• Author: Catherine Asaro
• ISBN: 9780812550238
• Genre: Science Fiction
• Pages: 384

The Skolian Empire rules a third of the civilized galaxy through its mastery of faster-than-light communication. But war with the rival empire of the Traders seems imminent, a war that can only lead to slavery for the Skolians or the destruction of both sides. Destructive skirmishes have already occurred. A desperate attempt must be made to avert total disaster. – Goodreads synopsis

I discovered Primary Inversion a couple years ago when I picked it as my “Blind Date with a Book.”  From the synopsis above, I didn’t think this would be a story told from a First Person POV.  I was expecting something more along the lines of “Battlestar Galactica.”  Instead, everything is seen from Soz’s perspective.  Soz is a woman, and a soldier, and that made Primary Inversion another difficult book for me.
I was reading Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins at the same time, and due to how much both books hit home for me, I ended up having to take a break from them to read something a bit more light-hearted.  Primary Inversion is an excellent example of the kind of mental breakdown many soldiers, including myself, have gone through.  While Soz’s mental health isn’t the only thing in the story, it stood out for me because Catherine Asaro wrote Primary Inversion nearly a decade before the subjects of PTSD and suicide rates increasing amongst Veterans began to make headlines as they came home from lengthy deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq.
As hard as it was for me to face myself in a Sci-Fi novel, I wish there were more books like Primary Inversion and “The Hunger Games” trilogy.  Reading about Soz and Katniss was like looking in a mirror, and that’s still a rare event for a woman who has been to war.