Rating: 
Summary: A good sequel to LAST HAWK
Review: My favorite of Catherine Asaro's books is still THE LAST HAWK. There, the blend of worldbuilding, character development, social commentary, nifty science, and romance seemed a perfect balance.I did not enjoy this one as much, partly because of one of the problems I noticed in some of the others: the almost claustrophobic focus on personal or sexual relations by these people who are supposedly in charge of galaxy-spanning governments. When Kelric doesn't make the effort to hear a crucially important broadcast, I felt as if I were reading a romance novel, in which greater events are totally in a vacuum and all that matters is the emotional status of the protagonist. Subsequent thought makes me realize that I might be expecting another type of tale than Asaro is writing. These are not really space operas, these are science fictional romances. When viewed so, the lack of political ramifications for all that power, the few glimpses of the ordinary folk who are ruled by all these brilliantly beautiful power symbols, no longer matter. These are romances, with great science trappings; Asaro never disappoints with her nifty physics. The one other blip on my radar was Kelric's supposed insight about empaths: that emotional feeback occurs. Duh. Why aren't the high Kyle- rated offspring taught so obvious a lesson? But that's a minor quibble. Far more of interest was the ambivalence of the Aristos we meet. In this book, there are few of those tiresome Totally Evial Aristos who spend pages and pages torturing hapless protags. We get fascinating glimpses into their cultural mindset, into the lacunae of their mental development and its ramifications, and their own struggles with their culture. Hurrah! I hope there will be lots more of this when the new Jabriol gets his reign going. Another cause for applause: Kelric's role reversals as the 'kept man'. Asaro turned lots of our own cultural assumptions upside down in THE LAST HAWK (and without the strident ranting that makes Sherri Tepper, for example, so hard to read), and she develops that theme here.
Rating: 
Summary: I agree with Ms. Glover
Review: This book almost seems to be something Ms. Asaro wrote to fill in some blanks for herself before moving on with the greater narrative of the Skolian Empire. Unfortunately, I found the secondary characters to be more interesting, particularly Jay Rockworth, than the main character of Kelric Valdoria. They seemed to have more hidden tidbits --- Kelric seemed to be mostly about sex and good looks and not wanting to be wherever he was. That gets a little boring after awhile. If I'm looking for sex, I'll read a Regency -- I previously enjoyed the Skolian Empire books because of the multi-faceted characters and novel approach to science fiction they offered. This book didn't offer much of either. What I really want now is a book about Tarquine and/or Jaibriol III. This is definitely not the book for a new reader to this series to read -- start with Primary Inversion or The Last Hawk. They were both excellent books. I'll give the next one a shot -- but it had better be a much, much more dynamic story or Ms. Asaro will have lost one reader.
Rating:
Summary: Read "the Last Hawk" first...
Review: This book is a direct sequal to the "last Hawk" by this author, and it is highly reccomended that you read that title first, before attempting this book. Otherwise, you'll probably be totally lost to references such as "quis","coba" and "Ixpar". In this book the Hero, Kelric is in bad shape when he finally escapes the planet Coba. He's also 18 years out of date and totally bewildered when he gets back into Skolian space only to find that the empire, to which he is heir, is effectively gone. This is a full on space opera - with one event straight after the next, which (almost) suitably leaves Kelric exhusted. Unfotunatley, not exhaused enough. At times I felt like I was reading Kelric's-sexual-conquest-of-known-Eubian-space. He was like James Bond, a girl in every port, not to mention every space ship. Still, despite this, it's an enjoyable novel that also feeds into "radiant seas" and is obviously a set up for (hopefully) a third book with maybe Kelric as the main character to "finish" his story.
Rating:
Summary: Read "the Last Hawk" first...
Review: This book is a direct sequal to the "last Hawk" by this author, and it is highly reccomended that you read that title first, before attempting this book. Otherwise, you'll probably be totally lost to references such as "quis","coba" and "Ixpar". In this book the Hero, Kelric is in bad shape when he finally escapes the planet Coba. He's also 18 years out of date and totally bewildered when he gets back into Skolian space only to find that the empire, to which he is heir, is effectively gone. This is a full on space opera - with one event straight after the next, which (almost) suitably leaves Kelric exhusted. Unfotunatley, not exhaused enough. At times I felt like I was reading Kelric's-sexual-conquest-of-known-Eubian-space. He was like James Bond, a girl in every port, not to mention every space ship. Still, despite this, it's an enjoyable novel that also feeds into "radiant seas" and is obviously a set up for (hopefully) a third book with maybe Kelric as the main character to "finish" his story.
