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Saga of the Skolian Empire #7
Spherical Harmonic
Separated for decades by circumstance and political machinations, the Ruby Dynasty, hereditary rulers of Skolia, struggle to bring together the tattered remnants of their family in the shadow of a disastrous interstellar war. Too many have died, others are presumed lost, yet Dyhianna, the Ruby Pharaoh, must move quickly if they are reassume their rightful place as rulers of the Skolian Empire.
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
9 people are currently reading
334 people want to read
About the author
Catherine Asaro
92 books697 followersThe author of more than twenty-five books, Catherine Asaro is acclaimed for her Ruby Dynasty series, which combines adventure, science, romance and fast-paced action. Her novel The Quantum Rose won the Nebula® Award, as did her novella “The Spacetime Pool.” Among her many other distinctions, she is a multiple winner of the AnLab from Analog magazine and a three time recipient of the RT BOOKClub Award for “Best Science Fiction Novel.” Her most recent novel, Carnelians, came out in October, 2011. An anthology of her short fiction titled Aurora in Four Voices is available from ISFiC Press in hardcover, and her multiple award-winning novella “The City of Cries” is also available as an eBook for Kindle and Nook.
Catherine has two music CD’s out and she is currently working on her third. The first, Diamond Star, is the soundtrack for her novel of the same name, performed with the rock band, Point Valid. She appears as a vocalist at cons, clubs, and other venues in the US and abroad, including recently as the Guest of Honor at the Denmark and New Zealand National Science Fiction Conventions. She performs selections from her work in a multimedia project that mixes literature, dance, and music with Greg Adams as her accompanist. She is also a theoretical physicist with a PhD in Chemical Physics from Harvard, and a jazz and ballet dancer. Visit her at www.facebook.com/Catherine.Asaro
Catherine has two music CD’s out and she is currently working on her third. The first, Diamond Star, is the soundtrack for her novel of the same name, performed with the rock band, Point Valid. She appears as a vocalist at cons, clubs, and other venues in the US and abroad, including recently as the Guest of Honor at the Denmark and New Zealand National Science Fiction Conventions. She performs selections from her work in a multimedia project that mixes literature, dance, and music with Greg Adams as her accompanist. She is also a theoretical physicist with a PhD in Chemical Physics from Harvard, and a jazz and ballet dancer. Visit her at www.facebook.com/Catherine.Asaro
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
July 3, 2018
I didn't much care for this reread. I like Dehya but in many ways this book is just retelling of the same story but yet another point of view. Each installment over laps with last and next book. It's beginning to feel a bit tiring.
January 4, 2013
This felt more more like a soap opera than I care for.
It seemed to be 90% recap of the events of other books in this series along with how this made the women in univcerse feel, and 10% the unlikely bloodless coup cum coalition forming of new government.
The liking or not of this book appears to be chromosomally linked to the presence or absense of the y. XX seems to find this wondrous true to life imagining of far future lands and peoples.
Those holding XY seem to think it is boring, and perhaps runs a distant second to a nap. As a Y holding member, it must be time to take action based on the way this book made me feel.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.................
It seemed to be 90% recap of the events of other books in this series along with how this made the women in univcerse feel, and 10% the unlikely bloodless coup cum coalition forming of new government.
The liking or not of this book appears to be chromosomally linked to the presence or absense of the y. XX seems to find this wondrous true to life imagining of far future lands and peoples.
Those holding XY seem to think it is boring, and perhaps runs a distant second to a nap. As a Y holding member, it must be time to take action based on the way this book made me feel.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.................
April 27, 2014
SPHERICAL HARMONIC is one of four novels that deal with the aftermath of the Radiance War. Each novel in the group (ASCENDANT SUN, THE QUANTOM ROSE, SPHERICAL HARMONIC, and THE MOON'S SHADOW, overlaps with the other three, each with a different main character. The character we follow in SPHERICAL HARMONIC is Dyhianna Selei, the current Ruby Pharaoh, titular head of the Ruby Dynasty, but really just a figurehead when it comes to ruling the Skolian Empire.
