Asaro, Catherine: Primary Inversion
Primary Inversion
Writer: Catherine Asaro
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 369
There were lots of reasons I picked up this book. It has romance in an SF setting, and the SF is a mix of hard SF, space opera, among other things. And the fact that the story centers around empaths/telepaths just cinched my need to read it.
And I'm very glad I did.
Now, I'm not going to lie to you. This is all kinds of Romeo & Juliet, only set in space. One man and one woman from two different empires that are not only mortal enemies, but the antithesis of the other. Opposites attract, right? And it doesn't hurt that Jaibriol, the guy, is completely and wholly sympathetic. Even in his defense of his father and his people, which comes across as a bit of naivete, is heart-warming, because home is where the heart is, you know? I would have really liked to see more of his side of the story, which was impossible, since the whole thing was in Soz's POV, but still, I would have enjoyed seeing it.
Soz is also a likable character, and once you get into it, it's really more her story than it is a Romeo & Juliet one. Part One introduces the star-crossed lovers; part two deals with Soz coming to terms with who she is, what she's gone through, and where she's going; part three brings the star-crossed lovers together to make the ultimate decision. Sure, there's talk of suicide (in R&J stories, there usually is), but ultimately, they hatch a daring plan to escape their fates and be together.
There's a lot to like about this book. All the characters are easy to relate to; the relationships are addicting (you want to know what happens); and for me, the discussion about the empathic abilities of the people were fascinating. On the other hand, the book has it's flaws: like most hard SF, it spends a lot of time detailing the science and the why's and how's of how everything works. For me, that gets a bit old, but I have to give Asaro credit: she does manage to make these scientific discourses tie into the climax and conclusion of the book. So bonus points there.
Still, there's a lot of telling, and the writing style isn't such that I, personally, can excuse the telling. Like having something malfunction so the narrator can explain how it works. Or, while sitting in the ship or at the computer or whatever, the narrator just can NEVER get over how it all works, even though she's been dealing with this stuff for nearly forty years. Granted, I can understand the difficulty in relaying the needed information, especially for a hard SF audience that demands science over character and story (I'm not trying to generalize here; not all hard SF readers and writers are like that), but there's cleaner ways to relay it. Then again, I'm not the one writing the book.
I had a few problems with Soz's age. Other than the fact she needed to be old enough to be a believable heir, there seemed to be no benefit to the fact she was forty-something but had the body of a twenty-something. And, her narration rarely reflected her age, which made it even harder to buy her physical age. Oh well. My only real peeve (and this was more of a giggle-inducing moment than anything) was the name Ur Qox. That's right, look at that closely. Try to say it out loud. Thanks to the pronunciation in the book, this is what I came up with: qox=cocks. U + R = you are = you're = your. Your cocks.
Yes, I know. Out of the gutter. BUT COME ON!!! Who doesn't see that!!!! :) I sure hope to God that was somewhat intentional, a sort of play on the phrase that Qox was a real dick or something (he is the leader of the bad guys) because, dude...if that was unintentional, that's really damn funny.
I did love how Asaro revealed the different societies and language thereof. I loved seeing Soz "speak" English. Also, major genius-bonus points for the title of Primary Inversion, because it tells you EXACTLY what the story is about: the character, whose title is "Primary", goes through a kind of psychological inversion. It's Soz's story, and while this is certainly not a character-driven work (the middle was rather weak, even though I understand the need for it, etc), it is a character-focused book.
But I liked Soz and Jaibriol's connection the best. Sue me, I'm a sucker for romance. There's not much here, mind you, but there's enough. I think if it'd been my brain-child, I would have made different choices with the story, but this isn't my brain child, and I'm pretty happy with what I read anyway.
I will definitely be hunting down the other books in this series. Not because of Asaro's writing style by any means, but I like the relationships between the characters, and the setting and overall story arc is interesting enough to keep me reading. I'd definitely recommend anyone who is writing or reading hard SF to check it out--read a sample on Amazon, or go to your local library, or something. Also, if you're a sucker for romance (guilty-pleasures, yo), I think you'll be thoroughly amused.
And bonus points for anyone who notices that certain parts of this book remind them very much of the Star Wars NJO series. No shit: Asaro didn't copy them, I think they used her for inspiration. That's not to say that Asaro maybe wasn't inspired by the original Star Wars films (and really, who in SF wasn't?), but seeing the probable and highly possible reverse is kinda funny. Makes me wonder if Del-Rey will ever contact her to write an Star Wars novel one of these days. Now THAT I'd love to read...