This is the second book in the "Lucasfilm's Alien Chronicles" trilogy. To tell you the truth, I have no idea what Lucasfilm's involvement in this story was. I assumed they were intended to be made into an animated feature, but on the author's website, it states that "they were never intended to be filmed" (and moreover, that she's never even met George Lucas). So I don't know. They have nothing whatsoever to do with Star Wars, anyway.
I read the first book in this series, "The Golden One" shortly after it came out - I think, in 1998. A friend gave it to me, and I basically said, "eh, what is this, some kind of movie tie-in novel?" But she said, "No, it's really really good! You have to read it!"
And, while I can't say it was Great Literature, the story of Ampris, the catlike Aaroun who grows up as a pampered pet in the household of the reptilian Viis princess, somehow stuck with me. (Which is fairly rare: I freely admit that I forget most of what I read for entertainment pretty promptly.) When Ampris is rudely disillusioned upon her sale to a gladitorial training school, she begins to harbor a fierce desire to learn the history of her people and to somehow foment rebellion among all the 'abiru' slave races.
It seems a hopeless task - but the Viis' interstellar empire is decadent and crumbling at its core, attacked by mismanagement, disease, and technological failures.
It took me a while to get this sequel, but all the characters came right back to me. 'The Crimson Claw' sees Ampris become a star gladiator - but she never forgets that she is still a slave, and she still holds out for freedom - not just for herself, but for all... Meanwhile, her former owner, the spoiled and selfish Israi, comes to power at the heart of the Empire - and disaster seems to follow her...
I'm definitely going to wait less than 8 years before getting the last book in this story! While I enjoyed this sequel enormously, it's obvious that much more is coming in the last part! ( )

Someone must have let ol’ George Lucas help out on this book, because it wasn’t near as good as the first one. Ampris never seems to learn anything, and it gets really annoying. In her overzealousness to free the slave races, she trusts those that she knows she shouldn’t and gets maimed for it, even though she’s a hardened, seasoned gladiator now. Whatever. I hope the final book gets better. ( )