When last we saw her, Dyhianna had escaped the war by stepping into one of the Locks that the three Keys - you remember those, don't you? - use to enter an alternate dimension/universe (Quite frankly, the details get fuzzy at this point. You would think that after 9 or so books in the series, each of which contains information on not only what has gone before but the whole setup of everything, I would remember. I don't. So it goes.). The book begins with Dyhianna beginning to, for lack of a better term, coalesce into the "real" world, fading in and out of reality, on the moon Opalite. She is found by a local, who
believes she is one of the Traders, and thus takes her prisoner. Over time, she convinces him that she is, in fact, who she says she is.
In fact, Opalite is one of the locations where she has some secret security protocols set up for situations not unlike this one. She manages to get the protocol activated and gets in touch with some folks in the Skolian fleet, one of whom is her sister-in-law Vaz Majda (As a side note, there is another woman of the Majda clan who is currently acting as the Pharaoh. Keep that in mind as we go through all this.). As the novel progresses, Dyhianna (At this point I'm taking up as a challenge the ability to type that name. Typing her last name is the easy way out. I should have taken that.) recovers more of her memory
and realizes the state that the Ruby Dynasty and Skolian Empire is in, and sets about going to fix it.
In an interesting parallel, Dyhianna wants to reunite her family as well as reunite the Ruby Dynasty and return it to its rightful place as the ruling family of the Skolian Empire. This, of course, is easier said than done. First, of course, there's the argument that "well, we've been doing it this way a long time, it works, why should we change it now?". "This way" refers to the fact that there is an Assembly that rules the Empire. As I said earlier, the Pharaoh is the titular head of the empire - she has no real power. Then there's the necessity of basically leading a mutiny on the ship she is on, taking
over so she can go to Earth and get her family, which is essentially imprisoned there by the Allieds. And then there is the issue of having to convince her people that this is really the right way to go about doing things. Certainly not an easy path to follow.
There are of course other things to set into action in terms of the plot - just what about all those kids that were left on Earth with her ex-husband, and especially the one that apparently is now sitting on the Carnelian throne? Yeah, there's a lot of stuff going on here.
This is a nice entry in the Saga of the Skolian Empire. I believe, and I could be wrong, this is the first book in the series to be told from first person perspective (I expect many of you to correct me if I'm wrong). And while a bit jarring at first, I eventually slid into the narrative without much trouble.
What was even more jarring was yet another new narrator. I'd just gotten used to Anna Fields, and now we have Liza Caplan. My wife, who has also listened to these books, said Caplan sounded like a whiny teenager. While I don't know about that, I will say that Caplan's voice being in a different register certainly unnerved me for a while, and she pronounces many of the words differently than Fields did. You would think they'd have a pronunciation guide for these things.
All in all, I enjoyed SPHERICAL HARMONIC. I've long since comfortably settled into the Skolian Empire universe, and I'm okay with that.
When last we saw her, Dyhianna had escaped the war by stepping into one of the Locks that the three Keys - you remember those, don't you? - use to enter an alternate dimension/universe (Quite frankly, the details get fuzzy at this point. You would think that after 9 or so books in the series, each of which contains information on not only what has gone before but the whole setup of everything, I would remember. I don't. So it goes.). The book begins with Dyhianna beginning to, for lack of a better term, coalesce into the "real" world, fading in and out of reality, on the moon Opalite. She is found by a local, who
believes she is one of the Traders, and thus takes her prisoner. Over time, she convinces him that she is, in fact, who she says she is.
In fact, Opalite is one of the locations where she has some secret security protocols set up for situations not unlike this one. She manages to get the protocol activated and gets in touch with some folks in the Skolian fleet, one of whom is her sister-in-law Vaz Majda (As a side note, there is another woman of the Majda clan who is currently acting as the Pharaoh. Keep that in mind as we go through all this.). As the novel progresses, Dyhianna (At this point I'm taking up as a challenge the ability to type that name. Typing her last name is the easy way out. I should have taken that.) recovers more of her memory
and realizes the state that the Ruby Dynasty and Skolian Empire is in, and sets about going to fix it.
In an interesting parallel, Dyhianna wants to reunite her family as well as reunite the Ruby Dynasty and return it to its rightful place as the ruling family of the Skolian Empire. This, of course, is easier said than done. First, of course, there's the argument that "well, we've been doing it this way a long time, it works, why should we change it now?". "This way" refers to the fact that there is an Assembly that rules the Empire. As I said earlier, the Pharaoh is the titular head of the empire - she has no real power. Then there's the necessity of basically leading a mutiny on the ship she is on, taking
over so she can go to Earth and get her family, which is essentially imprisoned there by the Allieds. And then there is the issue of having to convince her people that this is really the right way to go about doing things. Certainly not an easy path to follow.
