Rating: 
Summary: Asaro's Second Book = Big Disappointment
Review: Last week I picked up the first two novels in Catherine Asaro's Ruby Dynasty/Skolian Empire series -- PRIMARY INVERSIONS because I wanted to try the series; CATCH THE LIGHTNING because it was used (and thus cheap).After finishing PRIMARY INVERSIONS I was ready to go back to the store and pick up the rest of the series. Great stuff. A hard SF foundation for some first rate space opera, coupled with strong characterization and some really nice romance elements. There were some weak points, but the book left a great impression and, as a first novel, it showed great promise. Then I started reading CATCH THE LIGHTNING. And it's major let-down. The hard SF has been flushed for an *incredibly* stupid alternate universe tale. (Claiming that Jesus Christ could be born 340 years later without any noticeable alteration to world history or, for that matter, Christianity pretty much destroys any credibility Asaro has.) Remnants of the strong characterization are still there (notably in the main characters), but most of the cast is largely populated by cliches and stereotypes. And the romance elements have literally become explicit, softcore porn. (When you're describing condoms being put on, erections, hands on balls, nipples being caressed, and penetration it's softcore porn.) In short: If you haven't read Asaro before and are looking to give her a try, this isn't the book you want to try. Pick up PRIAMRY INVERSION instead. If you've read PRIMARY INVERSION and are looking forward to more of the same, then CATCH THE LIGHTNING is going to be a huge disappointment. I'd skip it, and move on to Asaro's later books.
Rating: 
Summary: Delightfully sexy romp through a grad level physics book.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely stunning!
Review: This book held me in awe from start to finish. Ms. Asaro's characters are extremely well-developed, the plot is consistant, and the culmination leaves no loose ends! I picked this novel up from the library and I couldn't put it down. I completed it in three hours that day! Tina is a charming girl, you will love her the minute you "meet" her. And how could anyone resist Althor's spell? He is so very sensuous and captivating. This book is a must read for any SF fan! You won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Beginning with the ending
Review: This was the first book I read by Catherine Asaro and I was hooked on the Skolian Series. It is hard to explain when this takes place because it has has time travel. It begins in the past ends up in a distant the future. Chronologically, it is toward the end of her Skolian Series so I had to go back and read the other books to learn more about the beginning and the other characters. This book is a lightweight start. I think it was one of the first she wrote, the stories get richer and more complex in her later novels. Catch the Lightning begins on Earth and reads familar. The universe of the Skolians slowly unfolds to draw you in. It is a love story, and it has some very sexy parts. But again, the story unfolds, so before you know it you believe in the lovers and accept they are destined to be together. It is also a story about family and responsibility. I recommend it if you are getting bored with hard sci-fi and want to try something soft that still challenges your definition of the universe. This book should have been more popular.
Rating:
Summary: Beginning with the ending
Review: This was the first book I read by Catherine Asaro and I was hooked on the Skolian Series. It is hard to explain when this takes place because it has has time travel. It begins in the past ends up in a distant the future. Chronologically, it is toward the end of her Skolian Series so I had to go back and read the other books to learn more about the beginning and the other characters. This book is a lightweight start. I think it was one of the first she wrote, the stories get richer and more complex in her later novels. Catch the Lightning begins on Earth and reads familar. The universe of the Skolians slowly unfolds to draw you in. It is a love story, and it has some very sexy parts. But again, the story unfolds, so before you know it you believe in the lovers and accept they are destined to be together. It is also a story about family and responsibility. I recommend it if you are getting bored with hard sci-fi and want to try something soft that still challenges your definition of the universe. This book should have been more popular.
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