Schism (novel)
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Schism is a novel (published 2004) in the Saga of the Skolian Empire, a series of books by Catherine Asaro.
Schism takes place about 25 years after the events in the previous novel Skyfall. Eldrinson Valdoria and his wife Roca Skolia live happily on his homeworld Lyshriol and have ten children. Some of them have already left home, like the second oldest son Althor who is training to become a Jagernaut, or the firstborn Eldrin who at the request of Skolian Assembly had to marry his aunt, the Ruby Pharaoh.
The sixth of Valdoria children, 16 years old Sauscony (Soz), wants to enter the Military academy to become a Jagernaut like her brother. But Eldrinson has other plans – he would rather prefer to see his “little girl“ living safely on Lyshriol, married to a local landlord. When she disobeys, he disowns both her (for leaving) and Althor (for taking her off-world). Though he regrets his harsh words immediately, he has no chance to take them back any more. When soon after that his teenage son Shannon, unhappy about the family discord, runs away from home, the difficulties have just begun.
We see the events in the book from the perspective of several main characters – young Soz during her military training, Shannon searching for his lost kin, the mystic Blue Dale archers and their father Eldrinson, being captured, crippled and nearly tortured to death by a sadistic Aristo who infiltrated Lyshriol to destroy the Ruby Dynasty.
