The Inside Scoop on Gaming

It's very unusual for me to read successively four novels by the same author. Catherine Asaro's *The Radiant Seas* is the fourth novel in "The Saga of the Skolian Empire," and first series have I read "straight through" since encountering Tolkien and Moorcock in the 1970's.

Perhaps this is no accident, since Asaro's characters have names like Kelric. (Indeed, fans of the *Everway* RPG will appreciate Asaro's art with names.) If you like your space opera sprinkled with allusions to the canon of SF/F, you will love this series. If you are a fan of Star Trek, or an SF roleplayer looking for an original setting in which to set a "dynastic roleplaying" game, you will be delighted by the series.

Although the novels in the saga are linked, they are quite self-contained and can be read in any order. That being said, the reading experience will be much richer if they *are* read in order, because although the stories were not published in chronological order, historical nuances unfold in meaningful ways as the novels progress. (It also helps not to flip through the books. I accidentally opened *The Radiant Seas* to a page with a major spoiler.)

Asaro's first Skolian Empire novel -- *Primary Inversion* -- tells what happens when two empires meet. Jabirol II, heir to the Trader Empire, falls in love with Sauscony Valdoria, a Jagernaut (a starfighter pilot who is both psion and cyborg) and soon-to-be heir of the Skolian Empire.

The novel borrows some riffs from the original Star Trek series, from Kirk/Spock slash fan fiction, as well as from the bondage-oriented 1970's Gen/Sime novels. The Skolian Empire is a human empire dependent on psions. The Skolian Assembly rules the Empire, which can be described as an authoritarian democracy. Psions of the ruling family -- the Rhon -- are direct descendents of the ancient Ruby Dynasty, and as such have the greatest concentration of the genes leading to telepathy. Psions' abilities are enhanced through the Skolian Web, a matrix that combines ancient Ruby Dynasty psi-technology with matrix cybertechnology, resulting in a realtime interstellar psyberspace communications network -- a major military advantage the Skolian Empire holds over the Traders.

So we have a Skolian Assembly, a Skolian Web, and ... a military leader named Kurj (who sleeps with a different young woman each week, or so it seems). Does any of this seem familiar?

How about the enemy? The Trader empire is ruled by another dynasty, the Qox. The Trader "nobility" are also psions, though of a twisted sort. The Trader elite were the victims of genetic manipulation to create a super soldier: they experience pain (especially pain projected by empaths) as pleasure. This has led to the development of a culture based on slavery and sadism. The psion slaves are called *providers*, another Star Trek reference (to "The Gamemasters of Triskelion").

The Trader empire thus presents a grave threat to free psions, and to none moreso than to the Rhon rulers of the Skolian Empire. So you can only imagine the consequences of an encounter between Jabriol II and Sauscony.

The second novel in the series -- *Catch the Lightning* -- constructs an astute pastiche of the "Mary Jane" (wish fulfillment) tradition in Star Trek fan fiction. Tina Pulivok, an adolescent Mexican Indian girl living in California, is rescued by and rescues Althor Selei, a fallen starfighter pilot and prince of the Ruby Dynasty.

Of Asaro's first three novels, it's the third -- *The Last Hawk* -- that I appreciate the most. It's a retelling of The Illiad, set on a planet whose warriors and rulers are the female descendants of the ancient interstellar empire of the Ruby Dynasty. When Rhon Jagernaut Kelric crashes on this woman-dominated planet, he is promptly placed in a Calanya (a male harem) and learns a complex dice game comparable to the glass-bead game of Herman Hesse's Magister Ludi. Cut off from the Skolian Web, Kelric learns that the dice game is itself a kind of matrix used to analyze political conflicts.

*The Last Hawk* is really a novel about simulations gaming, and develops many parallels to gaming in our own world: e.g., cloistered androcentric cultures ("harems," as it were, of male social-isolates) built around the conventions and cultures associated with various contemporary collectible dice and card games. Men who don't fight, but play. Nobody say "ouch!"

Which brings us to the fourth novel in the series. *The Radiant Seas* is the most "operatic" novel in the saga, centering on the "return" of Sauscony Valdoria, and upon an all-out war between the Trader and Skolian Empires. Imperator Kurj of Skolia is the center of the first half of the novel; we finally get to see the human side of this harsh figure. Sacrifice is one of the major themes of the novel. I won't soon forget the sacrifices of Althor Izam-Na and Admiral Starjack Tahota. Or that of Jabriol III.

*The Radiant Seas* raises interesting questions about who wins in "wars" -- the kind of questions we don't see enough of in space opera, or roleplaying.

What's missing in the series? The only thing I would like to see more of are gay and lesbian characters. So far, we know of one starfighter pilot who is a lesbian (Helda in *Primary Inversion*), and one Rhon who is presumably bisexual (Althor Izam-Na). (In the later case, we don't even find out what happened to his companion, Coop!) Since Asaro is deeply invested in the love lives of her heterosexual characters, she should develop her gay and lesbian characters, making the same investment of telling the story of their lives and same-sex loves. After all, this is the future!

