Rating: 
Summary: Enthralling!
Review: Kamoj Argali is a young ruler, engaged to marry a brutal man who has the ability to help her impoverished people. Then a stranger arrives and changes everything. Vyrl doesn't understand the complexities of this planet, he doesn't understand what his proposal to Kamoj will mean. He's a tortured soul, she's a woman caught in the center of a drama she didn't make. Together they may just be able to save not just her people...but his. And maybe they can find something more than an alliance, maybe they'll find love?Catherine Asaro blends science fiction and romance into a story that will delight and enthrall the lovers of both genres!
Rating:
Summary: Enthralling!
Review: Kamoj Argali is a young ruler, engaged to marry a brutal man who has the ability to help her impoverished people. Then a stranger arrives and changes everything. Vyrl doesn't understand the complexities of this planet, he doesn't understand what his proposal to Kamoj will mean. He's a tortured soul, she's a woman caught in the center of a drama she didn't make. Together they may just be able to save not just her people...but his. And maybe they can find something more than an alliance, maybe they'll find love? Catherine Asaro blends science fiction and romance into a story that will delight and enthrall the lovers of both genres!
Rating:
Summary: Anoyther winner in this sf romance series
Review: On a poor primitive planet, Governor Kamoj Quanta Argali of the Argali Province worries about the well being of her people. She begins to think that the only way to help them is for her to marry her newest tenant, the strange Havryl Lionstar, who has taken up residence in the old castle. Still, she wonders what Havryl's agenda truly is. He looks physically different and more imposing than anyone she ever met. His behavior is at odds with his apparent role as a leader. Still, somehow he and his cronies have somehow restored the ancient technology that none of Kamoj's people know how to use. As Kamoj thinks of marrying the enigmatic Havryl, she begins to think he wants to control all of Argali. Yet he acts as a person forced to behave the way he does. Who is this weirdo and why is she falling in love with him? Readers of speculative fiction and futuristic romance will relish THE QUANTUM ROSE. The entertaining story line is filled with action, complex and enjoyable questions about the lead male character, and a well designed who-done-it. Kamoj is also an intriguing protagonist. However, what makes Catherine Asaro's novel worth buying is the fully descriptive universe that feels so genuine, the audience will feel they are there. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Thought provoking
Review: Quantum Rose is more than simply a science fiction romance. Asaro devotes considerable time to issues of physical/sexual abuse, gender expectations, societal change in response to rapid introduction of advanced technology, and the responsiblity that those in positions of power owe their constituents. When Analog serialized the first half of QR last year, depictions of the heroine's abuse (physical and later sexual) by her originally intended caused quite a stir. Rape is a motif that Asaro returns to repeatedly: Soz in "Primary Inversion", Tina in "CTL", and Kelric (too many times to list here). But here it is presented graphically, not as an isolated incident, but in conjunction with brutal physical mistreatment. Long-term abuse is an issue that we tend to down-play because it makes us uncomfortable. Too often we blame the victim rather than the abuser. It is to Asaro's credit that she forces us to look at the ramifications of such behavior for the victim. Both the hero and heroine serve their respective peoples by acts of extreme self-sacrifice necessitated by desperate situations. Asaro tackles the question of, "When is enough enough?" She also explores gender expectations and how differing worldviews lead to conflict between cultures. She does this much more subtley than she did in "The Last Hawk". The romance between hero and heroine is intense and satisfying. There is far less sex than in "Ascendant Sun" and "The Last Hawk", and it is portrayed much less graphically. The heroine's planet is believable, although the author should have paid more attention to language and naming practices. If the base language descended from Tzotzil Mayan, then it's unlikely that names would be contractions of English terms (like Lyode from light emitting diode). The book ends happily insofar as the major problems (you'll have to read the book) are satisfactorily resolved on the hero's home planet. There's a positive spin on introduction of superior technology. I found sections towards the end a bit sterotypical (reminiscent of Oz, actually) and far-fetched. If you've read the other Skolian novels and were curious about the non-military members of the family, this book is your opportunity to meet them. All in all, it's a fine book, very readable, unsettling at times, and definitely thought-provoking.
Rating: 
Summary: May be upsetting to sensitive readers
Review: Thank you Catherine Asaro for breaking my doldrums in fiction reading. I've been deploring the scarcity of good novels in the romance genre and many books in the sci-fi-fantasy genre are just too weird to work as an alternate genre. Thankfully, this isn't weird. I also loved Asaro's "Veiled Web" which was not a Skolian Empire book. This one is a Skolian book and it is my first of those. That I am reading them out of order seems to make no difference. Asaro grabs me right from the beginning by introducing me to the heroine, who seems to be right out of a medieval novel and consigned to living in a culture that is that primitive. But lo and behold, she lives in the future and the man who rents a palace from her on her world is from an advanced culture that's knowledge is way ahead of where we are now. She marries this man in an arranged marriage, breaking her engagement to another who will give this couple lots of problems. Just one contrast between the two characters' worlds is that the medical treatment she is used to receiving is that of a medieval herbalist whereas the medical treatment he receives, from the doctor stationed with him, involves his skin regenerating over a wound in hours. Her culture is also very passive and seems on its way to extinction which his is not. Asaro's knowledge and training (PhD in hard science) pay off here big time as she can write very well layered fiction yet she is also able to pack emotion into page after page, something often missing from a male sci-fi author's work. A friend told me this just won the Nebula award and I'm not surprised. I am not a science person and she did not lose me with the science in her novel. There are many plot twists along the way but at heart this story never departs from being a love story about the two lead characters. I'm happy with that.
