is used like a sledgehammer, zero subtlety.
This is a big miss.
Instead, all the women want him and the plot gets more stupid as it progresses. Also, the gender politics inversion is used like a sledgehammer, zero subtlety.
This is a big miss.
August 23, 2023
I've been conducting an impromptu tour of sci-fi depictions of matriarchal societies, this installment by Catherine Asaro.
This is a fun, pulpy novel, imaginative and quirky. A kind of "anti-adventure," in that the hero protagonist is almost immediately incapacitated and is subjected to endless political and romantic maneuverings. The novel's "gaze" is likewise reversed, to amusing effect.
The idea of structuring society around a complicated game ("Quis") is interesting, reminiscent of "Azad" from Ian M. Banks' Player of Games.
This is a fun, pulpy novel, imaginative and quirky. A kind of "anti-adventure," in that the hero protagonist is almost immediately incapacitated and is subjected to endless political and romantic maneuverings. The novel's "gaze" is likewise reversed, to amusing effect.
The idea of structuring society around a complicated game ("Quis") is interesting, reminiscent of "Azad" from Ian M. Banks' Player of Games.
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