Asaro, Catherine
THE RADIANT SEAS
Catherine Asaro
TOR 1999
HB 463 pages (includes in the back--family trees of both royal families and Time
Line)
ISBN # 0-312-86714-X
Is this a good book? Well let's see: I skipped out of real-life responsibility last night so I could stay home and finish this book (and that's not normal for me). So yes, I do recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a good space adventure with a little romance thrown in to spice it up. Just read Primary Inversion first.
Unlike Primary Inversion, The Radiant Seas is written in many viewpoints. But since we got to know those characters in the first book, it is not difficult to slip into their minds now. And what problems they are having! When Soz & Jabriol disappeared at the end of Primary Inversion, everyone assumed she had been chasing him (her enemy) and that they had both died in his escape attempt. Only three people know that these two lovers are in exile ... and married. But then Soz's brother Althor discovers a glitch in the web, and traces it back to their father who reveals, on Althor's promise of secrecy, the truth. So far so good, except the Eubian emperor is bent on revenge for the death of his son Jabriol. The Eubians invent a code that tricks Althor, thus enabling them to capture him (good fight scene!) They torture the poor man who preserves the technical data for his people (the Skolians) but lets slip the knowledge that Jabriol is still alive.
Jabriol is captured and returned to Eube where he takes his father's throne. Emperor Ur Qox of Eube had been trying to capture Imperator Kurj of Skolia when Kurj turned on his captors in a suicide explosion taking both leaders with it. Soz is infuriated by the kidnapping of her husband, death of one brother and capture of another (understatement: this lady is a wild-cat!) She takes her children to Earth for sanctuary then returns to Skolia to assume the Imperialate throne. The war between Eube and Skolia just got hotter. Neither parent can reveal their true relationship with each other because to do so would endanger the lives of their children; not to mention their own. Both sides devise more devious ways to rampage their enemy. Soz (or should we say author Asaro) comes up with a genius idea for zipping into enemy territory without being seen. During the Radiance War, Asaro writes one great battle scene after another (told you I couldn't put the book down!).
I won't tell more because I don't want to ruin it for you. I had read Asaro's Ascendant Sun, which in Skolian chronological order reveals the "history" of Soz and Jabriol, so I knew what to expect, or thought I did. This Romeo and Juliet story not only satisfied, it went beyond the call of duty.
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