Talk:Saga of the Skolian Empire

The Imperials
Moved from here:
 * "*a title used in Saga of the Skolian Empire by science fiction author Catherine Asaro. It is taken by that member of the Rhon taking on the position and responsibilities of the Military Key, the Commander-in-Chief of the Skolian Imperialate. The title is the same regardless of whether taken by a male or female, and is semi-hereditary."

as OT, & not really well-suited to a dab page. TREKphiler  any time you're ready, Uhura  09:51, 9 May 2010 (UTC)


 * Agree. It is in Rhon_psion already, so no problem. Debresser (talk) 20:43, 9 May 2010 (UTC)

=== Dovid, I removed the adjective "romantic" from the description of the Skolian Saga because the works are science fiction, with an emphasis on many types of subplots, in particular math and what is known as "hard" science, but also on space adventure and space opera; epic science fiction dealing with family sagas, including romantic subplots; military sf, especially in relativistic space flight; and series science fiction, just to name a few. Singling out the romantic aspects diminishes the others unless they are also singled out, in particular because the word "romance" has negative connotations due to stereotypes.

You mentioned that the books have won romance awards. But the "romance" awards are for science fiction not romance; they are awards given by the romance community to science fiction writers they like. Other science fiction writers have been nominated and/or won such awards, such as Lois McMaster Bujold and John Scalzi. Should then the adjective "romance" go in front of the descriptions of their books as the only modifier? To retain the objectivity required by the encyclopedia, I believe the word should be deleted. Another option would be to go through for every other SF author who has won similar awards and modify their entries as well, and include other appropriate modifiers as well. I don't believe this would benefit the encyclopedia, as the question then becomes "Where do you draw the line on what to include?" not to mention that entries would begin to read like lists of modifiers.

Given the pejorative associations some readers still have even today with fiction called romantic, I suggest the following compromise:

The Saga of the Skolian Empire involves works of space adventure and interstellar empires, dealing with the science, cultures, wars, and worlds of a star-spanning civilization. The books are primarily stand alone works rather than sequels, but each is set within the same universe. Each book focuses on one or two members of the Ruby Dynasty, the titular rulers of the Skolian Imperialate, and as such, the books involve a great deal about the family relationships, including the romantic subplots for which Asaro has received acclaim in both the science fiction and romance communities. The romantic aspects have been considered unusual in works categorized as hard science fiction, and as such they have stirred some controversy. Asaro herself has been more accepting of the term romance than many authors and has expressed pleasant surprise that her works have attracted the interest of the romance community.

Many references exist for the above. For example, see:

http://bigthink.com/series/36?selected=20440#player

On the way science and the "Beauty and the Beast" themes are mixed in the book, The Quantum Rose, which won the Nebula.

http://www.marketlist.com/interviews/c_asaro.htm

On the discussion of romance in science fiction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG83cYxNVGY (this is the you tube version, but if Wikipedia won't allow it, the interview is also up at Fast Forward tv)

Mention of the books and their nomination for romance awards.

74.107.127.25 (talk) 22:48, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

Timeline diagram?
It seems quite odd that the quite useful diagram, below, is included in the author's bibliography page, but not here? I'm not enough of a fan/expert to know why this made sense, but I'm flummoxed. MrRedwood (talk) 20:53, 7 July 2019 (UTC)