"Great SF romance"

Twice married and widowed, Roca, heir to the Ruby Dynasty's pharaoh, seeks freedom from the manipulations of her son Kurj. He sees his mother as a tool to use in furthering the empire's goal of eliminating the Skolian Empire enemy, the Aristos. Desperate, she in a bid for freedom from her overbearing, manipulative son, Roca flees into space, but ends up stranded on the backwater planet, Skyfall.

Local ruling bard Eldrison captures Roca He takes his sky fallen prisoner to an isolated sanctuary. However, he soon finds himself enthralled with his prisoner. She quickly becomes his advisor and ultimately his spouse. As he teaches her to trust, she shows him what a woman can be when love allows her to soar.

SKYFALL is a stand alone entertaining since fiction romance that focuses on a clash of cultures between a highly advanced race and a more primitive people. Fans of Catherine Asaro must realize that this tale may be set in the same galaxy as her classic tales, but is quite different when compared with her previous Saga of the Skolian Empire works as this tale is a bit thin in terms of the physics that turn her thrillers into action packed cerebral gems. Still this warm tale of love between diverse cultures is another winner from one of the best writers the genre offers.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted September 27, 2003