Rating:
Summary: Boy, Did This Break My Fiction Doldrums!
Review: Thank you Catherine Asaro for breaking my doldrums in fiction reading. I've been deploring the scarcity of good novels in the romance genre and many books in the sci-fi-fantasy genre are just too weird to work as an alternate genre. Thankfully, this isn't weird. I also loved Asaro's "Veiled Web" which was not a Skolian Empire book. This one is a Skolian book and it is my first of those. That I am reading them out of order seems to make no difference. Asaro grabs me right from the beginning by introducing me to the heroine, who seems to be right out of a medieval novel and consigned to living in a culture that is that primitive. But lo and behold, she lives in the future and the man who rents a palace from her on her world is from an advanced culture that's knowledge is way ahead of where we are now. She marries this man in an arranged marriage, breaking her engagement to another who will give this couple lots of problems. Just one contrast between the two characters' worlds is that the medical treatment she is used to receiving is that of a medieval herbalist whereas the medical treatment he receives, from the doctor stationed with him, involves his skin regenerating over a wound in hours. Her culture is also very passive and seems on its way to extinction which his is not. Asaro's knowledge and training (PhD in hard science) pay off here big time as she can write very well layered fiction yet she is also able to pack emotion into page after page, something often missing from a male sci-fi author's work. A friend told me this just won the Nebula award and I'm not surprised. I am not a science person and she did not lose me with the science in her novel. There are many plot twists along the way but at heart this story never departs from being a love story about the two lead characters. I'm happy with that.
Rating:
Summary: World-building aspects most interesting, good love story
Review: The young ruler (Kamoj) of a desperately poor province is forced by societal traditions to marry a mysterious stranger (Vryl), who - we soon discover - is stranger than anyone on the planet thought. Those who want feisty heroines will probably not find this romance satisfactory, because the heroine is relatively passive at the beginning until she rebels against social conventions - way into the book. There is a villain, who is rather interesting - in that his genetics and biology is of great interest to those who are reading the entire Asaro output. Vryl is a "tortured hero" in that he has had an experience well deserving nightmares and his current addiction. But he is a nice man, as Kamoj discovers. Be warned - the love story is more complex than it appears. You have to understand the political and economic structure of her world and the Skolians to realize what is going on. It took me two reads to understand this myself. Romance readers might find the political stuff (not to mention the science fiction aspects) off-putting. Science fiction might find the romantic stuff wishy-washy. Those who enjoy less hardcore science fiction will probably like this the most. The cover art by Julie Bell is a different matter - simply not accurately depicting the hero and heroine, IMHO. I sincerely hope that they have a different cover for the paperback edition.
Rating:
Summary: Memorable
Review: This is a thoughtful, quiet story that stays with you long after finishing. I always look forward to this author's special way with words, a way of writing that is lyrical, visual, and nonintrusive, and she didn't disappoint here. Quantum Rose is both a love story and a science fiction novel and works supremely well as both. I highly recommend it, as well as the rest of the Skolian Empire books.
Rating:
Summary: Another novel in the Skolian Empire--that you may have seen
Review: This is, in fact, an already published novel of Ms. Asaro's, serialized in Analog last year. With that said in mind, I do not want to spoil the novel overmuch, but this is, in fact, another science fiction/romance that Ms. Asaro is turning out rather well these days. I admit that her Primary Inversion was the first novel I have ever read that could be considered romance, and then devoured the next two novels in her Skolian Empire milieu. I then read this when it was serialized in Analog last year. Her strengths of characterization of female characters, excellent world building and intriguing situations are all present in the Quantum Rose. You will fall in love with Kamoj and Vyrl's story and perhaps even sympathize with Jax, the man who believes that Kamoj is his by right. The Skolian novels can be read in any order and the Quantum Rose particularly can be read out of sequence with the planet-hopping novels. You can certainly do worse than to start here if you have not sampled Ms. Asaro's work...and if you already have, you probably don't need this review to convince you to pick this one up too.
Rating:
Summary: Could Be Better--But eventually I liked it
Review: This was given to me as a birthday present by my best friend and after I read the first couple of pages I called her to say, "What did you give me!" But she wasn't home and I read a little more and I did get into and enjoy it. The weakest parts of the book are the first few pages and the chapters on Havyrl's home world of Lyshriol. Asaro spent way, way too much time describing Kamoj's home planet's vegetation--from her point of view. Later on you realize that Kamoj's perception of color is most likely different from human normal because she has genetically altered vision that gives her feline pupils and night-vision. So, what does her world look like to Havyrl? And all these colors every where are described as these bright, lovely, fairyland colors like the land of Oz--I would have liked something more low-key and incidental throughout the story rather than whole pages describing to "turquoise tubemoss" and the like. Havyrl's home world of Lyshriol is described as a sort of happy, happy neverland complete with glitter bubbles springing up from the vegetation as people disturb it. Charming, but after a while, pretty silly, as literally thousands of people are on the march kicking up bubbles. All the references to language history were difficult to follow and did not contribute to any sense of otherness. "Argali" means "rose", while "quanta" means "quantum"--yet both are supposedly from the same ancient non-English roots? I don't think so. If a writer is going to refer to other languages, it must be done convincingly and with greater skill--otherwise forget it. I liked the romance, I liked the love triangle, the characters, and I enjoyed the world-building as I began to understand the setting. I immediately found and read _Primary Inversion_, Asaro's first novel in the series and I was very impressed with it and I just wish _The Quantum Rose_ had been as well written. I do plan to read the other books in the series now.
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