There are of course other things to set into action in terms of the plot - just what about all those kids that were left on Earth with her ex-husband, and especially the one that apparently is now sitting on the Carnelian throne? Yeah, there's a lot of stuff going on here.
This is a nice entry in the Saga of the Skolian Empire. I believe, and I could be wrong, this is the first book in the series to be told from first person perspective (I expect many of you to correct me if I'm wrong). And while a bit jarring at first, I eventually slid into the narrative without much trouble.
What was even more jarring was yet another new narrator. I'd just gotten used to Anna Fields, and now we have Liza Caplan. My wife, who has also listened to these books, said Caplan sounded like a whiny teenager. While I don't know about that, I will say that Caplan's voice being in a different register certainly unnerved me for a while, and she pronounces many of the words differently than Fields did. You would think they'd have a pronunciation guide for these things.
All in all, I enjoyed SPHERICAL HARMONIC. I've long since comfortably settled into the Skolian Empire universe, and I'm okay with that.
April 8, 2016
The Ruby Pharaoh of the Skolian Empire comes out of Kyle space disoriented and some distance from her rendezvous point. With a little luck and some tenacity, she is able to step back in her political role and create upheaval among the political structure that has dominated her and her family's lives for too long.
May 25, 2019
My least favorite of the series
This one is always a slog when I'm rereading the series. Dehya is the least relatable of all the characters in this universe, and this book is disjointed and patchy.
Additionally, the kindle version is almost unreadable due to the numerous OCR scanning errors. Someone please fix and rerelease this??
This one is always a slog when I'm rereading the series. Dehya is the least relatable of all the characters in this universe, and this book is disjointed and patchy.
Additionally, the kindle version is almost unreadable due to the numerous OCR scanning errors. Someone please fix and rerelease this??
March 3, 2012
Descriptions are given priority over story substance. The relationships between characters and family members is too complex. Perhaps it is good Romance writing, but I don't believe that it is good Science Fiction.
April 22, 2018
Dyhianna Selei awakens in an unknown wood. She’s disoriented. She doesn’t know who she is. She’s been drifting in and out of consciousness, and in and out of reality. Looking down at her youthful looking body the first thing she remembers is her age, 158. As she slowly pieces together her memories, she will remember a desperate escape from an interstellar conflict of massive destruction, and the key role she will have to play in its aftermath.
This edition includes an author’s note, “Science in Science Fiction,” which describes the mathematics and physics in the story, and then goes on to talk about world-building, and linguistics. Notes on characters and family history are followed by genealogical tables and a timeline for this book and the preceding six books in the series.
This edition includes an author’s note, “Science in Science Fiction,” which describes the mathematics and physics in the story, and then goes on to talk about world-building, and linguistics. Notes on characters and family history are followed by genealogical tables and a timeline for this book and the preceding six books in the series.
March 7, 2024
Yeah.
Well, this is the first of the whole series where I was actively put off by the language. It was the super short, "Surge. Blah. Blah. Blah," stuff. I know it should have given me more descriptive impact, but it went on far too long and I was wondering if I was going through some cerebral infarction.
Getting beyond that, I was just trying to figure out what the importance of being a jungle-captive, which maybe didn't have to be so bad, but then it all boiled down to assumptions and piss-poor communications and then the obvious straw man of the Traders being the baddies, I started zoning out. Yes, it's the aftermath of the war, but these situations are now getting annoying. I may need to call it after this one.
Well, this is the first of the whole series where I was actively put off by the language. It was the super short, "Surge. Blah. Blah. Blah," stuff. I know it should have given me more descriptive impact, but it went on far too long and I was wondering if I was going through some cerebral infarction.
Getting beyond that, I was just trying to figure out what the importance of being a jungle-captive, which maybe didn't have to be so bad, but then it all boiled down to assumptions and piss-poor communications and then the obvious straw man of the Traders being the baddies, I started zoning out. Yes, it's the aftermath of the war, but these situations are now getting annoying. I may need to call it after this one.
October 30, 2021
Asaro's writing was getting better with each addition; however, in #6 and in this, #7, she has regressed....Slow start. Characters did not jump out. Story-telling and world building not focused.
