Primary Inversion
Encyclopedia
Primary Inversion is a science fiction
novel
in the Saga of the Skolian Empire
by Catherine Asaro
. As Asaro's debut novel
, it first appeared as a hardcover in 1995. It was nominated for the 1996 Compton Crook/Stephen Tall Memorial Award
and placed tenth on the list for the Locus Award for Best First Novel
.
(AI) in their spinal cords. They are pitted against the legions of the Trader empire, in particular the Aristo ruling class, a race that derives pleasure from the amplified pain and anguish of empaths—especially Jagernauts, as Soz knows from personal experience. Soz is also an Imperial Heir and may someday become the military commander of the Skolian Empire, the bitter enemies of the Traders.
The book is divided into three sections. In the first, Soz and her squadron are taking shore leave on a planet that has remained neutral in the hostilities between the warring empires. It is there that Soz meets the Highton Heir, Jaibriol Qox the Second, the Aristo who will someday rule the Trader empire. She discovers he secretly possesses the same empathic abilities that she wields. The two link mentally and fall in love against their own wishes. From Jaibriol, Soz learns that his father is going to commit genocide against the inhabitants of a planet who have joined together to rebel against their Aristo rulers. She goes in with her squadron to warn and evacuate the planet. After a desperate space battle, they barely escape with their own lives, but are able to save some of the planet's inhabitants.
In the second section, Soz is sent by her brother, Kurj, the Imperator of the Skolian Imperialate, for rest and recuperation on the planet Foreshires Hold. Emotionally drained and suffering from post traumatic syndrome, she refuses to acknowledge she needs help. She wants to fight the Traders, to avenge Rex, her second in command and long time friend, who was crippled in the battle. Her condition continues to deteriorate, until she almost shoots herself with her own gun. Finally acknowledging she needs help, she seeks the counsel of a heartbender, a psychologist specifically trained to treat Jagernauts.
In part three, Soz's brother calls her back to HQ. He has captured Jaibriol Qox and wants Soz to interrogate him. Knowing that if her brother discovers her secret meeting with Jaibriol, he will probably have her executed for treason, Soz undertakes a daring rescue and frees Jaibriol. With the help of her stunned father Eldrinson, she and Jaibriol escape in a star ship accident that appears to kill them both. They hide on an isolated planet, with only Soz's father and the president of the Allied Worlds of Earth aware of their true situation. The book ends with their knowledge that they will someday have to return to deal with their respective empires, but for the time being they are safe.
that appeared in print, and is considered a stand alone novel. However, the events that take place in the book are placed in the middle of the series chronology. In 2008, Asaro rewrote the entire book and gave the revised version to the Baen Free Library to post. The sequel to Primary Inversion is The Radiant Seas
, which continues the story of Soz, Jaibriol, and Kurj and is written as an epic space saga covering nearly twenty years.
(in Rhon) and anti-empathy/sadism (in Aristo) is explained by two extraneous structures in the brain, KEB and Kyle Afferent Body (KAB). The first sends out signals of emotions, while the second interprets them. The Aristos were genetically engineered for resistance to pain, and the structure that is supposed to interpret telepathic signals is defective. They do not interpret emotions as such, instead they receive only emotional signals of pain, which their brains re-routes to the sexual pleasure centers. The perfect prey for Aristos are the empaths, since the empaths sends out stronger pain emotions, which translates into greatest pleasure.
"Inversion" is the means of faster-than-light
space travel. Instead of breaking the barrier of the speed of light, spaceships in Primary Inversion go around it. By adding an imaginary component to their velocity, or "inverting," they enter a superluminal universe, allowing for near-instantaneous travel. However, because the ship must come close to the speed of light to invert, travel still takes time. In addition, various space-time calculation errors add complications. The Skolians' military advantage is based on the fact that the pilots can communicate telepathically while in inversion and arrive in tight formation from inversion.
In 1996, Asaro published a paper in the American Journal of Physics
called "Complex Speeds and Special Relativity" that gives the mathematical formulation she developed for the fictional star drive used in Primary Inversion. Describing the idea as a "mathematical game," she shows how making the speed a complex number can remove the problems associated with the singularity at the speed of light.
The Skolian Kyle Web or psiberweb can be used by telepaths as a means for instaneous communication and for information storage. It is based on ancient technology of the Ruby Empire
and powered by the Triad of Rhon empaths, strongest empaths there are. Without the Rhon, the Web would collapse.
