Praised for PRIMARY INVERSION and CATCH THE LIGHTNING, the first two novels in her Skolian empire saga, Catherine Asaro now tells the story of a seasoned fighter pilot, whose disabled spacecraft crash-lands on a proscribed world ruled by women. It takes him years of pain and pleasure, love and learning, to escape, for this world changes him and so changes the future of the galactic empire .
**
From Library Journal
In 2258 A.D., Kelric, a fighter pilot, crashes on Coba, an off-limits planet. He discovers a thriving civilization headed by women managers of 12 estates who want to keep their world hidden and free of domination by the Skolian empire. Choosing to spare his life, they detain Kelric as both honored concubine and prisoner for 20 years. As he is traded or sold to different estates, his knowledge of the physics-based quis dice game that governs Coba increases his value and power. Set in the same universe as Primary Inversion (LJ 2/15/95) and Catch the Lightning (LJ 11/15/96), this intriguing novel combines hard speculative science (Asaro is a physicist) with romantic adventure. Like the other two novels in the Skolian empire saga, it can stand alone. Recommended for larger sf collections.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The Last Hawk is Catherine Asaro's third novel of the Skolian Empire, an interstellar civilization spanning hundreds of worlds and thousands of years. Each book approaches the Empire and a member of the ruling family from a different angle, or at a different moment in future history. Now, in The Last Hawk, Asaro tells the tale of the lost heir to the Empire. Fleeing the heat of battle in a wounded spacecraft, Kelric crash-lands on a proscribed planet where a matriarchy rules through the medium of a complex game. The women in power help to heal him, but destroy his ship and determine that he can never leave - for his knowledge of their world, if revealed to the Empire, would cause the rapid fall of their civilization. And so his rescue turns into an imprisonment of years, decades, a time in which he finds love and a challenging place in the universal game.
Description:
Praised for PRIMARY INVERSION and CATCH THE LIGHTNING, the first two novels in her Skolian empire saga, Catherine Asaro now tells the story of a seasoned fighter pilot, whose disabled spacecraft crash-lands on a proscribed world ruled by women. It takes him years of pain and pleasure, love and learning, to escape, for this world changes him and so changes the future of the galactic empire .
**
From Library Journal
In 2258 A.D., Kelric, a fighter pilot, crashes on Coba, an off-limits planet. He discovers a thriving civilization headed by women managers of 12 estates who want to keep their world hidden and free of domination by the Skolian empire. Choosing to spare his life, they detain Kelric as both honored concubine and prisoner for 20 years. As he is traded or sold to different estates, his knowledge of the physics-based quis dice game that governs Coba increases his value and power. Set in the same universe as Primary Inversion (LJ 2/15/95) and Catch the Lightning (LJ 11/15/96), this intriguing novel combines hard speculative science (Asaro is a physicist) with romantic adventure. Like the other two novels in the Skolian empire saga, it can stand alone. Recommended for larger sf collections.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Another yarn set in Asaro's far-future Skolian Empire (Catch the Lightning, 1996, etc.). This time, Jagernaut Kelric Valdoria, the Emperor Kurj's half-brother, is attacked and disabled by Traders; he crash-lands on Coba, a planet run by women and protected by treaty from imperial incursions. For various reasons (not least because she falls in love with him), Coban Manager Jeha Dahl is reluctant to turn Kelric over to the Skolians. Independently intelligible but likely to appeal most to existing fans. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
The Last Hawk is Catherine Asaro's third novel of the Skolian Empire, an interstellar civilization spanning hundreds of worlds and thousands of years. Each book approaches the Empire and a member of the ruling family from a different angle, or at a different moment in future history. Now, in The Last Hawk, Asaro tells the tale of the lost heir to the Empire. Fleeing the heat of battle in a wounded spacecraft, Kelric crash-lands on a proscribed planet where a matriarchy rules through the medium of a complex game. The women in power help to heal him, but destroy his ship and determine that he can never leave - for his knowledge of their world, if revealed to the Empire, would cause the rapid fall of their civilization. And so his rescue turns into an imprisonment of years, decades, a time in which he finds love and a challenging place in the universal game.