Spherical Harmonic

by Catherine Asaro

  I’ll start with the case of words already in the language. For example, I needed the name of the main character in Rose to refer to a quantum-mechanical bound state. I found “ak’il tz’i,” which means “leash” in Tzotzil Mayan, changed it into akil tz’i, which the fictional characters used to mean “bound,” then further evolved it into Argali. It needed at least two stages (or more) of changes because the original language of the settlers couldn’t start out identical to Tzotzil Mayan. It then had to undergo further changes because five thousand years have passed and the original language has evolved into a new one.

  For words intended to be completely new to the language, I used a different method. Since we’re imagining that an SF writer translates the language of the characters into that of the reader, it makes sense to put the new words into the reader’s language, given that they are modern rather than derived from the older languages. So we get the name Lyode in Rose, contracted from “light emitting dyode.” The characters shorten it because for them the name is ancient, though it is modern compared to the Mayan that formed the basis for Classical Iotic.

  Another advantage of the above method is that I didn’t have to keep explaining word origins, as I did with words like Argali. Without such explanations for the unusual words, the quantum scattering analogy wouldn’t have made sense, but constantly stopping to expound on names would have been tedious. This allowed me the flexibility I needed to make the story work. I had that situation in Spherical Harmonic, too, but to a much lesser extent because Dehya knows so many languages.

  I’ve been impressed by how my readers pick up on even the subtlest aspects of the world building. I will leave readers with a puzzle. Many of my books also include references to Greek mythology, not as part of any linguistic scheme, but as allusions. A cipher appears in The Last Hawk that has significance to the story. Can you find and solve it?

  Family Tree: RUBY DYNASTY

  Boldface names refer to members of the Rhon. The Selei name denotes the direct line of the Ruby Pharao All children of Roca and Eldrinson take Valdoria as their third name. All members of the Rhon within the Ri Dynasty have the right to use Skolia as their last name. “Del” in front of a name means “in honor of.”

  = marriage

  Characters and Family History

  Boldface names refer to the Rhon. All members of the Rhon within the Ruby Dynasty use Skolia as a last name. The Se-lei name indicates the direct line of the Ruby Pharaoh. Children of Roca and Eldrinson take Valdoria as a third name. The “del” prefix means “in honor of (it is capitalized if the person honored was a Triad member). Names are based on world-building systems drawn from Mayan, North African, and Indian (India) cultures.

  = marriage

  Lahaylia Selei (Ruby Pharaoh: deceased) = Jarac (Imperator: deceased)

  Lahaylia and Jarac founded the modern-day Ruby Dynasty. Lahaylia was created in the Rhon genetic project. Her lineage traced back to the ancient Ruby Dynasty that founded the Ruby Empire. Lahaylia and Jarac had two daughters, Dyhianna Selei and Roca.

  Dyhianna (Dehya) Selei = (1) William Seth Rockworth III (separated)

  = (2) Eldrin Jarac Valdoria.

  Dehya is the Ruby Pharaoh. She married William Seth Rockworth III as part of the Iceland Treaty between the Skolian Imperialate and Allied Worlds of Earth. They had no children and later separated. The dissolution of their marriage would have negated the treaty, so neither the Allieds nor the Imperialate recognized Seth’s divorce. Both Seth and Dehya eventually remarried anyway. Spherical Harmonic tells the story of what happened to Dehya after the Radiance War. She and Eldrin have two children, Taquinil Selei and Althor Vyan Selei.

  Althor Vyan Selei = ‘Akushtina (Tina) Santis Pulivok

  The story of Althor and Tina appears in Catch the Lightning. Althor Vyan Selei was named after his uncle/cousin, Althor Izam-Na Valdoria.

  Roca = (1) Tokaba Ryestar (deceased)

  = (2) Darr Hammerjack (divorced)

  = (3) Eldrinson Althor Valdoria

  Roca and Tokaba had one child, Kurj (Imperator and former Jagernaut), who married Ami when he was about a century old. Kurj and Ami had a son named Kurjson.