Either the science of Spherical Harmonics is not well explained or I had not payed close attention while listening..
The AUDIO is Horrible: Liza Kaplan was amateur, immature (her interpretation as if a teenager is reacting) , the male voices were cartoonish...
Either the science of Spherical Harmonics is not well explained or I had not payed close attention while listening..
The AUDIO is Horrible: Liza Kaplan was amateur, immature (her interpretation as if a teenager is reacting) , the male voices were cartoonish...
May 14, 2018
One of the more enjoyable books in the series I have read so far. Tied up a number of the loose ends from earlier books. It would have been a good place to end the series, I hope it wasn't a mistake that it kept going.
July 30, 2023
The least likable in the series. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator Liza Kaplan made Dehya seem like a teenager vice one of the oldest living persons in the empire. I thought it was less of a story than an effort to tie up loose ends created by the author in the other books.
June 14, 2017
The drama continues
July 11, 2019
I'm just being a completest with this series now. Not really good or terrible just okay.
December 30, 2019
I love this series and this was an important perspective and development to the epic.
January 31, 2021
As always, beautifully crafted story, bringing the threads of several previous books together.
March 3, 2024
I didn't like this Skolian empire as much as the rest. Maybe because the plot lacked as much emotional impact as the others.
April 7, 2015
Spherical Harmonic (2001) 346 pages by Catherine Asaro.
When we last saw Dyhianna "Dehya" Selei in the Radiant Seas the Traders had boarded the orbiter and were chasing her, Eldrin and Taquinil. Eldrin was captured by the traders while she and Taquinil escaped into the Lock and disappeared into the psiberweb/Kyle space. When Spherical Harmonic starts Dehya wakes up very confused on the moon Opalite. As the first few chapters pass she starts remembering more. This is probably to catch up readers who haven't read Radiant Seas as well as setting a tone for the book. Dehya has spent so many decades as a key in the psiberweb that she is fluctuating from being totally in the physical universe to having some of her being in Kyle space. After the adventure on Opalite she goes to Delos, the Allied world that was a neutral ground for all three empires -- Allied, Skolia and Traders.
The events in Ascendent Sun, where we follow the actions of Kelric, are happening concurrent to our story. So when Dehya gets to Delos and finds that Eldrin is there and not a prisoner of the Traders the reader isn't surprised but the characters are startled.
The Radiance war has thrown the Skolian Imperialate into disarray. The psiberweb is gone so communication is now at the speed of ships rather than instantaneous. The story has some politics in it. Whether Skolia should be ruled by the Assembly (democratic) or by the Ruby Dynasty turns out to be a key. There are different sections of the military. Then there are the Allied Worlds, who were the weakest of the powers before Skolia and the Traders decimated each other.
The book starts a bit slow, but picks up as Dehya regains more of her memories. Good fun reading, The reader knowing things, e.g. Soz & Jaibriol II, is written in a way that is actually exciting in the way that it build anticipation. It's another really excellent Skolian universe book.
When we last saw Dyhianna "Dehya" Selei in the Radiant Seas the Traders had boarded the orbiter and were chasing her, Eldrin and Taquinil. Eldrin was captured by the traders while she and Taquinil escaped into the Lock and disappeared into the psiberweb/Kyle space. When Spherical Harmonic starts Dehya wakes up very confused on the moon Opalite. As the first few chapters pass she starts remembering more. This is probably to catch up readers who haven't read Radiant Seas as well as setting a tone for the book. Dehya has spent so many decades as a key in the psiberweb that she is fluctuating from being totally in the physical universe to having some of her being in Kyle space. After the adventure on Opalite she goes to Delos, the Allied world that was a neutral ground for all three empires -- Allied, Skolia and Traders.
The events in Ascendent Sun, where we follow the actions of Kelric, are happening concurrent to our story. So when Dehya gets to Delos and finds that Eldrin is there and not a prisoner of the Traders the reader isn't surprised but the characters are startled.
The Radiance war has thrown the Skolian Imperialate into disarray. The psiberweb is gone so communication is now at the speed of ships rather than instantaneous. The story has some politics in it. Whether Skolia should be ruled by the Assembly (democratic) or by the Ruby Dynasty turns out to be a key. There are different sections of the military. Then there are the Allied Worlds, who were the weakest of the powers before Skolia and the Traders decimated each other.
