The Final Key

"The Final Key" is not only the sequel to "Schism"; it's also the prequel to "Primary Inversion," the book that launched Ms. Asaro's Skolian Empire series. Here, Soz is just about finished with her cadet training when the Eubians manage to sabotage the Skolian defenses and create chaos. A suspenseful and well paced battle scene is the centerpiece of the book, and a suspenseful and excruciating battle with drug addiction serves as a great B story. As is usually the case with Catherine Asaro, she makes her characters seem like real people, and maybe you'll relate to Soz's fears as circumstances force her to assume a role she's not yet qualified to fill, and the struggles of Eldrin to free himself from his addiction. As a sequel, the book finishes the tale begun in "Schism" very neatly, but as a prequel, some of the suspense is lost, because longtime readers know what will happen to the various Skolians down the line. Newcomers to the series obviously should not start here, but either with "Primary Inversion" or "Schism." (A time line at the back of the book will guide those new readers.) Notes and Asides. To Ms. Asaro: can we have more about the Blue Dale Archers, please? To Ms. Asaro's publisher: can we please have the short stories, doubtlessly all published in different places, that are mentioned in the timeline in a one- or two-volume collection? Thanks.

Asaro's combination of physics, military, romance and space opera still pleases in this eleventh tale of the Skolian Empire. She's filling in parts of her history in the Triad books, which can almost seem a re-hash of previous events, but if you love her characters it is well worth reading. Triad takes place before the events of previous books. In this installment, trouble flares again between the Empire and the Eubians, who have incapacitated Kurj, the Military Key of the Empire through an attempted assassination, and have launched a surprise attack--putting nearly all the members of the Ruby Dynasty in peril: Soz, who is still a cadet, but on her first battle-cruiser, her mother Roca--captured by Eubians, her brother Eldrin--in the city under attack and beset by his own demons. I think I'd prefer reading about what happens to characters she hasn't written about yet, but I can read Asaro's books all day, any day--so whatever she wants to write about is welcome.

Filling in the slight holes of Soz's training and Shannon's knowledge of Lyshroil, this book is a great asset to the series. You see much more of Eldrin in this book as well. You get to see how one of the Ruby Dynasty fathers acts towards their young children. The first bit was a little slow because of the filling in for those who haven't read the first book, but after a bit, it was just pure reading pleasure. I'd recommend reading Schism first, but after reading Schism, this book is a must!

"The Final Key" is book #2 in a series that precludes "Primary Inversion", the book that first introduced Sauscony Valdoria, heir to the Skolian throne. The first book in this series was "Schism". Background: You see, there are essentially 3 civilizations in Asaro's future universe. The Allied Worlds are those established by humans from Earth. The Skolian Empire and the Eubians (the Trader Empire) are remnants of another human civilization (the Raylicon Empire) that left Earth long ago and established a presence in the stars, while the rest of the Earth-bound humans lost this part of their own history. When the Allied humans finally left Earth to explore the universe, they were suprised to find that humans were already there. Allied humans are much like you and me. Skolians, however, are generally empaths, and their civilization is based on a royal family with exceptionally strong empathetic abilities. They are "psions", who can read emotion almost as well as communicating with words. The Eubians (or Traders) literally derive pleasure from the pain of a psion, who transmits the emotion and amplifies it like an antenna. Some of the Eubians are pretty nasty in their taste for the pain of their Skolian pleasure slaves. A few Eubians, however, aren't so bad. The Skolian Empire and the Eubian Concord have a nasty history with one another. The caste-like system of the Trader Empire rests on a slave/indentured servant relationship between upper and lower classes. Any psion captured by the traders is immediately enslaved and sold for the purpose of being tortured in order to pleasure his or her captors. Such a culture, of course, is repulsive to the Skolians, and therefore the two cultures don't get along. How unfortunate it was for humans from the Allied Worlds, full of expectation and curiosity, when they stumbled out to the stars only to find that someone had beaten them there. To top it off, these two advanced civilzations had been at each other's throats for millenia. The Allied humans assumed a role of neutrality, and have stayed that way, even though they do not necessarily condone the Eubian slave-trade. I became addicted to Asaro's universe when I first read "Primary Inversion", which began at a time long after Soz had graduated from the Academy. "Schism" and "The Final Key" preclude "Primary Inversion" and tell the story of Sauscony Valdoria (or "Soz") when she was training to become a Jag pilot. Jag pilots are an elite fighter group composed entirely of highly empathetic psions. Soz can deal out some serious butt-whoopin' when she needs to, but her personality is more of an INFP for those of you familiar with the Myers-Briggss personality test. Soz is an introverted, intuitive, feeling and perceiving person who is exceptionally intelligent. She is not all touchy-feely, however, as her calculating mind also makes her a great soldier. Thus her personality makes for great character development. Asaro first wrote a series of exciting book

The Skolian Empire is founded on democratic principles while the Euban Concord or Trader Empire's economy is based on slavery. The two civilizations are enemies and while the Trader Empire has more ships, The Skolian Empire information meshes form a web that is manipulated by two powerful psionics of the Ruby Dynasty, Kurj and Dehya. Through instantaneous communications with real time news and the ability to control resources, the Skolians have the edge if war occurs. The Eubans know this and through subterfuge try and destroy the mesh of the web. Powerful Skolian psionic Eldrinson was captured and tortured before being rescued, his son lays brain dead in a hospital and the Eubans break through Skolian forces and poison Kurj putting him in a coma and kidnap his mother Rocca, the one person who can take his place in their web defense. It falls to space cadet Soz to take the place of her brother Kurj and Dehya in order to keep the web from failing. Meanwhile the medics work on Kurj and the leaders try to find a replacement for the missing Dehya while Soz, the daughter of Rocca and Eldrinson, third in line for the ruby throne, proves to be a powerful psi capable of holding the net together for a period of time. The Euban Empire prepares to defeat the Skolian forces. Action, romance, and political intrigue are the trademarks of a Catherine Asaro science fiction thriller and THE FINAL KEY is no exception. The sequel to SCHISM is space opera at its very best with characters of deep depth integrated into a military sci fi thriller. Soz plays a key role in the battle and gains a maturity that only comes from those who make life and death decisions. Let's hope there are more adventures starring this intrepid coming of age heroine. Harriet Klausner