I remember first reading a portion of THE QUANTUM ROSE when it was first serialized in Analog way back when I was a subscriber to the print version of that magazine. I never did finish the story then, and I'm not particularly sure why. It might be because I'd let my subscription lapse before it finished, or because I was lost and didn't know what was going on, or maybe I just lost interest. I didn't pick up any of Asaro's work after that until I started listening to the audiobooks of the Saga of the Skolian Empire. I've been listening to them in internal chronological order, as opposed to publication order (as a side note, I'm glad I've done it that way. True, the books can be read in publication order without losing any of the story, but I'm funny that way). So, when I finally got to the point in the series in which THE QUANTUM ROSE came next, I was more than mildly interested in finding out what I'd missed out on all those years ago.Well, I think it's safe to say that I missed out on a whole lot. Many of you probably already know that THE QUANTUM ROSE won the 2001 Nebula Award for Best Novel. It's now clear to me that the award was well deserved.The story starts on the backwater planet of Balumil. Kamoj Argali is the governor of a poor and somewhat poverty stricken province - name Argali - on the planet. In order to help her people survive and prosper, she has entered into a politically arranged betrothal with Jax Ironbridge, the governor of a much more wealthy and powerful province. If all goes well, the alliance with the Ironbridge province will provide prosperity, health, and safety for her people. The fly in the ointment is that Jax is something of a jerk - not to put too fine a point on it. Jax mistreats Kamoj, both mentally and physically.Meanwhile, a stranger has ridden into the land. A mysterious figure known to the people of the surrounding countryside as Lionstar, the stranger has taken over an old castle and lives in the Argali province. Through an act that later is revealed to be that of ignorance, Lionstar ends up marrying Kamoj right out from under Jax by providing a dowry that is larger than anything that Jax could provide. The law of the land, stating that he who has the largest dowry wins - thus once again proving that size does matter (sorry, couldn't resist) - allows for the wedding to take place. This act destabilizes the local governments and culture, and throws the whole thing into more than a bit of turmoil.Lionstar is actuall Vyrl Skolia, son of Roca and prince of the Ruby Dynasty. Vyrl is on Balumil for his protection, as there is conflict between the Ruby empire and the Allied Worlds of Earth, who are, in their own way, trying to hold things together peacefully after the Radiance War. However, Vyrl marrying Kamoj violates the plan of non-interference with the local culture, throwing everything into a tizzy. Thus, the first part of the book deals with Kamoj trying to determine how to keep her culture intact under the interference and influence of ISC. There is much intrigue in the dealings between Ironbridge and Lionstar, and there is much romance between Kamoj and Lionstar.But in the middle of it all, Vyrl must leave Balumil to go on a mission to Lyshriol, his home planet, to free it from the "protection" of the Allied Worlds of Earth, or AWOE. Kamoj goes with him to help him. She has a resonance with Vyrl, and is able to help him through some emotional and mental issues that happen when he travels in space which are directly due to the way he escaped Earth after the Radiance War. And so, the second half of the book deals with all the intrigue that comes with being a member of the Ruby dynasty and the rulers of an empire - and thus becomes a more familiary story of the Skolian Empire.In my opinion, this is the best of the Skolian Empire books that I've listened to so far. The characters are engaging, the story can be intense, and the situations are interesting and complex. I've been doing some other reading about the book and have discovered that, according to the great god Wikipedia, "The Quantum Rose is an allegory to the mathematical and physical processes of coupled-channel quantum scattering theory and as such is based on Asaro's doctoral work in chemical physics, with thesis advisor Alexander Dalgarno at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Asaro describes the allegory in an essay at the end of the book and explains how the characters and plot points play the roles of mathematical terms or processes in atomic and molecular physics." Unfortunately, the audio book does not include the essay - I will need to track it down.Again, Anna Fields does a terrific job narrating the book. It's gotten to be a broken record - I say that every time I finish one of these things. So, just assume it, okay? :-)
