Once upon a time, at least 10 years ago, I subscribed to a science fiction literature listserv where Catherine Asaro was a frequent poster. Following a link I discovered she was a writer, lived in the DC area, and was a physicist. Hmm, reminded me of my friend Roy Young, another physicist/writer. I’d listened to Ursula K. Le Guin and Anne McCaffrey during my commutes into DC and liked them, but they were fantasy writers and I wanted to listen to more sf. I had found this articulate and intelligent woman sf writer and was eager to listen to her. The local libraries were just beginning to stock audio books and I checked them out as they came in. I caught up on the classics I should have read in school and discovered westerns, romances, historical fiction, and other genres I had avoided. No Catherine Asaro though.My career intensified and I neglected the listserv and my recreational reading ceased. Now I’m retired and my free time is back. Yippee! There are so many more audio books, I have to pick and choose. I discovered ebooks, blogs, SFWA, the whole online literary scene. I checked the listserv. Yes, Catherine was there. I was ready but where to begin? She’s written so much and some were series. Listserv to the rescue again! It said Diamond Star, her latest release, was good on its own even though it inhabited the Asaro universe.Diamond Star also came with a CD, not a reading of the story, but a “soundtrack” of songs from the book. I was hooked. As a boy, I enjoyed listening to classical music while I read Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom and Pellucidar books. Would Diamond Star give me the same experience?Yes, and more. Del-Kurj Arden Valdoria is a renegade prince of the Skolian Empire. He enjoys singing and is accidentally discovered by a major label. His awkward rise to fame puts him in conflict with his family and in jeopardy with their enemies. The CD contains the songs he writes and sings. It all fits together.I played the CD as background music as I dug in. Aside: “Repeat” on a CD player is a lot smoother than flipping LPs every half hour or so. The music was unobtrusive but not banal and matched the aura of the narrative. The musicians are a local group and Ms Asaro wrote most of the lyrics and even does some vocals. At the end of my reading, I replayed the CD paying particular attention to the lyrics, which are provided in the book. That gave me another level of comprehension and enjoyment. Remember my discovery of all those different genres? Diamond Star has lots of them. At times it’s a western as in space opera (literally!), a light romance, a sexier romance, a high tech adventure, a social commentary, hard science fiction . . . historical novel? . . . it’s there too in the form of the Skolian geneology and time line.That may all sound cumbersome but it’s all part of the plot as Del progresses, screws up, falls in love, fails, succeeds, fights bureaucracy, is kidnapped . . . . Ms Asaro’s writing style keeps it light and moving forward. Some of my favorite parts are what might be called “Young Adult tech aware interludes.” Del is messaging, he's in virtual reality, signing virt cubes, at the mall, the bookstore. Second Life becomes Life Million. I also liked the local references to the Columbia Sheraton and the Merriwether Post Pavilion, and the Baltimore Sun becoming the Baltimore Solar Site, and the airport becoming the Thurgood Marshall Starport off the Interstate 95 Air Lane. That local band, Point Valid, even gets a retrospective mention. The sex scenes were interesting too. They were written in such a way that they could be interpreted differently depending on the experience of the reader. Neat trick. Diamond Star really does stand on its own. You don’t need to know anything about the Skolian universe to enjoy it. Warning: You may want to know more about it after reading it. ( )

Once upon a time, at least 10 years ago, I subscribed to a science fiction literature listserv where Catherine Asaro was a frequent poster. Following a link I discovered she was a writer, lived in the DC area, and was a physicist. Hmm, reminded me of my friend Roy Young, another physicist/writer. I’d listened to Ursula K. Le Guin and Anne McCaffrey during my commutes into DC and liked them, but they were fantasy writers and I wanted to listen to more sf. I had found this articulate and intelligent woman sf writer and was eager to listen to her. The local libraries were just beginning to stock audio books and I checked them out as they came in. I caught up on the classics I should have read in school and discovered westerns, romances, historical fiction, and other genres I had avoided. No Catherine Asaro though.My career intensified and I neglected the listserv and my recreational reading ceased. Now I’m retired and my free time is back. Yippee! There are so many more audio books, I have to pick and choose. I discovered ebooks, blogs, SFWA, the whole online literary scene. I checked the listserv. Yes, Catherine was there. I was ready but where to begin? She’s written so much and some were series. Listserv to the rescue again! It said Diamond Star, her latest release, was good on its own even though it inhabited the Asaro universe.Diamond Star also came with a CD, not a reading of the story, but a “soundtrack” of songs from the book. I was hooked. As a boy, I enjoyed listening to classical music while I read Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom and Pellucidar books. Would Diamond Star give me the same experience?Yes, and more. Del-Kurj Arden Valdoria is a renegade prince of the Skolian Empire. He enjoys singing and is accidentally discovered by a major label. His awkward rise to fame puts him in conflict with his family and in jeopardy with their enemies. The CD contains the songs he writes and sings. It all fits together.I played the CD as background music as I dug in. Aside: “Repeat” on a CD player is a lot smoother than flipping LPs every half hour or so. The music was unobtrusive but not banal and matched the aura of the narrative. The musicians are a local group and Ms Asaro wrote most of the lyrics and even does some vocals. At the end of my reading, I replayed the CD paying particular attention to the lyrics, which are provided in the book. That gave me another level of comprehension and enjoyment. Remember my discovery of all those different genres? Diamond Star has lots of them. At times it’s a western as in space opera (literally!), a light romance, a sexier romance, a high tech adventure, a social commentary, hard science fiction . . . historical novel? . . . it’s there too in the form of the Skolian geneology and time line.That may all sound cumbersome but it’s all part of the plot as Del progresses, screws up, falls in love, fails, succeeds, fights bureaucracy, is kidnapped . . . . Ms Asaro’s writing style keeps it light and moving forward. Some of my favorite parts are what might be called “Young Adult tech aware interludes.” Del is messaging, he's in virtual reality, signing virt cubes, at the mall, the bookstore. Second Life becomes Life Million. I also liked the local references to the Columbia Sheraton and the Merriwether Post Pavilion, and the Baltimore Sun becoming the Baltimore Solar Site, and the airport becoming the Thurgood Marshall Starport off the Interstate 95 Air Lane. That local band, Point Valid, even gets a retrospective mention. The sex scenes were interesting too. They were written in such a way that they could be interpreted differently depending on the experience of the reader. Neat trick. Diamond Star really does stand on its own. You don’t need to know anything about the Skolian universe to enjoy it. Warning: You may want to know more about it after reading it. ( )

Probably the best Catherine Asaro has done. It doesn't contain anything about my favorite idea of hers, the game of Quis, but it's fast, deep and sexy. It's (among other things) a coming of age novel, a romance for adults (this woman could make a rock sweat) and an exploration of the world of music production. Also has more profanity than the rest of the Skolian series combined :-)

If you want a plot summary, I wrote a filk at http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...

which covers the high points. Asaro collaborated with the group Point Valid to produce a companion cd with the songs in the book, plus a few others - the songs and order info for the cd are available at http://www.starflight-music.com/ ( )