Primary Inversion (The Saga of the Skolian Empire) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Catherine Asaro (Author) "Although I had known about Delos since I was a young woman, this was my first visit to the planet..." (more)
Key Phrases: pugging sakes, spinal node, biomech web, Highton Heir, Jaibriol Qox, Primary Inversion (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Set in the distant future, Asaro's debut novel pits Sauscony Valdoria (Soz) and her crew of Jagernauts-bioengineered fighting empaths-against the Trader Empire. Traders are a race that derive pleasure from the amplified pain and anguish of empaths-especially Jagernauts, as Soz knows from personal experience. Soz is also a likely heir to the powerful Skolian Empire, rival of the Traders. On a neutral planet, she meets the Trader heir and discovers he has the unusual psi abilities her race possesses. The two link mentally and fall in love. But will Soz be forced to kill her lover to protect her empire? Though Asaro, a physicist, provides more than enough esoteric detail on faster-than-light inversion drives, cybernetic enhancements and computer networks, she manages to anchor her story with thoughtful, engaging characters and an intriguing vision of the future-and she leaves the door open for a sequel.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
In a distant future where three empires battle for control of the galaxy, Sauscony Valdoria, the heir apparent of the Skolian Empire, finds herself inexplicably attracted to Jaibriol Qox, the son of the Emperor of Tarnth and the symbol of everything Sauscony has been taught to despise. Asaro's sf debut features strong male and female protagonists and a well-realized far-future world. Blending hard science with a familiar tale of star-crossed lovers, this novel deserves a wide readership.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (May 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812550234
• ISBN-13: 978-0812550238
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #112,139 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 1 in The Saga of the Skolian Empire Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique sci-fi, January 7, 2005

By	Davion Hill (Near Columbus, OH United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Asaro's future universe:

There are essentially 3 civilizations in Asaro's future universe. The Allied Worlds are those established by humans from Earth. The Skolian Empire and the Eubians (the Trader Empire) are remnants of another human civilization (the Raylicon Empire) that left Earth long ago and established a presence in the stars. When the Allied humans left Earth to explore the universe, they were suprised to find that humans were already there.

Allied humans are much like you and me. Skolians, however, are generally empaths, and their civilization is based on a royal family with exceptionally strong empathetic abilities. They are "psions", who can read emotion almost as well as communicating with words. The Eubians (or Traders) literally derive pleasure from the pain of a psion, who transmits the emotion and amplifies it like an antenna. Some of the Eubians are pretty nasty in their taste for the pain of their Skolian pleasure slaves. Other Eubians, however, aren't so bad.

The Skolians and Eubians are always either on the verge of war or are at war, and the Allieds try to be neutral.

This book, in particular, deals with one Skolian heir who is admirable in the way that she is a strong and amazingly capble woman. Sauscony Valdoria (or "Soz"), heir to the Skolian throne, is a Jag pilot, an elite fighter group composed entirely of highly empathetic psions. Soz can deal out some serious butt-whoopin' when she needs to, but her personality is more of an INFP for those of you familiar with the Myers-Briggss personality test. Soz is an introverted, intuitive, feeling and perceiving person who is exceptionally intelligent. The plot is well written and intriguing.

The science:

"Inversion" is a concept developed by Catherine Asaro to account for rapid transit through large distances in space; a possible solution to the problem of time dilation. Einstein kind of put a stick in the mud when, in 1905, he told everyone that Special Relativity wrote in a universal speed limit at ~3x10^8 m/s, citing anyone caught travelling near this speed with a significant time penalty. Some authors embrace time dilation, like Poul Anderson in "Tau Zero" and Joe Haldeman in "The Forever War". Others find ways around it, like Gene Roddenberry in the "Star Trek" series. Other authors ignore it altogether. The neat thing about Asaro's solution, however, is that it is mathematically explicit, even if it is not possible by today's understanding of real and imaginary numbers and their role in real space.

-- For the reader who is not fond of math, skip this paragraph. For everyone else, read on -- All numbers have a real and imaginary part, i.e., a+ib, where "a" is the real coordinate and "b" is the imaginary coordinate. "i" is the imaginary number i=sqrt(-1). In Einstein's equation for time dilation, if one simply makes a substitution "iV" for the velocity "V", one gets an i^2 term in the equation, which is simply "-1". This completely changes the behavior of Special Relativity. It breaks the speed limit, and time dilation can even become "time reduction". Similarly, length contraction becomes "length elongation", and the mass inflation term (defined in terms of momentum), actually becomes "mass reduction".