Primary Inversion and its sequel, The Radiant Seas, deal with interstellar combat from the perspective of relativistic space travel. The battles in Primary Inversion and other of Asaro's works include extrapolations of current-day ideas in bio-cybernetics, artificial intelligence, situational awareness, relativistic complications, and weapons development. Reviewers have commented on the extent and excitement of the battles, and also the attention to detail. Some readers have played with mixing the Skolian universe with those of other universes to see how wars between the two would play out.
is based on the remnants of the more powerful, ancient Ruby Empire, which was a true matriarchy
. Physically, the women were taller and bigger than men. In many descriptions of women in her book, Asaro compares them to the "ancient warrior queens." Although the society is currently egalitarian, and the Imperator is male, remnants of matriarchy remain.
The main character, Sauscony Valdoria is a warrior, a Jagernaut (biomechanically enhanced fighter and pilot) with the rank of a Primary (military status equivalent to general) and very tough. She admits to being bad with words and emotions, she suppresses her feelings and hides her weaknesses. She is much more comfortable with physical rather than emotional confrontation. In her relationship with Jaibriol Qox, she also takes the dominant role. She is more than twice his age, more experienced and powerful. When he is captured, she rescues and more-or-less physically carries him out of his cell.
, Primary Inversion has been called hard science fiction
, action-rich drama, space opera
, military science fiction
, science fiction romance, and space
adventure
. The book has received praise both for Asaro's development of the emotional lives of the characters and for its innovative use of scientific extrapolation. In an interview at Intel's Moments of Genius web site, Asaro describes how her publisher introduced her books as hard science fiction and how she uses her doctorate in theoretical physics as background for her fiction.
The label assigned to the book has become a source of controversy, in particular due the blend of hard science with romance in the Romeo and Juliet tale of love between the scions of two empires. Some romance readers have said the book doesn't qualify as romance because it is, first and foremost, a story that emphasizes science fiction, one where the two lovers are separated for a third of the book; whereas some science fiction readers have criticized the extent of the development of the love relationship and emotional lives of the characters.
Asaro has been accepting of the term romance despite the controversy and has expressed pleased surprise that her works attracted the interest of the romance community.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
in the Saga of the Skolian Empire
Saga of the Skolian Empire
The Saga of the Skolian Empire, informally called the Skolian Saga or Tales of the Ruby Dynasty, is a series of science fiction novels, novelettes and novellas by Catherine Asaro, revolving around characters from an interstellar empire known as the Skolian Empire and their power struggle with the...
by Catherine Asaro
Catherine Asaro
Catherine Asaro is an American science fiction and fantasy author. She is best known for her books about the Ruby Dynasty, called the Saga of the Skolian Empire.- Biography :...
. As Asaro's debut novel
Debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel an author publishes. Debut novels are the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to publish in the future...
, it first appeared as a hardcover in 1995. It was nominated for the 1996 Compton Crook/Stephen Tall Memorial Award
Compton Crook Award
The Compton Crook Award is presented to the best first novel of the year in the field of Science Fiction, Fantasy, or Horror by the members of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society, Inc, at their annual Baltimore-area science fiction convention, Balticon, held on Memorial Day weekend in the...
and placed tenth on the list for the Locus Award for Best First Novel
Locus Award for Best First Novel
Winners of the Locus Award for Best First Novel, awarded by the Locus magazine. Awards presented in a given year are for works published in the previous calendar year....
.
Synopsis
Primary Inversion is set in a future where three star-faring civilizations vie for control of human-settled space. Fighter pilot Sauscony (Soz) Valdoria commands a sqadron of four Jagernaut pilots, neurologically enhanced empaths who have been bio-engineered as weapons. Jagernauts have extensive biomech throughout their bodies, allowing for enhanced speed and reaction, and an embedded artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
(AI) in their spinal cords. They are pitted against the legions of the Trader empire, in particular the Aristo ruling class, a race that derives pleasure from the amplified pain and anguish of empaths—especially Jagernauts, as Soz knows from personal experience. Soz is also an Imperial Heir and may someday become the military commander of the Skolian Empire, the bitter enemies of the Traders.
The book is divided into three sections. In the first, Soz and her squadron are taking shore leave on a planet that has remained neutral in the hostilities between the warring empires. It is there that Soz meets the Highton Heir, Jaibriol Qox the Second, the Aristo who will someday rule the Trader empire. She discovers he secretly possesses the same empathic abilities that she wields. The two link mentally and fall in love against their own wishes. From Jaibriol, Soz learns that his father is going to commit genocide against the inhabitants of a planet who have joined together to rebel against their Aristo rulers. She goes in with her squadron to warn and evacuate the planet. After a desperate space battle, they barely escape with their own lives, but are able to save some of the planet's inhabitants.