It's my hope that SF gamers will read the Skolia novels, and that some will use this rich setting for operatic roleplaying.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

The Radiant Seas
Author: Catherine Asaro Category: Novel Company/Publisher: Tor Line: The Saga of the Skolian Empire Cost: $26.95 Page count: 459 pp. ISBN: 0-312-86714-X Capsule Review by John Everett Till on 08/28/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction Far_Future Space	It's very unusual for me to read successively four novels by the same author. Catherine Asaro's The Radiant Seas is the fourth novel in "The Saga of the Skolian Empire," and first series have I read "straight through" since encountering Tolkien and Moorcock in the 1970's. Perhaps this is no accident, since Asaro's characters have names like Kelric. (Indeed, fans of the Everway RPG will appreciate Asaro's art with names.) If you like your space opera sprinkled with allusions to the canon of SF/F, you will love this series. If you are a fan of Star Trek, or an SF roleplayer looking for an original setting in which to set a "dynastic roleplaying" game, you will be delighted by the series. Although the novels in the saga are linked, they are quite self-contained and can be read in any order. That being said, the reading experience will be much richer if they are read in order, because although the stories were not published in chronological order, historical nuances unfold in meaningful ways as the novels progress. (It also helps not to flip through the books. I accidentally opened The Radiant Seas to a page with a major spoiler.) Asaro's first Skolian Empire novel -- Primary Inversion -- tells what happens when two empires meet. Jabirol II, heir to the Trader Empire, falls in love with Sauscony Valdoria, a Jagernaut (a starfighter pilot who is both psion and cyborg) and soon-to-be heir of the Skolian Empire. The novel borrows some riffs from the original Star Trek series, from Kirk/Spock slash fan fiction, as well as from the bondage-oriented 1970's Gen/Sime novels. The Skolian Empire is a human empire dependent on psions. The Skolian Assembly rules the Empire, which can be described as an authoritarian democracy. Psions of the ruling family -- the Rhon -- are direct descendents of the ancient Ruby Dynasty, and as such have the greatest concentration of the genes leading to telepathy. Psions' abilities are enhanced through the Skolian Web, a matrix that combines ancient Ruby Dynasty psi-technology with matrix cybertechnology, resulting in a realtime interstellar psyberspace communications network -- a major military advantage the Skolian Empire holds over the Traders. So we have a Skolian Assembly, a Skolian Web, and ... a military leader named Kurj (who sleeps with a different young woman each week, or so it seems). Does any of this seem familiar? How about the enemy? The Trader empire is ruled by another dynasty, the Qox. The Trader "nobility" are also psions, though of a twisted sort. The Trader elite were the victims of genetic manipulation to create a super soldier: they experience pain (especially pain projected by empaths) as pleasure. This has led to the development of a culture based on slavery and sadism. The psion slaves are called providers, another Star Trek reference (to "The Gamemasters of Triskelion"). The Trader empire thus presents a grave threat to free psions, and to none moreso than to the Rhon rulers of the Skolian Empire. So you can only imagine the consequences of an encounter between Jabriol II and Sauscony. The second novel in the series -- Catch the Lightning -- constructs an astute pastiche of the "Mary Jane" (wish fulfillment) tradition in Star Trek fan fiction. Tina Pulivok, an adolescent Mexican Indian girl living in California, is rescued by and rescues Althor Selei, a fallen starfighter pilot and prince of the Ruby Dynasty. Of Asaro's first three novels, it's the third -- The Last Hawk -- that I appreciate the most. It's a retelling of The Illiad, set on a planet whose warriors and rulers are the female descendants of the ancient interstellar empire of the Ruby Dynasty. When Rhon Jagernaut Kelric crashes on this woman-dominated planet, he is promptly placed in a Calanya (a male harem) and learns a complex dice game comparable to the glass-bead game of Herman Hesse's Magister Ludi. Cut off from the Skolian Web, Kelric learns that the dice game is itself a kind of matrix used to analyze political conflicts. The Last Hawk is really a novel about simulations gaming, and develops many parallels to gaming in our own world: e.g., cloistered androcentric cultures ("harems," as it were, of male social-isolates) built around the conventions and cultures associated with various contemporary collectible dice and card games. Men who don't fight, but play. Nobody say "ouch!" Which brings us to the fourth novel in the series. The Radiant Seas is the most "operatic" novel in the saga, centering on the "return" of Sauscony Valdoria, and upon an all-out war between the Trader and Skolian Empires. Imperator Kurj of Skolia is the center of the first half of the novel; we finally get to see the human side of this harsh figure. Sacrifice is one of the major themes of the novel. I won't soon forget the sacrifices of Althor Izam-Na and Admiral Starjack Tahota. Or that of Jabriol III. The Radiant Seas raises interesting questions about who wins in "wars" -- the kind of questions we don't see enough of in space opera, or roleplaying. What's missing in the series? The only thing I would like to see more of are gay and lesbian characters. So far, we know of one starfighter pilot who is a lesbian (Helda in Primary Inversion), and one Rhon who is presumably bisexual (Althor Izam-Na). (In the later case, we don't even find out what happened to his companion, Coop!) Since Asaro is deeply invested in the love lives of her heterosexual characters, she should develop her gay and lesbian characters, making the same investment of telling the story of their lives and same-sex loves. After all, this is the future! It's my hope that SF gamers will read the Skolia novels, and that some will use this rich setting for operatic roleplaying. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)