Moon's Shadow

At the age of seventeen the young nobleman named Jaibriol Qox became ruler of a vast galactic empire— and lost everything he had ever valued.

Born of a clandestine liaison between a renegade daughter of the Skolian Imperialate and a scion of the genetically engineered Eubian Traders, Jai Qox grew up in exile, unaware of the powers that coursed through his noble blood. In the waning days of the bloody Radiance War, which ravaged the galaxy, Jai was captured, and returned to the Traders to play a role as a puppet Emperor in their scheme to consolidate their domination of space.

Now Jai must walk a razor's edge, to seize the power that is his by birthright, without succumbing to its dark seduction, in order to avert a conflagration which threatens to engulf a thousand worlds.

"A mesmerizing, passionate novel."—Publishers Weekly

At the age of seventeen the young nobleman named Jaibriol Qox became ruler of a vast galactic empire— and lost everything he had ever valued.

Born of a clandestine liaison between a renegade daughter of the Skolian Imperialate and a scion of the genetically engineered Eubian Traders, Jai Qox grew up in exile, unaware of the powers that coursed through his noble blood. In the waning days of the bloody Radiance War, which ravaged the galaxy, Jai was captured, and returned to the Traders to play a role as a puppet Emperor in their scheme to consolidate their domination of space.

Now Jai must walk a razor's edge, to seize the power that is his by birthright, without succumbing to its dark seduction, in order to avert a conflagration which threatens to engulf a thousand worlds.

"Asaro's vast, splendid Skolian Empire saga continues to successfully combine space opera, hard science, and romance."—Booklist

Publishers Weekly

This mesmerizing, passionate novel-the eighth in Nebula Award-winner Asaro's (The Quantum Rose) series about the Skolian interstellar empire-focuses mainly on Skolia's rival, Eube, whose rulers are addicted to the suffering of empathic slaves. Teenaged Jai Rockworth, successful claimant to the Eubian throne but also a disguised empath, wants to create a healthy peace between the warring powers, but his inexperience trips him into one crisis after another. Also, his secret is suspected by the coldblooded Corbal Xir, "one of the most feared men in settled space," and Tarquine Iquar, brilliant but unscrupulous Finance Minister, whom Jai selects as his empress. Corbal and Tarquine want to manipulate Jai; other Eubians just want to assassinate him. The Skolians, meanwhile, don't know what to make of Jai, though Kelric Garlin, their leader who was briefly Tarquine's slave, feels that the young idealist may deserve serious attention. In this formidably complicated situation, recomplicated by the characters' suspicion of each other, Asaro skillfully shows the hesitant sprouting of loyalty, trust and even love. Newcomers can count on a lot of background summary (supplemented by family trees and a timeline at the end) throughout this far from subtle narrative. Still, it's fascinating to watch these overwrought people in superheated interaction. Agent, Eleanor Wood of Spectrum Literary Agency. (Mar. 27) FYI: Asaro has won the two most recent Romantic Times Awards for Best SF Novel. Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

Born in Oakland, California, Catherine Asaro, received a doctorate in physics from Harvard University. She has published a number of papers on theoretical physics and was a physics professor until 1990, when she established Molecudyne Research, which she currently runs. A former ballerina, she has performed with ballets and in musicals on both coasts, and founded the Mainly Jazz Dance program at Harvard. She now teaches at the Caryl Maxwell Classical Ballet. Her husband is John Kendall Cannizzo, an astrophysicist at NASA. They have one daughter and live in Columbia, Maryland.