Da:http://www.webalice.it/michele.castel...Questo e' il primo vero romanzo di Catherine Asaro che appare in Italia, dopo il racconto lungo Il Ponte sull'Abisso. E anche questo, ad una lettura superficiale, sembra un romanzetto d'amore. Questa volta c'e' il classico "triangolo", e la soluzione finale sembra scontata fin dalle prime pagine. In realta' non e' proprio cosi', anche se l'ardito paragone con l'interazione quantistica tra particelle, che viene illustrato ampiamente in appendice perche' altrimenti nessuno l'avrebbe colto, e' troppo ambizioso e di fatto rimane piu' nelle intenzioni dell'autrice che nella realizzazione pratica del romanzo. Ma c'e' un aspetto, un significato della vicenda narrata che, almeno secondo me, predomina su tutto, e fa di questa storia un vero romanzo di fantascienza. I personaggi della vicenda sanno, o vengono a sapere molto presto, di essere delle costruzioni genetiche particolari sviluppate dai loro antichi antenati possessori di conoscenze e competenze ormai per lo piu' perse. Sviluppi genetici tesi a scopi a volte parzialmente comprensibili, a volte del tutto ignoti, in cui sono stati modificati sia gli aspetti fisici ma sopratutto quelli caratteriali, fino ad un controllo delle emozioni. Sono quindi consapevoli che i loro comportamenti, le loro sensazioni, le loro interazioni sono in parte guidate, e talvolta dominate, dalla loro eredita' genetica artificiale. E questo pesa molto nella consapevolezza di se' stessi, ma tutto sommato non gli impedisce di accettarsi quali sono e di considerarsi del tutto umani. Il sapere che le loro azioni, le loro emozioni sono in gran parte il risultato di una pianificazione voluta non gli impedisce di considerare quelle stesse emozioni come spontanee e quelle azioni come determinate solo dalla propria volonta'. Il messaggio che io colgo, ed e' un messaggio importante, e' che ogni persona e' in fin dei conti un "prodotto genetico" di un qualche progetto con un qualche scopo, sicuramente almeno di quello che riteniamo "naturale" dell'adattamento all'ambiente e della sopravvivenza, ma questo non impedisce di essere individui con la propria personalita' e la propria responsabilita', che e' "propria", e non un semplice tassello di uno schema voluto da qualcosa o qualcuno al di sopra di noi. E' insomma una dichiarazione di fiducia all'individuo e alla sua capacita' di gestire anche la parte di se' che e' fortemente guidata dalla struttura genetica. Tutto sommato un romanzo che vale la pena di leggere, anche se il non conoscere tutti gli antefatti lascia sempre un senso di mancanza di informazioni. Nell'introduzione viene detto che la vicenda e' abbastanza indipendente dal filone principale dei romanzi della Asaro, ma i richiami continui a personaggi che dovrebbero essere conosciuti, e di cui si dovrebbe sapere molto, rimangono spesso senza "risonanza" (volendo parafrasare uno dei temi principali del romanzo) nel lettore che si avvicina per la prima volta all'Impero Skoliano.
What do You think about The Quantum Rose (2002)?
In what I now think of as "Catherine Asaro style," she jumps to another portion of her universe, creating another puzzle piece that will (hopefully?) tie together more portions of the saga. TRIGGER WARNING: This one has an abuser in the story line, as well as someone who's spent years enduring abuse, and has to come to grips with whether to break the cycle. I would be careful who I might recommend this book to, based on the trigger warning.But if you are not someone who shoulders that type of scar, the warning should be sufficient.
—Cat
This novel has a really cool science fiction backdrop but a really insipid plot. In this case, you really can judge a book by its hilariously terrible cover.It’s a mostly nonsensical story about the whirlwind romance between a petite beautiful snowflake and her creepy husband (who buys her from her family with a room full of treasure, and literally tells her he almost just raped her but decided to marry her instead. AND THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE ROMANTIC). Which is really too bad, because the universe is cool. After exploring the galaxy, human technology failed and stranded colonists on their new worlds. Thousands of years later, humans are exploring again and are surprised to find other, slightly differently evolved humans, on other planets. I like the concept but the story in this novel is just SO BAD I cannot possibly recommend it.Asaro has written other books in this universe; I’d like to hear from anyone who’s read them! I hope they do her world-building justice.
—Kait
As I was reading this, it struck me as two books: a romance novel and a SF novel. The two elements didn't seem to work well together, and then the plot takes what another reviewer calls "a sharp left turn into being about something else entirely," making the first half of the book seem like a completely different novel from the second half. I like the premise, though I think the execution of the main characters is shaky--but, as this reminded me of a romance novel, it was not too surprising to f
—Emily
