Spherical Harmonic - Catherine Asaro Book Review

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Review Summary

Tor, Jan 2002, 27.95, 428 pp.
ISBN: 031289063X

    Though both sides claim victory, the interstellar war devastated the Skolians and the Aristo Traders. Pharaoh of the Ruby Dynasty, Dyhianna Selei, obtains a fragile peace with the nefarious Aristo Traders, but both entities know that hostilities will continue anyway.

    Dyhianna learns first hand that the “cold war” remains hot as she surfaces on a humanoid planet after making a desperate leap to escape her enemies' effort to kill her and her family. Her foes pursue Dyhianna, but she is rescued by a Skolian battle cruiser, only to learn that her invention the psychic-Internet no longer exists and that the Aristos haves captured her husband, Prince Eldrin. A desperate Dyhianna knows that Eldrin's psychic abilities accompanied by the ancient Lock the enemy controls will give the edge to the Aristos. She turns to her former spouse and his special kids on Earth as a last resort to stop the Aristo Traders from conquering her people.

    SPHERICAL HARMONIC, the seventh Skolian tale is an engaging outer space novel that will excite fans of the series. The story line hops around the galaxy faster than the speed of light, but that is a two edged light saber as the action never stops, but the subplots do not fully mesh. Catherine Asaro's audience will enjoy this novel because it is fun to watch the wonderful gender bender heroine struggle to save her people at what might cost her the lives of her family.

Harriet Klausner

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar

Detailed literary breakdown of Spherical Harmonic

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 20%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20%

FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Spying & Investigations Yes
What is main char. doing? - finding a killer (criminal) - unraveling a conspiracy - finding a spy/saboteur
Mental/magical powers focus Yes
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Profession/status: - champion of justice
Age: - 20's-30's
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - an entire race
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount

Setting
Spaceship setting: - futuristic human warship
A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body: - humans in a futuristic society
Planet outside solar system? Yes
Takes place in spaceship? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
scientific jargon? (SF only) - a fair amount of scientific explanation
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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