  Although no records exist of Eldrinson’s lineage, it is believed he also descends from the ancient Ruby Dynasty. He and Roca have ten children:

  Eldrin (Dryni)Jarac (bard, consort to Ruby Pharaoh, warrior)

  Althor Izam-Na (engineer, Jagernaut, Imperial Heir)

  Del-Kurj (Del) (singer, warrior, twin to Chaniece)

  Chaniece Roca (runs Valdoria family household, twin to Del-Kurj)

  Havyrl (Vyrl) Torcellei (farmer, doctorate in agriculture)

  Sauscony (Soz) Lahaylia (military scientist, Jagernaut, Imperator)

  Denric Windward (teacher, doctorate in literature)

  Shannon Eirlei (Blue Dale archer)

  Aniece Dyhianna (accountant, Rillian queen)

  Kelricson (Kelric) Garlin (mathematician, Jagernaut, Imperator)

  Eldrin appears in The Radiant Seas and Spherical Harmonic.

  He married Dyhianna Selei They have two children (see Dyhianna).

  Characters and Family History 367

  Althor Izam-Na = (1) Coop and Vaz

  = (2) Cirrus

  Althor has a daughter, Eristia Leirol Valdoria, with Syreen Leirol, an actress turned linguist. Coop and Vaz have a son, Ryder Jalam Majda Valdoria, with Althor as co-parent. Althor and Cirrus have a son. Althor and Coop appear in The Radiant Seas. The novelette “Soul of Light” tells how Althor and Vaz met Coop (“Soul of Light” appears in the erotica anthology Sextopia, from Circlet Press). Vaz and Coop also appear in Spherical Harmonic.

  Havyrl (Vyrl) Torcellei = (1) Lilliara (Lily) Opaline (deceased)

  = (2) Kamoj Quanta Argali

  The story of Vyrl and Kamoj is in The Quantum Rose. An early version of the first half was serialized in Analog, May 1999-July/August 1999.

  Sauscony (Soz) Lahaylia = (1) Jato Stormson (divorced)

  = (2) Hypron Luminar (deceased)

  = (3) Jaibriol Qox (aka Jaibriol II)

  The story of Vyrl and Lily appears in the novella “Stained Glass Heart,” in the anthology Irresistable Forces.

  The story of how Soz and Jato met appears in the novella “Aurora in Four Voices” (Analog, December 1998). Soz and Jaibriol’s stories appear in Primary Inversion and The Radiant Seas. They have four children, all of whom use Qox-Skolia as their last name: Jaibriol III, Rocalisa, Vitar, and del-Kelric. Jaibriol III becomes Emperor of Eube.

  Aniece = Lord Rillia

  Lord Rillia rules Rillia, a province on the planet Lyshriol, which consists of the Rillian Vales, Dalvador Plains, Backbone Mountains, and Stained Glass Forest.

  Kelricson (Kelric) Garlin = (1) Corey Majda (deceased)

  = (2) Deha Dahl (deceased)

  = (3) Rashiva Haka (Calani trade)

  = (4) Savina Miesa (deceased)

  = (5) Avtac Varz (Calani trade)

  = (6) Ixpar Karn (closure)

  = (7) Jeejon

  Kelric’s stories are told in The Lost Hawk, Ascendant Sun, Spherical Harmonic, the novella “A Roll of the Dice” (Analog, July/August 2000), and the novelette “Light and Shadow” (Analog, April 1994). Kelric and Rashiva have one son, Jimorla (Jimi) Haka, who becomes a renowned Calani. Kelric and Savina have one daughter, Rohka Miesa Varz, who becomes the Ministry Successor in line to rule the Twelve Estates on Coba.