Rating: 
Summary: Dr. Asaro prepares the stage for an epic sequel
Review: While Ascendant Sun concludes a handful of plotlines from The Last Hawk and Radiant Seas, it evolves the Skolian/Eubian/Allied politcal atmosphere into a scenario of both hope and potential disaster. Since the novel's plot begins where The Radiant Seas and The Last Hawk left off, Ruby Dynasty fans will find Ascendant Sun an important link in an ever growing plot. Because the protagonist enters an unfamiliar environment, new fans will be able to learn about recent events through his eyes. After reading the Quantum Rose, I thought this novel would cover the complete stretch of time between The Radiant Seas and Vyrl's story. Instead, the novel's focus revolves around Kelric and his immediate events. Unfortunately we only get a glimpse of Jaibriol III's, or Dehya's stories. Ascendant Sun implies major events are happening with both characters, but these moments remain to be told. The book focuses heavily on Kelric's sex life instead. I don't like Kelric's unwavering determination, and brashness, which compliments Jai's reserved and mature personality. This novel also introduces Tarquine, a complex and brilliant character who gives us a new view on Aristo life. Ascendant Sun left me wanting more. Catherine Asaro's stories weave together in a fashion similar to her characters' family tree. Her timeline lists a story called Spherical Harmonic which I assume revolves around Dehya and psiberspace. With this story and the second half of Quantum Rose, I wonder if we will hear Jai's tale.
Rating:
Summary: Asaro at the top of her game
Review: _Ascendant Sun_, another in Catherine Asaro's "Skolian Empire" series, features Kelric (who was freed from his captivity on the female-dominated Coba at the end of _The Last Hawk_) and now finds himself heir apparent to the Skolian Empire. The trouble is, everybody thinks he's dead, and his "jagernaut" biological enhancements are failing. But of course, he seeks to regain power, although turns out to be yet another of Asaro's reluctant heroes (they always do what they have to do but they're seldom happy about having to do it) as he tries to pick up the pieces left by the destruction of the radiance war (told in _The Radiant Seas_). Asaro writes like an outfielder who makes catching fly balls seem easy. About three-fourths of the way through the novel, Kelric seems to have completed one part of his quest when, at the end of a chapter he apparently stares into the face of his enemy (how _did_ he get there??!!). A sentence later, at the beginning of the next chapter, he thinks otherwise, and then discovers the truth--which turns out to be the key to the whole novel. Asaro does all this in half a page. Half a page! The whole novel is filled with the same kind of faultless, seemingly effortless technique--you'll find in it good science, good sex, good adventure, and sassy AI's, to say nothing of good old plot, character, and action. Like all the books in the series _Sun_ has an electric charge to it. This is what science fiction should be and seldom is any more. Grab it.
Rating:
Summary: Asaro at the top of her game
Review: _Ascendant Sun_, another in Catherine Asaro's "Skolian Empire" series, features Kelric (who was freed from his captivity on the female-dominated Coba at the end of _The Last Hawk_) and now finds himself heir apparent to the Skolian Empire. The trouble is, everybody thinks he's dead, and his "jagernaut" biological enhancements are failing. But of course, he seeks to regain power, although turns out to be yet another of Asaro's reluctant heroes (they always do what they have to do but they're seldom happy about having to do it) as he tries to pick up the pieces left by the destruction of the radiance war (told in _The Radiant Seas_). Asaro writes like an outfielder who makes catching fly balls seem easy. About three-fourths of the way through the novel, Kelric seems to have completed one part of his quest when, at the end of a chapter he apparently stares into the face of his enemy (how _did_ he get there??!!). A sentence later, at the beginning of the next chapter, he thinks otherwise, and then discovers the truth--which turns out to be the key to the whole novel. Asaro does all this in half a page. Half a page! The whole novel is filled with the same kind of faultless, seemingly effortless technique--you'll find in it good science, good sex, good adventure, and sassy AI's, to say nothing of good old plot, character, and action. Like all the books in the series _Sun_ has an electric charge to it. This is what science fiction should be and seldom is any more. Grab it.
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