In the second section, Soz is sent by her brother, Kurj, the Imperator of the Skolian Imperialate, for rest and recuperation on the planet Foreshires Hold. Emotionally drained and suffering from post traumatic syndrome, she refuses to acknowledge she needs help. She wants to fight the Traders, to avenge Rex, her second in command and long time friend, who was crippled in the battle. Her condition continues to deteriorate, until she almost shoots herself with her own gun. Finally acknowledging she needs help, she seeks the counsel of a heartbender, a psychologist specifically trained to treat Jagernauts.
In part three, Soz's brother calls her back to HQ. He has captured Jaibriol Qox and wants Soz to interrogate him. Knowing that if her brother discovers her secret meeting with Jaibriol, he will probably have her executed for treason, Soz undertakes a daring rescue and frees Jaibriol. With the help of her stunned father Eldrinson, she and Jaibriol escape in a star ship accident that appears to kill them both. They hide on an isolated planet, with only Soz's father and the president of the Allied Worlds of Earth aware of their true situation. The book ends with their knowledge that they will someday have to return to deal with their respective empires, but for the time being they are safe.
Place in the series
Primary Inversion is the first book of the Skolian Empire seriesSaga of the Skolian Empire
The Saga of the Skolian Empire, informally called the Skolian Saga or Tales of the Ruby Dynasty, is a series of science fiction novels, novelettes and novellas by Catherine Asaro, revolving around characters from an interstellar empire known as the Skolian Empire and their power struggle with the...
that appeared in print, and is considered a stand alone novel. However, the events that take place in the book are placed in the middle of the series chronology. In 2008, Asaro rewrote the entire book and gave the revised version to the Baen Free Library to post. The sequel to Primary Inversion is The Radiant Seas
The Radiant Seas
The Radiant Seas is a novel from the Saga of the Skolian Empire series of books by Catherine Asaro. The book continues where Primary Inversion ended and centers on the story of the devastating interstellar Radiance War...
, which continues the story of Soz, Jaibriol, and Kurj and is written as an epic space saga covering nearly twenty years.
Sauscony (Soz) Valdoria
Soz Valdoria has been among Asaro's most popular characters. A portion of Primary Inversion is devoted to Soz's attempts to deal with the emotional repercussions of being both a highly sensitive empath and an advanced military weapon. In that guise, the story deals with themes of post traumatic stress syndrome. James Schellenberg at Challenging Destiny Reviews has noted that Asaro "understands one of Roger Ebert's dictums about what makes for interesting drama, namely that it's not what we do, but how we feel when we're doing it", and that Soz is "a strong, dynamic character, one that people of either gender can easily identify with. However, Sauscony is not a one-note monolith of fortitude and brawn—she is articulate, funny, and empathic to boot." Asaro uses the character to highlight questions of humanity in asking what happens to soldiers who are turned into weapons. And in dealing with role reversal in "Primary Inversion," she explores traditional gender roles in the process of breaking them.Elements of science fiction
The presence of empathyEmpathy
Empathy is the capacity to recognize and, to some extent, share feelings that are being experienced by another sapient or semi-sapient being. Someone may need to have a certain amount of empathy before they are able to feel compassion. The English word was coined in 1909 by E.B...
(in Rhon) and anti-empathy/sadism (in Aristo) is explained by two extraneous structures in the brain, KEB and Kyle Afferent Body (KAB). The first sends out signals of emotions, while the second interprets them. The Aristos were genetically engineered for resistance to pain, and the structure that is supposed to interpret telepathic signals is defective. They do not interpret emotions as such, instead they receive only emotional signals of pain, which their brains re-routes to the sexual pleasure centers. The perfect prey for Aristos are the empaths, since the empaths sends out stronger pain emotions, which translates into greatest pleasure.
"Inversion" is the means of faster-than-light
Faster-than-light
Faster-than-light communications and travel refer to the propagation of information or matter faster than the speed of light....
space travel. Instead of breaking the barrier of the speed of light, spaceships in Primary Inversion go around it. By adding an imaginary component to their velocity, or "inverting," they enter a superluminal universe, allowing for near-instantaneous travel. However, because the ship must come close to the speed of light to invert, travel still takes time. In addition, various space-time calculation errors add complications. The Skolians' military advantage is based on the fact that the pilots can communicate telepathically while in inversion and arrive in tight formation from inversion.
In 1996, Asaro published a paper in the American Journal of Physics
American Journal of Physics
The American Journal of Physics is a monthly, peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Association of Physics Teachers and the American Institute of Physics. The editor is Jan Tobochnik of Kalamazoo College.-Aims and scope:...
called "Complex Speeds and Special Relativity" that gives the mathematical formulation she developed for the fictional star drive used in Primary Inversion. Describing the idea as a "mathematical game," she shows how making the speed a complex number can remove the problems associated with the singularity at the speed of light.
The Skolian Kyle Web or psiberweb can be used by telepaths as a means for instaneous communication and for information storage. It is based on ancient technology of the Ruby Empire
Ruby empire
The Ruby Empire is an ancient civilization of humans settled on the planet Raylicon in the Saga of the Skolian Empire books by Catherine Asaro.-History:...
and powered by the Triad of Rhon empaths, strongest empaths there are. Without the Rhon, the Web would collapse.
Primary Inversion and its sequel, The Radiant Seas, deal with interstellar combat from the perspective of relativistic space travel. The battles in Primary Inversion and other of Asaro's works include extrapolations of current-day ideas in bio-cybernetics, artificial intelligence, situational awareness, relativistic complications, and weapons development. Reviewers have commented on the extent and excitement of the battles, and also the attention to detail. Some readers have played with mixing the Skolian universe with those of other universes to see how wars between the two would play out.
Matriarchy
The Skolian EmpireSkolian empire
The Skolian Empire, or Skolian Imperialate, is one of the major empires in the science fiction novel series called the Saga of the Skolian Empire by Catherine Asaro.The stories of Catherine Asaro mostly revolve around the Skolian Empire...
is based on the remnants of the more powerful, ancient Ruby Empire, which was a true matriarchy
Matriarchy
A matriarchy is a society in which females, especially mothers, have the central roles of political leadership and moral authority. It is also sometimes called a gynocratic or gynocentric society....
. Physically, the women were taller and bigger than men. In many descriptions of women in her book, Asaro compares them to the "ancient warrior queens." Although the society is currently egalitarian, and the Imperator is male, remnants of matriarchy remain.
The main character, Sauscony Valdoria is a warrior, a Jagernaut (biomechanically enhanced fighter and pilot) with the rank of a Primary (military status equivalent to general) and very tough. She admits to being bad with words and emotions, she suppresses her feelings and hides her weaknesses. She is much more comfortable with physical rather than emotional confrontation. In her relationship with Jaibriol Qox, she also takes the dominant role. She is more than twice his age, more experienced and powerful. When he is captured, she rescues and more-or-less physically carries him out of his cell.
Place in genre and associated controversies
Described as "an unusually masterful first novel," by BooklistBooklist
Booklist is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. It is geared toward libraries and booksellers and is available in print or online...
, Primary Inversion has been called hard science fiction
Hard science fiction
Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific or technical detail, or on scientific accuracy, or on both. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell, Jr.'s Islands of Space in Astounding Science...
, action-rich drama, space opera
Space opera
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap...
, military science fiction
Military science fiction
Military science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction in which the principal characters are members of a military service and an armed conflict is taking place, normally in space, or on a planet other than Earth...
, science fiction romance, and space
Space
Space is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum...
adventure
Adventure
An adventure is defined as an exciting or unusual experience; it may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome. The term is often used to refer to activities with some potential for physical danger, such as skydiving, mountain climbing and or participating in extreme sports...
. The book has received praise both for Asaro's development of the emotional lives of the characters and for its innovative use of scientific extrapolation. In an interview at Intel's Moments of Genius web site, Asaro describes how her publisher introduced her books as hard science fiction and how she uses her doctorate in theoretical physics as background for her fiction.
The label assigned to the book has become a source of controversy, in particular due the blend of hard science with romance in the Romeo and Juliet tale of love between the scions of two empires. Some romance readers have said the book doesn't qualify as romance because it is, first and foremost, a story that emphasizes science fiction, one where the two lovers are separated for a third of the book; whereas some science fiction readers have criticized the extent of the development of the love relationship and emotional lives of the characters.
Asaro has been accepting of the term romance despite the controversy and has expressed pleased surprise that her works attracted the interest of the romance community.