kdf_333's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
mrdan's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
jstamper2022's review against another edition
2.0
Awful. If you like tacky dime store romance novels with a sci-Fi twist, you’ll love this.
nessa_arandur's review against another edition
1.0
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.
jch2022's review against another edition
5.0
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.
lauriereadslohf's review against another edition
4.0
I found this book, the 3rd in Asaro's Skolian Empire Saga, much different than the two previous books. The other two take place in a relatively short span of time with the point of view being the heroine's. This book is more of a saga spanning over sixteen years. The main character is a very sympathetically drawn male and it's written in the third person. Also, the huge chunks of technical information that went over my head in the previous books were absent from this one. It is much wider in scope, an entire planet is written in vivid detail, and is one of those engrossing reads whose world you fall into.
Kelric, space fighter and heir to the Imperialite Empire is forced to crash land on the planet Coba when his craft malfunctions. Coba is a planet who has escaped the rule, bloodshed, war and politics of Kelric's world and intends to keep things that way. Their world is ruled by women who exist peacefully through a 3D dice game called Quis that is much more than a simple game. It's the framework that they've built everything on. The better a Quis player, the more power the ruler has. The women who rule the planet immediately sense the danger Kelric presents if word ever gets out about their planet so they immediately destroy his ship and thwart all chances of his escape.
Kelric, being very easy on the eyes is quickly sought after by the ruler of the land he crashes on. It turns out that he is a genius at their game of Quis making him an even more valuable asset to her land. She makes him her "Akasi" their term for husband(s) of the highest ranking woman - and, yes, the rulers can have more than one. It's not long before all of the various rulers of the planet want to make him their own "Akasi." The more he raises in rank the more valuable he becomes. But as much he wants to avoid it, because he's become content with their peaceful way of life, his knowledge of war starts to "infect" their Quis and their world will never, ever be the same.
That's a barebones sketch of this involving story but I don't want to give it all away. I hope it's enough to whet your appetite for more because this is a great story. The reverse sexism was at times funny and at others, especially after I got to know the characters, very painful. The main characters are people you grow to care about. Sensitive and caring Kelric is mistreated and the book is often very sad but he does find love a few times, true love once and experiences so much heartache by the book's end that the reader is put through an emotional wringer. The cast of secondary characters is huge and occasionally was a little overwhelming for me. I found myself going back a few times to figure out who someone was. But I doubt this would've been a problem if I had a better memory and wasn't interrupted every few pages by real life.
Kelric, space fighter and heir to the Imperialite Empire is forced to crash land on the planet Coba when his craft malfunctions. Coba is a planet who has escaped the rule, bloodshed, war and politics of Kelric's world and intends to keep things that way. Their world is ruled by women who exist peacefully through a 3D dice game called Quis that is much more than a simple game. It's the framework that they've built everything on. The better a Quis player, the more power the ruler has. The women who rule the planet immediately sense the danger Kelric presents if word ever gets out about their planet so they immediately destroy his ship and thwart all chances of his escape.
Kelric, being very easy on the eyes is quickly sought after by the ruler of the land he crashes on. It turns out that he is a genius at their game of Quis making him an even more valuable asset to her land. She makes him her "Akasi" their term for husband(s) of the highest ranking woman - and, yes, the rulers can have more than one. It's not long before all of the various rulers of the planet want to make him their own "Akasi." The more he raises in rank the more valuable he becomes. But as much he wants to avoid it, because he's become content with their peaceful way of life, his knowledge of war starts to "infect" their Quis and their world will never, ever be the same.
That's a barebones sketch of this involving story but I don't want to give it all away. I hope it's enough to whet your appetite for more because this is a great story. The reverse sexism was at times funny and at others, especially after I got to know the characters, very painful. The main characters are people you grow to care about. Sensitive and caring Kelric is mistreated and the book is often very sad but he does find love a few times, true love once and experiences so much heartache by the book's end that the reader is put through an emotional wringer. The cast of secondary characters is huge and occasionally was a little overwhelming for me. I found myself going back a few times to figure out who someone was. But I doubt this would've been a problem if I had a better memory and wasn't interrupted every few pages by real life.
brucefarrar's review
4.0
Spinning out of control at superluminal speed wounded warrior Kelricson Garlin Valdoria kya Skolia desperately tries to regain control of his spacecraft. The best he can do is to force an emergency crash-landing on the restricted planet Coba. It’s been restricted by the powerful Skolian Empire at the request of the planet’s ruling matriarchy, who do not want imperial cultural contamination. He survives the crash, but is imprisoned by his rescuers, the manager of Dahl, one of the great estates and Ixpar, successor to the planet’s ruler. The restriction specifies no interaction between natives and imperial citizens. Keleric should be taken immediately to the imperial spaceport, but he will die before they can get him there. And they do not want to deliver a corpse to the Empire, especially the corpse of a member of the imperial family.
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