The book starts a bit slow, but picks up as Dehya regains more of her memories. Good fun reading, The reader knowing things, e.g. Soz & Jaibriol II, is written in a way that is actually exciting in the way that it build anticipation. It's another really excellent Skolian universe book.
October 10, 2012
I have read the entire Saga of the Skolian empire...some volumes multiple times. I think what draws me to these books is that not only is the science based on actual theories, making it a "hard science fiction" world rather than a magic one, but Asaro lets the character development and imagery flower..something that more traditional hard scifi writers tend not to do. This book in particular is absorbing because of the intricate mathematical theories that overlay the very real political and personal drama. I also love how this book, Ascendant Sun, The Radiant Seas, and The Moons Shadow all intertwine and illuminate the same event from several different perspectives. Had all of the story strands and characters been in the same book, it would have been very long and confusing. This way, you get to stretch out the enjoyment of a story moment by reading it several times in several voices.
February 25, 2012
I've thought about how to write a review for this book. I liked it, no I loved it but how to describe it? Well, anyone who's read Catherine Asaro knows her writing and stories and this is another fine example. The thing that makes this book hard to explain is the math and science. I liked science in school as long as real math wasn't involved and loved math when we got to algebra 2 were no numbers were used. This math and science was over my head but I sort of understood it. I really wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who wasn't a Catherine Asaro fan or a scifi science nerd. Overall a great book.
February 8, 2014
The Ruby Pharaoh, Dehya Skolia (to much simplify her name), emerges from Kyle space after an escape from deadly Aristos. She finds herself without her memory, on a primitive planet whose food is poison to her. From there, her job is to find her family and reinstate them in power. For a long time her family's power has been as figureheads only, during which they were maltreated as breeding stock by an increasingly desperate Assembly. This is Dehya's chance to place her family in a position to be respected. Some of her friends are determined she not succeed.
October 4, 2016
Summary: A slightly more thoughtful and less action packed and less romantic (fortunately) look at the scolian universe. I liked this book with its gentle but dominant central character.
Plotline: The basic plot was pretty good and worked well with the premise.
Premise: Interesting. Not fully convinced it would really work, but different too most SF.
Writing: Good bits were good, well described, strong characters
Ending: All set up for next books in the series
Pace: Never a dull moment!
Plotline: The basic plot was pretty good and worked well with the premise.
Premise: Interesting. Not fully convinced it would really work, but different too most SF.
Writing: Good bits were good, well described, strong characters
Ending: All set up for next books in the series
Pace: Never a dull moment!
April 19, 2012
I liked finally getting to spend time reading Dyhianna's storyline. One of the nice things about reading enough volumes in Asaro's Skolian universe, eventually she fills in the missing pieces.
It did make me ponder what it might be like to read all the books not in publishing order, but plotline/universe order.
It did make me ponder what it might be like to read all the books not in publishing order, but plotline/universe order.
July 14, 2014
Despite the often clunky writing, I've gotten pretty invested in the Skolian Empire universe/characters. And it's cool how Asaro uses her physics and math knowledge in various ways (as with spherical harmonics in this one, or the fact that The Quantum Rose was an allegory for coupled-channel quantum scattering theory).
June 3, 2015
re-read 2/13/2005
re-read 5/29/2014
You have to pay ATTENTION when reading this one.
The Ruby Pharaoh has escaped the Eubians by stepping into a singularity/lock! Can she come back?
and ick cover by John Harris
re-read 5/29/2014
You have to pay ATTENTION when reading this one.
The Ruby Pharaoh has escaped the Eubians by stepping into a singularity/lock! Can she come back?
and ick cover by John Harris
June 24, 2011
I have been reading these out of order, but they still make stand alone reading. Recommend starting at the first and working through. Love that they overlap and are from different perspectives throughout.
January 5, 2014
The start really dragged, so much so I almost put this book down despite absolutely loving every other book in the saga. Instead I stuck with it and about 20% of the way through things really picked up.
October 31, 2007
Loved it! This book really ties up all the loose ends and missing pieces of the many stories in the Skolian saga.
Want to read
July 13, 2008Skolian Empire Bk 7
June 18, 2009
fun and good character development, as usual for the author
January 12, 2010
PEOPLE ARE WAVEFUNCTIONS
the wavefunctions do politics
the wavefunctions do politics
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews