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83-584: 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 Asaro mostly revolve around the Skolian Empire. She also has written several novellas and novelettes on the world of the Skolian Empire. Skolians are in a permanent near-war state with their enemy, the Eubians, who rule

166-438: A Pharaoh under special circumstances, such as his when his royal mother had no daughters. However, their shallow understanding of space-faring technology, and possibly their corruption, led to the empire's collapse after only a few centuries. This isolated the hundreds of planets in their empire from each other for thousands of years. Eventually, about 400 years ago, Raylicans re-achieved space flight, this time fully understanding

249-472: A balance between humanity and efficiency, giving J-Force the highest alcoholism and suicide rates within the forces of the Skolian Imperialate. Some Jagernauts manage to survive by suppressing their more human side, becoming either cold and machine-like (Kurj), or living lives of quiet emotional desperation and loneliness (Sauscony). Help is usually available to emotionally damaged Jagernauts in

332-486: A few Rhon serving as well. Their telepathic or empathic abilities mean that they function best when there is no crew (and their corresponding thoughts) to interfere with a Jagernaut's concentration. As such, they generally engage in battle in small squadrons, bound to their single-pilot craft called "Jags" in a near symbiosis of human and machine. A Jagernaut has "psiphon" sockets which allow them to interface their body directly with spacecraft. Their mind links directly to

415-429: A few by Asaro. The CD has twelve songs, eleven originals and a cover of " Sound of Silence ". Asaro, who did not know how to sing, took voice lessons in preparation for the recordings, and continues to train and perform. Asaro has described how the collaboration inspired her work, as exemplified by the song "Emeralds", which she was not able to finish until she and Ani were in the studio recording his vocals. During 2009,

498-440: A given mental strength. Most humans rate between 0 and 2 on this scale, which denotes absent or marginal empathic and telepathic abilities. A three or higher indicates an empath; a six denotes a telepath. There is also a group of psions who have a rating too high to be measured numerically. Those are called "Rhon". They are extremely rare and to be born Rhon a child must get the full set of psion genes from both parents. In practice,

581-747: A great column of light called a "Kyle singularity". The ancient technology which created the Locks has been lost, but the Skolian Empire has deduced some of its functioning. Their three known remaining Locks are located on the Orbiter space habitat (headquarters of the Skolian military), the planet Raylicon (origin of the Ruby Empire), and on the Onyx platform. The psiberweb is crucial to the defence of

664-485: A house or complex of buildings. In interstellar travel, Skolians often make use of quasis , which is a form of quantum -shielding that freezes the quantum state of all particles on a spacecraft. Ships in both the Skolian Empire and the Eubians are equipped with devices, controlled by EIs that shift a ship into "quasis" to avoid damage to the ship from weapons fire or from high-G maneuvers. The quasis prevents change in

747-406: A human lifespan to several centuries. People also keep a young appearance, as they stop visibly aging at the age of 30 – 40. It is important to start the treatments as early in life as possible. People who received those treatments in early childhood or before birth (passed on from mother to child during pregnancy) achieve the best results. The older a person is when receiving anti-aging treatments for

830-777: A member of the Ruby Dynasty cannot assume this title for some reason, then the person who is currently next in command of the military becomes Imperator. To do the job well, to its full extent, the Imperator also has to be the Military Key in the Triad , as the commander must be able to coordinate the military forces with an amount of speed only allowed by using the psiberweb . The Skolian Imperators so far have been Jarac Skolia, Kurj Skolia , Sauscony Valdoria Skolia, General Naaj Majda, and Kelric Valdoria Skolia who presently holds

913-482: A much bigger star-spanning empire called the Eubian Concord. Eubians (often also referred to as Traders , due to their flourishing slave trade) have stronger militaries and dispose of greater resources. Skolians, though weaker, balance this out by usage of their faster-than-light interstellar communication network called psiberweb , which gives them an important advantage and is the only obstacle that prevents

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996-524: A number of functions, including promoting injury recovery, preventing the ingestion of poison, augmenting skills, delaying aging, and more. Jagernauts are renowned for their large size and efficiency in battle. Jagernauts ranks from highest to lowest The main training academy for Jagernauts is the Dieshan Military Academy (DMA). The cadet ranks from lowest to highest are: Apprentice, Journeyman, Junior, and Senior. A Jagernaut exists on

1079-608: A principal dancer for two dance groups at Harvard: The Mainly Jazz Dance Company and the Harvard University Ballet. After she graduated, her undergraduate students took over Mainly Jazz and made it into a club at the college. She has completed two terms as president of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) (2003–2005) and during her tenure established the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. Her husband

1162-513: A psion possesses, the stronger psionic abilities he/she manifests. However, many of these genes are closely linked to other Recessive genes that may cause deformities in offspring. As a result, the stronger the psionic abilities of a parent, the more likely it is that a child will be either deformed or not survive pregnancy. This is why Psions are very rare. Telepathy and empathy in Asaro's novels are mediated by two microscopic brain structures,

1245-457: A quasis field and re-animate the crew in the midst of a massive explosion. A collapse of a quasis field results in a rupture of the Klein bottles holding the anti-matter fuel used to power the ship, resulting in matter-antimatter explosions. Due to advanced nanotechnology , microscopic nanomeds can be put into people's bodies to manage cell repair and delay aging. This enables the extension of

1328-461: A superluminal universe does exist, we have no way to reach it given that we must go through the speed of light, which to the best of our knowledge is impossible. In this paper, I show that by making speed complex, we can go around the speed of light in a manner analogous to the way a car faced with an infinitely tall roadblock might leave the road to go around that barrier. The treatment is a mathematical device; no known physical interpretation exists for

1411-457: Is Roca Skolia . Besides the Assembly, two important titles in the Skolian government are held by members of the Ruby Dynasty. Ruby Pharaoh is the hereditary title of a reigning monarch. It dates back to the ancient Ruby Empire that was ruled by powerful warrior queens. When the modern Skolian Empire was founded, the title of Ruby Pharaoh was resurrected, yet this time the power of a Pharaoh

1494-415: Is a collaboration between Catherine Asaro and the rock musicians Point Valid . The project resulted in a CD, Diamond Star (Starflight Music, April 2009), which is a "soundtrack" for the book, Diamond Star ( Baen Books ). The novel tells the story of Del-Kurj, a Ruby Dynasty prince who would rather be a rock singer than sit on the throne. The lyrics to the songs appear in the novel Diamond Star and were

1577-413: Is a member of SIGMA, a think tank of speculative writers that advises the government as to future trends affecting national security. She is also known for her advocacy of bringing girls and women into STEM fields and for increased diversity, and for challenging gender roles and literary expectations in her fiction. She has been an invited speaker or visiting professor for various institutions, including

1660-547: Is also noted for including sophisticated mathematical concepts in her fiction. The method of space travel used in the Skolian Empire books comes from a paper Asaro wrote on complex variables and special relativity that appeared in the American Journal of Physics . The novel Spherical Harmonic involves an imagined universe based on the Hilbert space described by the spherical harmonic eigenfunctions that solve

1743-422: Is characterized not only by their cruelty but also by power-hunger and sense of superiority. Their leader, Eube Qox founded the Eubian Concord and his descendants presently rule it. Aristos began breeding psions to torture and use as pleasure slaves called providers . Their main goal was to produce a single, extremely strong psion who could serve as an ultimate provider. The stronger a provider's psionic abilities,

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1826-406: Is known as a hard science fiction writer for the scientific depth of her work. The amount of science varies from book to book, with novels such as Primary Inversion , The Radiant Seas , and Spherical Harmonic on the most scientifically dense end of the spectrum, including elements such as equations and diagrams of quantum mechanical wave functions and Klein bottles . Stanley Schmidt ,

1909-464: Is not absolute anymore. An elected Assembly governs, with the Pharaoh being mainly the titular head of the empire, though she holds an important bloc of votes in the Assembly. The role of the Pharaoh is also associated with the Triad title of Assembly Key, though both positions don't have to be necessarily joined together. There have been only two Skolian Pharaohs so far – Lahaylia Selei, the founder of

1992-424: Is now not uncommon for men to hold an influential position, many important ranks in Skolian politics and the military are still occupied by women. Many people, especially members of the noble houses, still consider men as the "weaker gender". The Skolian Imperialate is ruled partly by the Assembly, an elected parliament; and by the Ruby Dynasty, a hereditary monarchy. According to traditional Skolian political theory,

2075-682: The Hilbert space described by the spherical harmonic eigenfunctions that solve the Laplace Equation , and some prose in the book is written in the shape of the sinusoidal waves found in the spherical harmonics. Her novel The Quantum Rose is an allegory to quantum scattering theory and is dedicated to her doctoral advisors and mentors in the subject, Alex Dalgarno , Kate Kirby , and Eric J. Heller . The novella "Aurora in Four Voices" includes topics ranging from Fourier series to integration problems in calculus . In essays at

2158-471: The Laplace Equation , and some prose in the book is written in the shape of the sinusoidal waves found in the spherical harmonics. Her novel The Quantum Rose is an allegory to quantum scattering theory and is dedicated to her doctoral advisors and mentors in the subject, Alex Dalgarno , Kate Kirby , and Eric J. Heller . The novella "Aurora in Four Voices" includes topics ranging from Fourier series to integration problems in calculus . In essays in

2241-470: The Laplace Equation , the author invents a universe where "location" is based on quantum wave functions rather than position and time, and where a psion's thoughts determined their location in Kyle space. The Locks are three powerful sentient machines created by the ancient Ruby Empire . They are located at points of disruption in normal spacetime caused by an intersection with Kyle space, which manifests as

2324-963: The National Academy of Sciences , Harvard , Georgetown University , NASA , The American Association for the Advancement of Science ( AAAS ), The Global Competitiveness Forum in Saudi Arabia, the New Zealand National ConText Writer's program, the University of Maryland, the US Naval Academy , and many other institutions. A former ballet and jazz dancer , Catherine Asaro has performed with dance companies and in musicals on both coasts and in Ohio. She founded and served as artistic director and

2407-635: The Richmond Voluntary Integration Plan . She has a B.S. with highest honors in chemistry from UCLA , and both a master's in physics and a PhD in chemical physics from Harvard University . When not writing and making appearances at conventions and signings, Asaro teaches math, physics, and chemistry. She was director of the Chesapeake Math Program and has coached various nationally ranked teams with home, private, and public school students, in particular

2490-552: The psiberweb , an interstellar network existing outside of normal space and time that transmits messages instantaneously. Their empire was called the Ruby Empire. The Ruby Empire was a matriarchy ruled by powerful females who held the title of Ruby Pharaoh. The Pharaohs wielded enormous power, leading armies to wars and treating their husbands like property. Succession went strictly through the female line, men being seen as incapable of such responsibilities. A man could only become

2573-420: The quantum state of any particle, temporarily rendering the ship invulnerable. While in quasis, the quantum state of all the occupants of the ship also freezes causing the crew to experience the quasis as a disjointed segment of time. Each weapon strike against a ship in quasis weakens its quasis field. The novels describe an unspecified number of weapon hits (typically suggesting two to four) that will collapse

Saga of the Skolian Empire - Misplaced Pages Continue

2656-468: The Allieds, are an extension of a present-day Earth civilization who enter space travel only to find all worlds are already inhabited and thriving under either the Skolian or Eubian Empire. Their role in the series is that of a neutral party, interested only in the cessation of hostilities. Around 6,000 years ago an unknown race moved a group of Mayan humans from Earth to the distant planet Raylicon. Then

2739-560: The Assembly Key is required to have a peerless intellect and a piercing analytical mind. Therefore, the person who is the Assembly Key takes the sobriquet of the "Mind of Skolia", or the style of Ruby Pharaoh, with at least the executive powers of chief-of-state. The Selei branch of the Rhon produces the Assembly Key with following line of succession: Lahaylia, then Dyhianna, with Taquinil the designated successor. The personality powering

2822-563: The Assembly's power far from absolute. The Assembly consists of thousands of delegates, who represent the many worlds of the Imperialate. The number of votes held by delegates depends on the size of the population of the planet that elected them and also on their status within the Assembly. The largest block of votes belongs to the First Councilor, who is the leader of the Assembly. The next largest blocks are held by Councilors of

2905-467: The Celtic rock song "Ancient Ages". Kyle Web#Triad Rhon Psions , known as Ruby Psions , are a group of extremely powerful psionics in the fictional Saga of the Skolian Empire by Catherine Asaro . In the novels , psion is a term describing fictional people with empathic and in some cases telepathic abilities. Psions can detect emotions , and even individual thoughts, depending on

2988-727: The Chesapeake teams for national tournaments such as the Princeton and Harvard-MIT competitions. She also taught a gifted program in math and science at the Yang Academy in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Her students have placed at the top levels in numerous national competitions, including the United States of America Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) and the United States of America Mathematical Talent Search (USAMTS). Asaro

3071-794: The Diamond Star Project expanded to include Donald Wolcott, a jazz pianist who accompanied Asaro in concerts. In 2010, Starflight Music released the EP Goodbye Note by Asaro and Wolcott, which includes the song "No Answers with in Paradisum" from the Diamond Star soundtrack, rewritten and sung by Asaro. In 2010, Marty Pell joined the Diamond Star Project as an additional pianist, and in 2011, Greg Adams replaced Wolcott as Asaro's primary accompanist. In 2018, Asaro teamed up with author and songwriter Arlan Andrews to do

3154-721: The Earth 66 million years ago and caused mass extinctions , including the demise of the dinosaurs. The Saga of the Skolian Empire, informally called the Skolian Saga, is a series of science fiction novels, novelettes and novellas revolving around characters from an interstellar empire known as the Skolian Empire and their power struggle with the rival Eubian Concord . The arc of the books unfolds over several generations of characters and revolves around political intrigues, but also contains subplots regarding romance , physics , bio-enhancements , and virtual computer networks . Asaro

3237-476: The Eubians from conquering Skolia. Another player on the interstellar stage is the Allieds, the smallest of the three empires, centered on Earth. They act in a strictly neutral way to both Eubians and Skolians and support the solution of their neighbour's conflicts by political, rather than military means. Today's Skolian Empire is an egalitarian society, but the original Ruby Empire was a matriarchy and remnants of this still remain in Skolian culture. Although it

3320-526: The ISC headquarters and seat of the Dieshan Military Academy. Asaro is known as a hard science fiction writer for the scientific depth of her work. The amount of science varies from book to book, with novels such as Primary Inversion , The Radiant Seas , and Spherical Harmonic on the most scientifically dense end of the spectrum, including elements such as equations and diagrams of quantum mechanical wave functions and Klein bottles . Stanley Schmidt ,

3403-437: The Imperialate, and her daughter Dyhianna, who is the current Pharaoh. The heirs to the throne are Dyhiannas sons, first Taquinil, then Althor, with her younger sister Roca being next in line. The title of Imperator is associated with the army, the Imperator being the supreme commander of all Skolian military forces. This title is also hereditary but the Imperator can choose a successor from among several suitable candidates. If

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3486-753: The Inner Circle and by Skolian Imperator and Ruby Pharaoh. All Skolian noble houses have hereditary seats in the Assembly but only the Ruby Dynasty and the House of Majda have blocs of votes with considerable influence. There are five main political parties within the Assembly: The Inner Circle consists of elected Councilors representing different ministries of the Skolian government: Industry, Life, Finance, Intelligence, Judiciary, Stars, Planetary Development, Domestic Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Protocol, and Nature. The Foreign Affairs Councillor

3569-574: The KEB and KAB feed information about a sender's brain activity into the KEB, and interpret the quantum patterns in the KAB back into emotions and thoughts in the receiver. The term KAB Rating stands for Kyle Afferent Body Rating, and is also called "Kyle Rating". It refers to the strength of a psion's empathic and telepathic abilities and is measured on a scale from 0 to 10, based on a logarithmic inverse of how many people it would take to find an individual with

3652-586: The Kyle Efferent Body (KEB) and Kyle Afferent Body (KAB). The KEB works by modulating the wave functions of some of the particles within it in a way that models, on a much smaller scale and with a low degree of precision, the electrochemical patterns (i.e. thoughts and emotions) of the brain surrounding it. The KAB detects such signals from the KEBs of other nearby psions via quantum entanglement , establishing matching patterns. "Parastructures" surrounding

3735-555: The Kyle Web, but cannot construct or maintain it. It is possible for a Rhon psion to physically enter psiberspace via a Lock, as the Ruby Pharaoh Dyhianna Selei and her son Taquinil did to escape a Eubian attack on the Orbiter. Inexperienced psions suffer potentially fatal headaches upon entering a Lock. Dyhianna eventually emerges from psiberspace on a random planet, but Taquinil's whereabouts remain unknown at

3818-606: The Locks. Ruby Dynasty members differ physically from the members of other noble Houses, who are mostly dark-haired and dark-eyed, also with darker skin. This is because some ancestors of the Ruby Dynasty came from ancient colonies of the Ruby Empire, where people genetically engineered themselves to better adapt to their surroundings. The first Skolian Imperator Jarac was extremely tall (over 7 feet) with metallic skin, eyes and hair. Some of his descendants inherited these traits, particularly his daughter Roca and grandsons Kurj , Althor and Kelric . Ruby family members who look similar to

3901-609: The Military Key is required to be robust, ruthless, agile, forceful, and uncompromising. Therefore, the person who is the Military Key takes the sobriquet of the "Fist of Skolia", or the style of Imperator , with the executive power of commander-in-chief of all armed forces in the Imperialate . The Skolia branch of the Rhon produces the Military Key: Jarac, Kurj , Althor Valdoria Skolia, Sauscony Valdoria Skolia , and Kelric Valdoria Skolia . The personality powering

3984-430: The Rhon project, however, was the creation of Aristos, a race of anti-empaths, whose brains interpret pain of others (especially of psions ) as pleasure, which turned them into sadists. This result led to the birth of two competing interstellar empires – Eubian Concord (founded by Aristos) and Skolian Empire – founded by Lahaylia Selei, progenitor of the modern Ruby Dynasty, a family of Rhon telepaths who currently co-rule

4067-609: The Skolian Empire books comes from a paper Asaro wrote on complex variables and special relativity that appeared in the American Journal of Physics . The form of space travel is called "inversion" because the equations of relativistic physics predict that if ships could travel in a supraluminal universe, the constellations as we know them would appear inverted in position. In the abstract for her paper, "Complex Speeds and Special Relativity," Asaro writes "The quest to find faster‐than‐light particles has intrigued physicists for decades, though it has yet to turn up any real candidates. Even if

4150-542: The Skolian Empire together with an elected parliament, the Assembly. The different Keys that can exist, (depending which time period the particular novel occurs in), are the Assembly Key, the Military Key, and the Web Key. Each of these Keys has a line succession that is hereditary, though all the members of the Skolia family are in each of the lines at various points due to issues of consanguinity . The personality powering

4233-443: The Skolian Empire. Access and control of the psiberweb is what gives the Skolian Empire its equal strength to the more powerful and more numerous Trader empire. Only the Rhon psions have sufficient Kyle Rating to interface with the Locks. In exceptional cases Rhon can even receive emotions over big distances (even through space), mostly when they are closely related to the sender. Less powerful psions called telops can also access and use

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4316-609: The Skolian Imperialate and power and maintain the Kyle Web . The collection of Skolian armed forces is called Imperial Space Command , or ISC . The commander-in-chief of all ISC forces is the Imperator of Skolia. The ISC has four divisions: The main centers of ISC are the space habitat Orbiter with its War Room, Triad Chair and Lock , the Onyx Platform protecting the Third Lock and the planet Diesha, which serves as

4399-472: The Skolian Imperialate. Once a member of the Ruby Dynasty makes contact with a Lock, they become part of the Triad (formerly a Dyad). A member of the Triad is called a Key. Three types of Keys exist: Assembly Key , Military Key and Web Key . Each Key has to have a unique personality different from the other two as much as possible because if the neurological processes are too similar, they cannot coexist in

4482-564: The Triad. So far the title of Pharaoh was always associated with the Assembly Key, while the title Imperator was associated with the Military Key. Jagernauts are fictional soldiers in the Saga of the Skolian Empire by Catherine Asaro. They are members of the J-Force, which is an ISC elite fighting division composed of independent fighter pilots who engage in small squadron combat with the Eubians. Jagernauts are psions with high Kyle Ratings , generally full empaths or even telepaths, with even

4565-501: The back of some of her novels, Asaro explains the mathematical and physics basis of the ideas used in the books, in particular Spherical Harmonic, The Quantum Rose , and The Moon's Shadow. In the anthology Aurora in Four Voices (which includes the novella of the same name), Asaro describes the mathematical basis of several stories in the anthology, including the use of Fourier transforms, Riemann sheets , and complex numbers in "The SpaceTime Pool." The method of space travel used in

4648-493: The back of some of her novels, Asaro explains the mathematical and physics basis of the ideas used in the books, in particular Spherical Harmonic, The Quantum Rose, and The Moon's Shadow. In the anthology Aurora in Four Voices (which includes the novella of the same name), Asaro describes the mathematical basis of several stories in the anthology, including the use of Fourier transforms, Riemann sheets , and complex numbers in "The SpaceTime Pool." The Diamond Star Project

4731-411: The concepts of the Hilbert space described by the harmonics to create the universe called Kyle space. Spherical harmonics (see also Spherical Harmonic ) are an orthonormal set of eigenfunctions used in many areas of math and physics, including quantum mechanics and electromagnetics . By directly applying the rules that define Hilbert spaces described by the angular wave functions that solve

4814-590: The empire was rebuilt, and approximately 400 years ago, the Raylicans re-developed space travel. The Raylicans also rediscovered the Locks , devices that have allowed advanced telepaths to establish the interstellar network called the Kyle Web or psiberweb, which can be used by others. Thus, the Rhon project was developed to develop genetically the necessary neurochemistry to power the Locks . The unintended result of

4897-443: The first Pharaoh Lahaylia, such as Dyhianna, Sauscony or Taquinil, are on the other hand smaller than average and slim with black hair. Eldrinson Valdoria , a native Lyshrioli , had violet eyes, fair skin and burgundy hair, which is also true for several of his children, especially Eldrin and Del-Kurj. Ruby Dynasty members tend to be good-looking because their progenitors were bred as pleasure slaves before they rebelled and established

4980-602: The first time, the larger the possibility that they won't work that well. In Skolian Empire, many people, most often in the military or administration, carry bio-implants . Most common are nodes in brain which are used mainly as extended memory to store useful data. Many people have also psiphon sockets in their spine, wrists, and ankles, that enable them to lock into the psiberweb . People who suffer severe injuries and lose their limbs or eyes can get prosthetic ones. The Skolian Imperialate consists of many worlds with hundreds or thousands of different languages. The language that

5063-724: The form of military psychiatric therapists, known as "heartbenders". Catherine Asaro Catherine Ann Asaro (born November 6, 1955) is an American science fiction and fantasy author, singer and teacher. She is best known for her books about the Ruby Dynasty, called the Saga of the Skolian Empire . Catherine Asaro was born on November 6, 1955, in Oakland, California , and grew up in El Cerrito, California . She attended Kennedy High School in Richmond, California , as part of

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5146-559: The imaginary part of a complex speed. However, it can provide an entertaining problem in special relativity, one that may encourage students to think about the connections between equations and the physical universe." Evolving Intelligence, also known as EI , is the term given to sophisticated computer systems, similar to what is commonly known as Artificial Intelligence , or AI, but with more capabilities, such as complex learning algorithms and personality routines. EIs are used for example in starships or as administrators of computer systems in

5229-509: The inspiration for the CD. Point Valid is an alternative band originating in Baltimore, Maryland , with Hayim Ani on vocals and guitar, Adam Leve on drums and Max Vidaver on guitar. Ani wrote most of the music for the CD, and Asaro wrote most of the lyrics, as well as music for three songs. Ani also contributed three original compositions, both music and lyrics. Most of the vocals are by Ani, with

5312-551: The involvement of the Aristos in creating the Rhon psions. The Kyle Web, also known as the psiberweb, is an instantaneous interstellar communication network powered by Locks. The psiberweb can be thought of as similar to the Internet. Unlike the Internet, the psiberweb, rather than existing in real physical form, transmits information through "Kyle space", also known as "psiberspace". A theoretical physicist by training, Asaro uses

5395-404: The kidnappers disappeared, leaving their victims on their own. The Raylicans developed star travel using the remains of three starships left behind by the aliens on their new homeworld. They reverse engineered the technology, allowing them to achieve spaceflight and colonize hundreds of planets. They also discovered the Locks , an ancient and sentient alien technology that allowed them to create

5478-463: The long time editor of Analog magazine, wrote that Primary Inversion is "an impressive first novel; not just a good story, but the kind of speculation we too seldom see – really new science that just might be possible." Asaro is noted as one of the few female science fiction writers who also has a doctorate in hard science, in Asaro's case a PhD from Harvard in theoretical Chemical Physics. Asaro

5561-476: The long time editor of Analog magazine, wrote that Primary Inversion is "an impressive first novel; not just a good story, but the kind of speculation we too seldom see – really new science that just might be possible." Asaro is noted as one of the few female science fiction writers who also has a doctorate in hard science, in Asaro's case a PhD from Harvard in theoretical Chemical Physics. The novel Spherical Harmonic involves an imagined universe based on

5644-425: The other hand, while larger in number and more successful economically, constitute a society built entirely of a slave hierarchy run by Aristos, who have been genetically engineered and have no capability for compassion, but rather experience pleasure in the form of "transcendence" through the projected suffering of powerful psions that have been kidnapped from the Skolian Imperialate. A third but much smaller group,

5727-571: The pain of others. The project failed and spawned instead modified Kyle organs to interpret pain signals from psions as orgasmic pleasure called "transcendence". Upon discovering his mistake, Dr. Rhon attempted to destroy his patients but they murdered him first and destroyed his work. Dr Rhon's former patients are referred to as Aristos . They are anti-empathetic sadists utterly devoid of compassion. Notably, some Aristos (Corbal Xir, Calliope Muze, and Tarquine Iquar) have undergone surgery to remove their ability to achieve transcendence. The Aristo nature

5810-482: The pair, name unknown, committed suicide upon realizing his intended purpose. The female, Lahaylia Selei, killed her captors and escaped. Lahaylia then founded the Skolian Imperialate . Later she discovered a natural Rhon from a nearly dead race of Ruby colonists, named Jarac Skolia, and took him as her consort. However, since this history is rather unnoble, the story as told in the Skolian Empire omits

5893-427: The psiberweb. The ruling family of today's Skolian Empire is called the Ruby Dynasty, as Lahaylia Selei, the progenitor of the modern Ruby family, was cloned from the genetic material of one of the long dead warrior queens of the Ruby Empire. The descendants of the Ruby Dynasty are all Rhon psions . They can read moods, and even particular thoughts. They were created in a genetic engineering experiment to help power

5976-520: The razor's edge of sanity needing to balance empathy with efficient battle reflexes. Jagernauts must be psions to make the necessary neural links with the Evolving Intelligences of their starfighters, but that also means they experience what happens during war more intensely than most soldiers. To maintain self-control every Jagernaut is trained to adhere to a strict moral code of honor and personal decency. Not all succeed in maintaining

6059-455: The ruling body is absolute, therefore the Assembly is Sovereign. All powers of the Imperator and the Pharaoh are theoretically derived from the Assembly, including their right to vote within the Assembly. In actuality the Pharaoh, and also the Imperator, have power because they are necessary to the continued existence of the Imperialate. In the case of the Pharaoh, traditional loyalty to the Ruby Dynasty queen also plays an important role. This makes

6142-466: The same type were to join the psiberweb simultaneously, one is likely to die, as Kurj did to Jarac. Rhon psions that "join" the Locks are considered members of the Dyad or Triad, depending on the context of the novel in the series. A Dyad is formed by two complementary personalities, and a Triad is formed by three such. The Dyad or the Triad when acting together forms the full executive authority that governs

6225-442: The ship's EI , and together they control all aspects of the ship. A Jagernaut is enhanced with biomechanics. Bioplastics and other materials enhance their muscles and bones significantly. Although still requiring food, a Jagernaut has internal systems powered by a microfusion reactor. Complete with the latest in small-scale technology, Jagernauts have numerous nanomeds and nano / pico devices in their bodies that are responsible for

6308-524: The strength of the psion and the proximity of those around them. They are also susceptible to the emotional suffering of people who are near them, and can suffer emotional scars from other psions who project their pain naturally. To survive the ongoing emotional attacks, psions are trained to put up barriers around their minds, both to protect themselves from unwelcomed feelings and thoughts and to prevent projecting onto others. There are several hundred genes that result in psionic abilities. The more such genes

6391-440: The stronger the pain signals he produces while tortured and consequently, the greater the pleasure an Aristo experiences. The first Rhon psions were a pair of siblings meant to be bred to each other to found a pre-eminent line of providers. They were created from genetic samples of long dead members of the once so powerful Ruby Empire 's ruling caste, who were known for their great empathic and telepathic abilities. The male half of

6474-416: The technology, and started to rebuild their empire. Because of this theme, Asaro's Skolian Empire novels have been categorized in the lost world genre . By the time the Raylicans started rebuilding their empire, the psions which had a strong enough KAB Rating to power the psiberweb had been all but lost. As a result, the Rhon project was created to genetically engineer the traits necessary to create

6557-404: The term Rhon refers to members of Ruby Dynasty, the ruling family of Skolian Empire, as Rhon not related to them are not known. The Rhon Project was instigated to genetically engineer extremely powerful psions. The project was led by the prominent geneticist, Hezahr Rhon. The initial project of Dr. Rhon was undertaken to prevent the suffering of psions by attempting to prevent them from receiving

6640-552: The time of the novel Catch the Lightning . Rhon psions can act as Keys to the psiberweb, engaging the Locks to create and maintain psiberweb links. The Locks can support only a limited number of Keys. This limit is determined by a psiberspace law equivalent to the Pauli Exclusion Principle , in that no more than one personality of a specific type can be joined to the Locks at any given time. If two persons of

6723-539: The title. The Skolian Empire traces its roots to six thousand years ago, when an unknown race took humans from Earth and resettled them on a planet called Raylicon. Then the unknown race disappeared, leaving only parts of their technology behind. The humans on Raylicon used this technology to develop space travel. They founded the Ruby Empire and colonized hundreds of planets. But the empire collapsed, and many worlds were left isolated for thousands of years. Gradually,

6806-485: Was John Kendall Cannizzo (1957–2018), an astrophysicist at NASA . They have one daughter, a ballet dancer who studied mathematics at the University of Cambridge and UC Berkeley. Catherine Asaro is the daughter of Frank Asaro , the nuclear chemist who discovered the iridium anomaly that led the team of Luis Alvarez , Walter Alvarez , Frank Asaro, and Helen Michel to postulate that an asteroid collided with

6889-432: Was chosen as a common tongue is called Skolian Flag. People from the Ruby Dynasty and other noble houses speak a nearly extinct language called Iotic. The Ruby Dynasty, the ancient rulers of the Skolian Empire , while possessing empathic and telepathic abilities enhanced by " pico " and " nano " technology, constitute a monarchy plagued by internal struggle and conflict with the elected Assembly. The Eubian Traders, on

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