It's pretty neat how it all works out, actually. It would be to one's benefit to simply flip oneself out of real space and into imaginary space, and then hit the gas pedal. The faster you go, the lighter you get, and you can actually make time on the way. In fact, you could go back in time if you felt like it (if Hawking finds a way around the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics). With this simple mathematical trick, Asaro has opened up a science fiction can of worms, where she can put an infinite number of spins on a fundamental plot line.

That's not all Asaro came up with. Her background in chemical physics has given her the ability to take relevant real world problems and incorporate them into her fiction. Imagine Klein Bottles that maintain objects in imaginary space while being transported through real space. Quantum stasis fields that freeze all the atoms in an atomic state and hold them there for a finite time. An infinite information network that spans all of real space while only existing in imaginary space. This is neat stuff.

Perhaps the best thing about this book (and her other books) is that Asaro balances hard science fiction with a genuine effort to write about *people*. Catherine Asaro is a unique woman because she is not only a chemical physicist (Ph.D., Harvard), but also a ballerina. Her characters often show a similar duality. Some of her books are more romance novels than hard sci fi, but there are quite a few gems in this series. "Primary Inversion", "Radiant Seas", "The Moon's Shadow", and "Schism" all tell the story of Sauscony Valdoria and her kids, and these are some of her most "hard" sci fi novels. In addition, the story of Soz's brother, Kelric, is told in "The Last Hawk" and "Ascendant Sun", and both of these novels are equally entertaining.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good First Effort, October 31, 2001

By	AntiochAndy "antiochandy" (Antioch, CA USA) - See all my reviews

PRIMARY INVERSION is apparently the first scifi novel by Asaro. For a first try, it is pretty good, despite some shortcomings. She clearly is well-grounded in science, and the hard scifi aspect of her writing is intriguing and well thought out. The plot of the story held my interest (though I wouldn't quite describe it as a page-turner)and the main characters have enough depth to make you care what happens to them. On the other hand, Asaro's political set-up is, at best, fuzzy. The Skolian dynasty is "decrepit" and there is some sort or elected body, but once you get into the story Primary Valdoria's half-brother seems to rule in a very absolute sense. Further, way too much of this story revolves around special mental powers. The advanced inter-personal links that might flow from nanotechnology and computer implants aren't enough. There have to be special psychic powers as well, and these powers constitute the main difference between the rival Skolian and Trader empires. The special powers should have been left out, in my opinion. The sadism of the Trader ruling class could easily have had other sources. The "Rhon" versus "Aristo" business was, in its genetic origins, obscure and confusing. Finally, most of the action (which is well written, by the way) takes place in the first part of the book. More action in the latter part of the story would have been a plus.

Although PRIMARY INVERSION has its weaknesses, it was engaging enough to hold my interst throughout. For a first effort, it was promising. I will probably be reading more of Ms. Asaro's books. I think most scifi fans will find this an entertaining read.

24 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Promising but cut the cheese, November 5, 2001

By	kan lay a - See all my reviews

Primary Inversion is a heady mix of the worst of romance and the best of hardcore sf. The sadistic Traders and psionically-enchanced Skolians are fighting a continuous war. The two heirs of enemy houses(ahem, Romeo and Juliet?) fall instantly in love and cause a great ruckus. After a quick Sunday morning run-through, that is all I got from the book.

I'll probably be blasted for not giving this book stellar ratings, but hey I'm trying to be helpful by critiquing good AND bad points. I was interested in Asaro's writing because of her background in physics and was hungry for new female science fiction writers. Unfortunately, the plot reeks of immaturity. Grossly adolescent, Sauscony, the older but so sexy heroine, reads like a female version of James T. Kirk whose "heartbender" (umm, shrink) asserts that she is incapable of being with an equal. Bagging little boys is fine, but even that was boring! The galaxy seems to be chock full of strapping Jagernauts, quivering barmaids, and gorgeous little college boys, and a line of Emperors surnamed "Qox". Oh baby, whose Qox is it.. Ur Qox baby! And for "puggings sake", do adults not swear like adults? This is like the Bold and the Beautiful in Space.

There are a few positive points that, with more time and training would have made this book digestable. The underlying technology is refreshingly real and captivating, the ftl drives and antimatter weapons for example. Empathic fighters have cybernetic implants that can block their victims dying screams. The notion of love at first sight between the two heirs would seem silly if not for the fact that they had engineered "Rhon" genes that create pheremones so potent, they rack their potential mates with primal lust (like genetic soulmates). I honestly have no qualms about mixing romance with SF, but I was hoping for a more depth in character, plot, etc. You won't get compelling themes on the human condition, or strangely unique aliens or strong memorable characters. Hopefully, after this first try, Asaro will churn out much better yarns with the hope that she will dump the vacuous romantic cliches, keep the clean prose and intelligent science, and come up with a stronger plot.