In the distant future, the Skolian Empire rules one third of the human galaxy, and is the most powerful of all. For the ruling family has the power of telepathy, and through it, the ability to communicate faster than light across interstellar space. But their most determined enemy, the traders, who thrive on human pain, need to interbreed with a Skolian to gain their powers. And now they have.

Asaro returns to the interstellar Skolian Empire in Catch the Lightning to tell a tale of politics, love, and war, the story of a young girl from Earth taken into the future and made the focus of a murderous plot to bring down the empire.

Two young men on opposite sides--one who gave up everything to save an empire, while the other, born a prince but forced into slavery, who has become Imperator of all Skolia--search for a way to bring peace, despite their people's thirst for war.

The first book in the Skolian Empire saga by the Nebula Award–winning author. “Fast, smart, speculative . . . another stellar debut.” —Los Angeles Daily News Soz Valdoria, a bioengineered fighter pilot—and first in line for the military command of her people—has found refuge with her squad on the sanctuary planet of Delos. It offers a respite from the war that rages between her Skolian people and their enemies, the Traders. Looking for rest and relaxation, they must still be on their guard for the Trader soldiers who also visit the sanctuary. In a bar, they confront the worst of the worst: an Aristo from the Trader ruling caste, seemingly on the prowl for a “provider” he can use for his barbaric impulses. His presence takes Soz back to her days as a prisoner of war, when she became the plaything of a sadistic and soulless Aristo. And yet something is off about this Aristo. Unable to ignore her instincts, Soz searches the city until she finds him in a secured mansion. Breaching its fortifications and eluding its guards, she discovers a devastating truth: this man is no true Aristo. He is a genetic anomaly like Soz, one of the few people who can handle the massive neurological demands of the psibernet, the technological marvel that gives the Skolians their only advantage over the Traders. This false Aristo, this sheep in a wolf’s clothing, is heir to the Trader throne. The emperor created him for one reason—to take control of the Skolian network and conquer Soz’s people. But Soz has never felt such a connection as she does to this Trader heir. It may prove her—and the universe’s—undoing . . . “This is one of the best SF first novels in years.” —Booklist

Follows Kelric, the heir to the Skolian Empire, as he flees his imprisonment on Coba only to find his kingdom in tatters.

Roll the Dice of Empire! The Eubian Interstellar Concord. Dominating. Static. A pyramid of cosmic power built on the bones of slaves. Their opponents The freedom-loving, telepathic Skolian Imperialate. Now centuries of war come to head and a new galactic Dark Age looms as rival emperors -- related by blood, love, and an intrigue as deep as the space between stars _ take a desperate gamble to find a way through the carnage of battle to a new understanding. But first they'll have to keep their own heads off the chopping blocks of the enemy within. The latest and greatest entry in the star-spanning Skolian Saga! At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). A New SF Legend Re-makes Worlds! "[T]houghtful, engaging characters and an intriguing vision of the future." ¾Publishers Weekly on Nebula-award-winning Catherine Asaro's "Skolian Saga."

Two emperors navigate an uneasy peace, while a powerful trader guild does everything in its power to bring on war. And as if Kelric, the Skolian Imperator, didn't have enough problems, his own brother¾who happens to be a rock star of galactic proportions¾has a hit song that calls the traders out as the hidebound blueblood jerks they are, and pleads for an end to centuries of war. Kelric and his Eubian Trader Empire counterpart Jabriol attempt finally to meet in a public summit and sign a treaty that will save billions of lives and end the grinding, millennium-long war. But assassins lurk everywhere, and intrigue is afoot as the baroque old order has no intention of giving up its war-bought privilege and power without a fight to the death¾and they don't care if they take the rest of galactic civilization down with them. At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).