Skolian saga - Catherine Asaro

Skolian saga - Catherine Asaro
6,000 years ago, an unknown race took humans from Earth and put them on a planet called Raylicon, gave them technology, then left.  At first, the humans used the technology, thrived and created a star spanning Ruby Empire.  Then civilization crashed and planets were isolated.  The empire slowly recovered, but much knowledge was lost in the collapse.  The recovery is driven by the discovery of a faster than light communication system called the Kyle Web.  The Kyle Web requires a fusion of technology (Locks) and biology (telepathic humans) to work.

Telepathic humans are very rare and the Rhon Project is created to bio-engineer the human element. The project is a success - sort of.   The required telepathic humans are created (Rhon psions), but a race of anti-empaths (Aristos) is a surprising side effect.

Aristos' brains interpret pain from other humans as personal pleasure.  Pain from telepathic humans receives a supercharge and becomes a source of extreme pleasure.  The best way to say it is thay are sadist. Aristos can't drive the locks or create a Kyle Web, but they are surprisingly talented at empire building.  They create a star spanning empire and go to war with the remaining Raylicons to acquire their pleasure providers - Rhon psions.

Aristos aside, I like a number of Asaro's ideas and love her imagination.  She melds biology, technology and communication in fun ways.

Most members of the Ruby empire have nanomeds - medical nanites.  Nanomeds monitor health, prevent or cure aliments, attack viruses, neutralize poisons and help people live longer.

Jagernauts (elite members of the Ruby Empire military that are psions) are cyborgs that have

• bioplastic reinforced bones,  
• hidden micro fusion reactors for power
• hydraulic muscles that cant be seen 
• one or more nodes - implanted molecular circuitry AIs that interface with the medical nanites and other networks,.  Nodes can also listen to and speak in the Jags thoughts.
• "psiphon" sockets which allow them to connect directly with
• single-pilot space fighters calls jags.  When connected they form a symbiotic team that is a force multiplier in battle.  
• communication networks and create "micro Kyle Webs" for military uses
• Locks to supplement the Kyle Web for civilian use

The most powerful Ruby psions (telepaths) are eligible to be Keys.  Keys connect to locks and become a biological element of the Kyle Web - the faster than light, wireless, intersteller communications network.  The locks contain mechanisms that open "Kyle space" (another dimension that does not contain measurable distance) to Keys.  Locks also contain an inscrutable intelligence similar to an AI.

When Asaro has telepaths use mental telepathy to talk with other telepaths, their nodes, or locks, each entity has a separate font type.  AIs usually use ocra. (I couldn't get it in this blog). Locks use bold OCRA. And Keys use Olde English or scripts.  This is very clever, parallels spoken communication (everyone's voices are pitched or modulated differently), and make following the conversations much easier.

1. Primary Inversion (1995), sample chapters available on the link 
2. Catch the Lightning (1996)
3. The Last Hawk (1997)
4. The Radiant Seas (1999)
5. Ascendant Sun (2000)
6. The Quantum Rose (2000) 
7. Spherical Harmonic (2001)
8. The Moon's Shadow (2003)
9. Skyfall (2004)
10. Schism (2004)
11. The Final Key (2005)
12. The Ruby Dice (2008)
13. Diamond Star (2009)
14. Carnelians (2011)
15. Aurora in Four Voices (anthology, ed. Steven Silver) (2011). 
16. The City of Cries, eBook, (2012)
17. The Spacetime Pool eBook (2012). 
18. "The Pyre of New Day" (novelette appearing in anthology The Mammoth Book of SF Wars, ed. Ian Watson and Ian Whates) (2012)
19. "Echoes of Pride" (appearing in Galaxy's Edge magazine) (2013)
20. Lightning Strike, Book I, 2014, an expanded version of the first half of Catch the Lightning
21. Undercity, 2014
22. The Bronze Skies 2017