Look Back Wednesday - Carnelians by Catherine Asaro

LOOK BACK WEDNESDAY IS A FEATURE HERE ON THE BLOG.  THERE ARE SO MANY REALLY GOOD BOOKS I HAVE REVIEWED ON GOODREADS I DECEIDED TO HIGHLIGHT SOME FROM THE PAST.  RIGHT NOW I AM FEATURING BOOKS POSTED ON MY GOODREADS SCIENCE FICTION ROMANCE SHELF.  EACH REVIEW IS A DIRECT POST FROM MY GOODREADS REVIEW.

Carnelians by Catherine Asaro
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love this series and Carnelians brings together many of the elements from previous books. Carnelians is a combination of Space Opera and Science Fiction Romance. I would not try this on as a stand-alone. It would be best if read in order. Just be warned that it is the 14th book in the series. I got it as an ebook from Baen.

View all my reviews

Undercity (Major Baahjan #1) by Catherine Asaro

Science Fiction

From Goodreads:

BOOK ONE IN A BRAND NEW SERIES by Nebula and Hugo Award Winner Catherine Asaro set in the world of her Skolian Empire universe. In the galaxy-spanning future, Major Bhaajan is a tough female P.I. who works the dangerous streets of Undercity.

Major Bhaajan, a former military officer with Imperial Space Command, is now a hard-bitten P.I. with a load of baggage to deal with, and clients with woes sometimes personal, sometimes galaxy-shattering, and sometimes both. Bhaajan must sift through the shadows of dark and dangerous Undercity—the enormous capital of a vast star empire—to find answers.

I look for any book released by Catherine Asaro and the universe she created for the Skolian Empire is one of my favorites.  Undercity is a new series set in that universe.  I loved the book and how Asaro tied it to the previous books in the series. 

Undercity is filled with great new characters and several interlocking plots.  Everything is set in a world that adds a new dimension to the world building in the Skolian Empire.  There are three books in Undercity.  Book One is a previously published novella that introduces Major Baahjan and the planet where the story is set.  It is set in a time before many of the other books in the series.  Each of the books that follow build on everything introduced in Book One.

Undercity is a well written interesting Science Fiction story.  It will stand alone and is a good introduction to the Skolian Empire books for anyone who has not read the series.  I look forward to the next book in the series and hope there be more than one.

Baen published Undercity by Catherine Asaro in 2014.

I received an ARC of Undercity from Netgalley in return for an honest review.  I also purchased a copy when I bought Baen’s monthly bundle for Dec. 2014.

Stacking the Shelves, October 11, 2014

Books Stacked on My Shelves

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books I added to my shelves this week. They may it be physical or virtual. I include books I buy in a physical store or online, books I borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!  Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews.  Follow the link to see what others have on their 

shelves.

I keep adding to my TBR shelf.  This week I received a few to review and one I purchased.

Purchased:

A Place Called Harmony by Jodi Thomas

Review:

Bonfire Night by Deanna Raybourn

The Morph by JC Andrijeski

Light my Fire by G.A. Aiken

Undercity by Catherine Asaro

Book Beginnings on Friday December 30, 2011

Book Beginnings on Friday is a meme hosted by Katy from A Few More Pages. Anyone can participate; just share the opening sentence of your current read, making sure that you include the title and author so others know what you're reading.

I am readin Catherine Asaro's Carnelians, the lastest book in her Skolian Empire series. 

Prologue:
It was one of the most effective weapons known.
It didn't explode.  It shot no projectiles.  It didn't spread chemical, biological, or physical poison  It created not flames or shrapnel. It could being down empires."
I love this series and Carnelians brings together many of the elements from previous books.  Carnelians is a combination of Space Opera and Science Fiction Romance.  I purchased it in ebook form from Baen.

Authors Starting with A

Found On my Hardcover Bookshelf

No Sci-Fi bookshelf would be complete without some of the old masters. I have Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy and Poul Anderson’s For Love and Glory in hardcover.

I often purchased the hardcover edition when I don’t want to wait for the paperback. As a result I have 5 titles from the Skolian Empire series by Catherine Asaro. This is a great Space Opera/ Science Fiction Romance series and it’s best to start with Primary Inversion.

Kevin Anderson’s Metal Swarm is book 6 in The Saga of Seven Suns. One very nice thing about this series is “The Story so Far” at the beginning of each book. The series is complete so you can read it without having to wait for the next book to come out. Start with Hidden Empire, the first book in the series. The Saga of Seven Suns is a series I share with one of my sons so between us we have all of the books in either hardcover of paperback.

Taylor Anderson writes the Destroyermen, an alternate history series. I have Crusade and Maelstrom in hardcover from the first trilogy and Distant Thunders, the first book in the second trilogy. Start this one with Into the Storm, the first book in the series.

If you click on the highlighted links you will find where I have previous posts about some of the series, books and authors.

Authors starting with B will be next.

Diamond Star by Catherine Alsaro

Science Fiction

Diamond Star by Catherine Alsaro is a side story in the Skolian series. Del is a member of the Ruby Dynasty. He along with other members of his family have been held as hostages on Earth. The others are rescued but Del chooses to stay on Earth where he feels that he can be free from the expectation of his family. His singing talents lead to a contract and he becomes a rock star something his family would not condone or understand. Although Del tries, even on Earth he cannot be free of interstellar politics. Earth as one of the three interstellar civilizations wants to stay clear of the conflict between the Skolian Imperialate and the Eubian Concord. Del brings that conflict to Earth. Diamond Star does not move the main story line along, but it does tell more of the story of the Ruby Dynasty. This is a nice addition to the Skolian series.

Baen published Diamond Star by Catherine Alsaro in 2009. I purchased Diamond Star as an eBook from Baen.


Interesting piece of trivia:

*In the book Del visits a antique store that sells paper copies of books. One book that he picks up is a book I just recommended; The Rake by Mary Jo Putney. It must be on Catherine Alsaro's favorite list.

A Roll of the Dice by Catherine Asaro

Science Fiction Romance is on top of my Mixed Book Bag today.

A Roll of the Dice by Catherine Asaro was first published July 2000 in Analog. The novella is set in the universe of the Skolian Imperialate /Eubian Traders and is the side story of Jeremiah Coltman who we met in the Ruby Dice. There are currently 12 books and several side stories in this popular series. I have read the books in this series, but have had trouble finding the side stories. Thanks to Catherine Asaro’s web site and Fictionwise I now have found and read most. You can read two of the stories free on Catherine’s web site and purchase A Roll of the Dice on Fictionwise. Watch for new stories in Analog.

Catherine writes both fantasy and science fiction. If you are looking for a new author who writes Science Fiction Romance give her books a try.