Rating: 
Summary: This series and this novel is terrific
Review: The rivalry between the two great intersteller empires (the Skoalian Empire and the Traders Empire) remains ugly. However, as nasty as that competition for control of the galaxy might be, it cannot stop the love between the Skoalian heir Sauscony and her spouse, Trader Heir Jaibriol. Still, the pair are forced to go into hiding in order to stay together.However, their idyllic world abruptly changes when Jaibriol's father dies and his widow abducts the heir to use as her front while she rules the Highland Aristos segment of the Traders Empire. Somehow Sauscony and their children must rescue her beloved husband from his own people while leaving everyone clueless about their true relationship. THE RADIANT SEAS is a radiant speculative fiction that picks up the action from the well written PRIMARY INVERSION. At first glimpse the story line that mirrors "Romeo and Juliet" in outer space might seem light years far fetched, but in the capable hands of Catherine Asaro, the plot turns into a non-stop, interstellar thriller. The universe feels real due to the depth of background material and the characters, especially the two heirs, feel genuine. Ms. Asaro has sky-rocketed towards the inner sanctum of the great sub-genre writers. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: That which love survives makes us strong.
Review: The scene in which Soz returns from exile to wreck her revenge on the Trader empire HAS to be made into a movie. Half throwback to the Ruby empresses, half cyborg war machine; Soz is totally human and (hard to believe) a strong woman that loves men! Love doesn't conquer all; Soz conquers all in the name of love! Believable science: we are all familiar with particle beams; only Asaro tells how they are created. Everyone has FLT, Asaro uses her own theory (as published in a journal of physics) to bend space. Psi WITH an organic explanation! Oh, and space battles with microsecond timing and lots of explosions. Romance that doesn't make you barf and hard SF that works. If there is a New Renaissance coming, it follows on Asaro's heels.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Science, Boring Story
Review: This was especially disappointing after THE LAST HAWK, which featured interesting science and history and culture building and characters. In this book, too many of the gorgeous characters (and everyone is simply gorgeous)tell each other what they already know. It's too scattered, too paint-by-numbers, right down to the bad, bold, beautiful Empress. At least we didn't have to see HER torture sessions or kinky sex. Nobody had any personality, not even Soz, who was so engaging in the first book. I hope Asaro's next is a linear tale, a form she does best.
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