Spherical Harmonic

Catherine Asaro combines her diverse talents to blend hard science fiction and heartrending romance into a sweeping epic known as the Saga of the Skolian Empire. This is her trademark series. Ever since Primary Inversion, her very first novel, this series has continued to grow, building a significant readership and receiving widespread praise.All of Asaro's considerable talent is on display in Spherical Harmonic, the direct sequel to The Radiant Seas.Separated for decades by circumstance and political machinations, the Ruby Dynasty, hereditary rulers of the Skolian Empire, struggle to bring together the tattered remnants of their family in the shadow of a disastrous interstellar war. Too many have died, others are presumed lost, yet they must move quickly if they are to resume their rightful place as rulers of Skolia.… (more)

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LibraryThing member wyvernfriend

A very involved story, with characters who are involved in very serious politics. The Skolian empire has problems and Dynianna Selei is in the centre of it. Post-war empire where the Psibernet has collapsed and no-one is sure where to turn.

Many of the other stories in this series can be read

without any real knowledge of the rest of the series but this one is really best understood in it's place in the series. It's an interesting novel and I look forward to more in the series.

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LibraryThing member jonimkemp

A satisfying conclusion to the main plotline of the saga following members of the Ruby Dynasty that accounts for the whereabouts of all the main characters and the state of affairs between the Trader, Skolian, and Allied worlds after the Radiance War. It would be giving the tale away to identify

which main character is giving the account. Yet it does leave room for further questions about the children of Sauscony and Jabriol. . . Perhaps another book has/will follow this vein. Fine. I am always happy with these books, about a family with psionic powers that is able to control computer networks from within, romance, adventure, highly visual text, and some mathematical speculation.
The best book in the series is still, in my opinion, the Nebula-winning Quantum Rose, which plunges you into a visually stunning world that you only visit casually in the rest of the series.

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LibraryThing member MaowangVater

Dyhianna Selei awakens in an unknown wood. She’s disoriented. She doesn’t know who she is. She’s been drifting in and out of consciousness, and in and out of reality. Looking down at her youthful looking body the first thing she remembers is her age, 158. As she slowly pieces together her

memories, she will remember a desperate escape from an interstellar conflict of massive destruction, and the key role she will have to play in its aftermath.

This edition includes an author’s note, “Science in Science Fiction,” which describes the mathematics and physics in the story, and then goes on to talk about world-building, and linguistics. Notes on characters and family history are followed by genealogical tables and a timeline for this book and the preceding six books in the series.

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