Carnelians

By: Catherine Asaro

Narrated by: Suzanne Toren

Revered SF novelist Catherine Asaro has twice won the coveted Nebula Award. In Carnelians, the Eubian empire and Skolian Imperialate have forged a peace treaty. But when an explosive pop anthem sweeps across the civilizations, unrest breaks out, and renewed warfare threatens to shatter the fragile peace.

©2011 Catherine Asaro (P)2012 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

“Asaro’s Skolian saga is now nearly as long and in many ways as compelling as Dune, if not more so.” ( Booklist)

Very well crafted, with many twists and turns!

Taking off on the heels of Diamond Star, Catherine Asaro creates another beautiful gem of a story in The Saga of the Skolian Empire, which ramps up the stakes for the both star-spanning empires of Skolia and the Eubians. Separate, converging plot threads focus on people from all walks of life on both sides of the two interstellar superpowers, enduring the fallout from Del-Kurj's music, and having to overcome nigh impossible odds born of ages of enmity to achieve true, lasting peace. This coda to the "present" story arc of the Skolian Empire series gives twists and turns in the lives of both royal families brought about by hidden treachery, as well as the effects wrought by these decisions upon those among the trillions they respectively rule. For veteran fans of the series, this will be another satisfying and engaging read. Absolutely recommended.

Convoluted

Fairly thought-provoking and convoluted with a couple of unexpected twists. Great book for a cross country trip!

Great story but ...

I won't say Suzanne Toren is the worst narrator, but she is definitely lacking. Some of the ways she chose to portray certain characters was disappointing. The voice she gave Taquinil was just sad you listen to the story and you know she's a powerful kick your... kinda woman but she gave her the voice of a 90 year old woman, and for Pete's sake please pronounce "schedule" properly it not shedule the word comes from Greek and has a "K" in it. Sorry just a pet peeve of mine.

Horrible performance

Read like some badly acted soap with overdramatized and flat performance (oxymoron though it may be). AI voices in a world of interstellar travel and luxury are flat like computer voices from the 2000’s, Roca sounds like an old, feeble woman, and the “Impur-rator” pronunciation raked at my nerves. Couldn’t make it through the whole book.