Catch The Lightning (The Saga of the Skolian Empire) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Catherine Asaro (Author) "I last saw Earth in 1987, when I was seventeen..." (more)
Key Phrases: biomech web, supplement contract, face blanked, Commander Selei, Los Angeles, Allied Worlds (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Alhough Asaro returns in her second novel to the far-future Skolian Empire of her first, Primary Inversion, she begins the story in 1987, on an alternate Earth. In Los Angeles, narrator Tina, 17, rescues Althor, a Skolian Jagernaut (elite space-pilot) whose ship has flung him back in time and into Tina's alternate universe. Before their adventures conclude, Tina and Althor return to Althor's own future and get married. Many of the novel's complications spring from the pair's common Mayan ancestry, which has bequeathed to both of them powerful telepathic and empathic faculties, from Althor's status as a cyborg who is in effect a royal prince and from the Skolian Empire's ability to generate all the bloody plots and counterplots one would expect of any self-respecting interstellar empire. Asaro, who's a physicist, offers an intelligent exploration of possible links between telepathy and quantum physics and informs many of the scenes between the lovers with power and tenderness. But her story is too often comprised of a jumble of elements derived from myriad commercial-fiction genres. Despite strong characters and many fine passages, it fails to cohere and to deliver the vibrant reading experience that her first novel offered.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Returning to the Skolian Empire she first created in Primary Inversion (LJ 2/15/95), Asaro introduces Tina, a contemporary Mestiza teenager living in California, who is transported to the future with a Skolian pilot named Althor. In this sensual tale of telepathy and love between Mayan descendants of different worlds and times, Asaro continues to develop the Skolian culture. Recommended for sf/fantasy collections.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Tor Science Fiction (October 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812551028
• ISBN-13: 978-0812551020
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #164,359 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 2 in The Saga of the Skolian Empire Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Catherine Asaro is a breath of fresh air to science fiction!, September 30, 1997

By A Customer

Catch The Lightning is one of those books you just can't put down! The characters are so real and the story so compelling that when I got to the end of the book, I was looking for more! How often does an author come along who can enthrall the often deadly-critical science fiction readers with a universe that is most likely not only possible, but makes you want to live there and struggle side by side with its characters? Another thing that makes Catherine's book both unique and enticing is the realistic detail and emotional display of the characters. I would have to say that if -I- met a strange, gorgeous man on the street who 1) saved me from being raped (possibly killed), 2) who could feel my thoughts / emotions AND 3) was SENSITIVE to them...I'd go for him! :) Truely, Asaro is one of the best science fiction authors of this century and I hope to learn more and more about the Skolian Empire and it's people from her. Also, I think that her content and writing style could become a cornerstone to future science fiction...not only interesting those of us intrigued by futuristic societies, space travel, technology, etc...but those interested in adventure, mystery, and good old fashion romance. I give Catherine an ecstatic two thumbs up and on a scale of 1-10, a 10+! p.s. I was just as thrilled by Primary Inversion as well! :)

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightfully sexy romp through a grad level physics book., June 7, 2000

By	Diane Turnshek (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Must Read! Catch the Lightning flings us to an alternate universe Earth in 1987. The LA scenes are chilling, gang warfare, drug-related murders, the day-to-day hopelessness of growing up in the inner city. Then we flash forward (using inversion theory) to the Skolian Empire, to a time beyond events in Primary Inversion and the Radiant Seas, to a finale sprinkled with grayed characters we knew and loved in their youth. Catch the Lightning works as a powerful love story. You have to love people named Akushtina Santis Pulivok, and Althor Vyan Selei kya Skolia. I understand why Catherine Asaro's books cross genre boundaries to appeal to the romance market with pages like 44-50, 103-105 and (oooh--hot, hot!) 356--but how does the general romance reader deal with quantum mechanics, introns, inversion theory, time paradoxes, imaginary transforms and, for crying out loud, Hilbert space? "'Riemann sheet,' Heather said. 'It's a mathematical representation designed to make multivalued complex quantities into single-valued functions.'" The steep language obviously didn't bother romance readers who awarded this book the coveted Under the Covers Award and the Sapphire Award. Catch the Lightning is a delightfully sexy romp through a grad level physics book.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic blend of hardcore scif & romance. I loved it!, October 15, 1998

By	DogsDeserveCompassion (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Ahhh, what a satisfying book. If only everything I read were this good, well, I'd probably never get anything done! This is the second book in Catherine Asaro's Skolian Empire Saga and is also another not-to-be missed read for hard-core scifi fans and romance readers looking for a well-written futuristic love story.

Ms. Asaro has created another extraordinary heroine and hero while maintaining a non-stop action filled read. I now know why these books appeal to so many different types of readers - there's adventure, romance, political intrigue and interesting future societies and theories that boggle the mind.

The best thing about this book for me was the characters. If I can't care about them I just won't be able to get into a book, no matter how interesting others may find it. The author takes as much care developing her characters as she does her plot which makes this book so special. Tina may only be seventeen but she was forced to grow up early and her actions, and responses to the unbelievable situations she's thrust into are very realistic. She's vulnerable and tough, smart and easy to like. Althor is a perfect match for her, he's strong, sensitive and moody and with her strong empathic abilities she's probably the only one who would be able to fully understand and love him.

My only complaint, and it's a minor one really, that can probably be attributed to the fact that I don't read much hard scifi, is that sometimes the book lapsed into long technical explanations that jogged me out of the story and because I read this book immediately after finishing PRIMARY INVERSION some of the explanations didn't seem necessary to me so I skimmed them. Despite that nit I can't recommend this one highly enough. The characterization is flawless - you'll love and route for these people as they face impossible odds.