  Timeline

  circa 4000 BC Group of humans moved from Earth to Raylicon

  circa 3600 BC Ruby Dynasty begins

  circa 3100 BC Raylicans launch first interstellar flights Rise of Ruby Empire

  circa 2900 BC Ruby Empire begins decline

  circa 2800 BC Last interstellar flights; Ruby Empire collapses

  circa AD 1300 Raylicans begin attempts to regain lost knowledge and colonies

  1843 Raylicans regain interstellar flight

  1871 Aristos found Eubian Concord (a.k.a. Trader Empire)

  18
81 Lahaylia Selei born

  1904 Lahaylia Selei founds Skolian Imperialate and takes Skolia name

  2005 Jarac born

  2111 Lahaylia Selei marries Jarac

  2119 Dyhianna Selei born

  2122 Earth achieves interstellar flight

  2132 Earth founds Allied Worlds

  2144 Roca born

  2169 Kurj born

  2203 Roca marries Eldrinson Althor Valdoria

  2204 Eldrin Jarac Valdoria born Jarac dies and Kurj becomes Imperator Lahaylia dies

  2206 Althor Izam-Na Valdoria born

  2207 Del-Kurj and Chaniece Roca Valdoria born

  2209 Havyrl (Vyrl) Torcellei Valdoria born

  2210 Sauscony (Soz) Lahaylia Valdoria born

  2211 Denric Winward Valdoria born

  2213 Shannon Eirlei Valdoria born

  2215 Aniece Dyhianna Valdoria born

  2219 Kelricson (Kelric) Garlin Valdoria born

  2223 Vyrl marries Lily (“Stained Glass Heart”)

  2237 Jaibriol II born

  2240 Soz meets Jato Stormson (“Aurora in Four Voices”)

  2241 Kelric marries Admiral Corey Majda 2243 Corey assassinated (“Light and Shadow”)

  2258 Kelric crashes on Coba (The Last Hawk)

  early 2259 Soz meets Jaibriol (Primary Inversion)

  late 2259 Soz and Jaibriol go into exile (The Radiant Seas)

  2260 Jaibriol III born (aka Jaibriol Qox Skolia)

  2263 Rocalisa Qox Skolia born; Althor Izam-Na Valdoria meets Coop (“Soul of Light”)

  2268 Vitar Qox Skolia born

  2273 del-Kelric Qox Skolia born

  2274 Radiance War begins (also called Domino War)

  Kurj marries Ami

  2276 Traders capture Eldrin. Radiance War ends

  2277-8 Kelric returns home (Ascendant Sun)

  Jaibriol III becomes emperor (The Moon’s Shadow)

  Dehya coalesces (Spherical Harmonic)

  Kamoj and Vyrl meet (The Quantum Rose)

  2279 Althôr Vyan Selei born 2287 Jeremiah Coltman trapped on Coba (“A Roll of the Dice”)

  2328 Althor Vyan Selei meets Tina Santis Pulivok (Catch the Lightning)

  About the Author

  Catherine Asaro grew up near Berkeley, California. She earned her Ph.D. in Chemical Physics and her M.A. in Physics, both from Harvard, and a B.S. with Highest Honors in Chemistry from UCLA. Among the places she has done research are the University of Toronto, the Max Planck Institut für Astrophysik in Germany, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. She currently runs Molecudyne Research and lives in Maryland with her husband and daughter. A former ballet and jazz dancer, she founded the Mainly Jazz Dance program at Harvard and now teaches at various ballet schools, including the School of the Ballet Theatre of Maryland.

  She has also written Primary Inversion, Catch the Lightning, The Last Hawk, The Radiant Seas, The Quantum Rose, and Ascendant Sun, all part of the Skolian Saga, and The Veiled Web and The Phoenix Code, near-future science fiction thrillers. Her work has won numerous awards, including the Nebula, the Analog Readers Poll (the AnLab), the Homer, and the Sapphire Award. Her short fiction has appeared in Analog and anthologies. She can be reached on the Web at http://www.sff.net/people/asaro/.