"Primary Inversion (The Saga of the Skolian Empire)" by Catherine Asaro

Primary Inversion is an odd novel. I enjoyed it well enough but I an unsure if I will read any of the sequels.

Asaro has created a universe split in three. There are two nations at war, one based on militarism that evokes the Nazi party, one based on physic powers, while the weakest nation is neutral.

Psychic powers are central to her world. The evil nation is ruled by defective psychics who need to torture real psychics. The good nation is ruled by a royal family with super-psychic powers who run a massive supercomputer with their brains. The neutral nation has no psychics.

In addition to a massive psychic super computer/network, Asaro describes faster than light travel, and warfare at relativistic speeds in space. So there is some sci-fi fare in here.

Like her 3-part universe, this book is divided into 3 parts.

The first third is the least interesting. It is your basic hard-as nails, kill or be killed space marine story. We meet the main characters, learn about the war, read about some fighting, and the whole thing ends with a rather abrupt and unsatisfying "crisis" for the main character.

The second third is totally different in tone and content. This part of the book focuses on torture, the long-term effects of torture, and treatment.

I have to say, I dont enjoy stories about torture. You can read all you want about real torture in the news. There are a lot of sci-fi and fantasy stories that include torture but they do so in some simplistic "if it doesnt kill you it makes you stronger" kind of way. Not here. Asaro's main character is permanently damaged by being tortured and the story takes place 10 years after the event.

The other unusual thing about part two is the discussion of therapy. This book has the most accurate depiction of psychotherapy that I have ever read in a book (for fun).

The third section of the book is yet another type of story. Take the space marine, add the therapy to fix her, and then put her into Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The third section is an action-adventure love story about two people who are meant to be together but can never be because of their families. There is a lot of action in this section but it is also where the novel gets its reputation as a romance novel.

All in all, an interesting read that left me wondering what she would cover in the sequel but not good enough to get me to purchase the sequel.