Rating: 
Summary: Exciting story--interesting speculation
Review: ...Author Timothy Zahn writes an exciting novel. ANGELMASS is enjoyable both because of the adventure plot and also because of the interesting scientific speculation about the nature of the angels and what they say about the nature of man. I did find the lack of security on a world under attack to be a little off-putting. With the level of computers that must exist in a world that supports advanced space travel, could someone really walk into a job at a research institute with so little background preparation? Grit your teeth and ignore this bit of reality. Then sit back and enjoy a fine story. BooksForABuck
Rating: 
Summary: Angelmass is good...
Review: ...but not excellent. At first look, the actual concept is very original and promising. It is both of those, but there's something about how Zahn takes it that doesn't make it as interesting as it could have been. Synopsis: Jereko Kosta is a spy from the Pax government who is inserted into the Empyrium, a seperatist collection of planets, to learn about a particle of matter called angels. It seems aparent that angels influence people to do good things, and Kosta's there to study their effect on humans and determine if this is a natural phomenon or an alien invason bent on conquering Humanity. It's a little different in its writing style, and it comes off as a hard sci-fi book. There's a lot of scientific words and concepts, and it's harder to read than his other books. It was still a good book, definitely not his worst, but it's not quite up to the Conquerors' Trilogy or his Star Wars books. There's still some classic Zahn concepts in there, and the space battle scenes are excellent. I've always been amazed at how real he could make his space battles, and I like how he mixes a lot of tactics and strategy in. You can always picture what's happening where and how it's being counteracted, etc. Can't wait for Manta's Gift!
Rating:
Summary: Angelmass is good...
Review: ...but not excellent. At first look, the actual concept is very original and promising. It is both of those, but there's something about how Zahn takes it that doesn't make it as interesting as it could have been. Synopsis: Jereko Kosta is a spy from the Pax government who is inserted into the Empyrium, a seperatist collection of planets, to learn about a particle of matter called angels. It seems aparent that angels influence people to do good things, and Kosta's there to study their effect on humans and determine if this is a natural phomenon or an alien invason bent on conquering Humanity. It's a little different in its writing style, and it comes off as a hard sci-fi book. There's a lot of scientific words and concepts, and it's harder to read than his other books. It was still a good book, definitely not his worst, but it's not quite up to the Conquerors' Trilogy or his Star Wars books. There's still some classic Zahn concepts in there, and the space battle scenes are excellent. I've always been amazed at how real he could make his space battles, and I like how he mixes a lot of tactics and strategy in. You can always picture what's happening where and how it's being counteracted, etc. Can't wait for Manta's Gift!
Rating:
Summary: Good Character Development
Review: Angelmass was not really at all what I was expecting. It was very interesting and forced me to ask specific questions about the character's actions. For a very long part of the book very little action happened - I happen to like it when an author writes non-action sequences and still makes them entertaining (which Zahn certainly did). It's an excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: Frustrating - and that's good!
Review: Before I ramble on, I'd like to say that I recommend Angelmass, so please don't take this review as being negative in any way. "The door dialated." That phrase from a Heinlein story is often used to illustrate how he began the practice of treating future technology as everyday life. The characters treated it as matter-of-factly as you'd treat syncing your PDA with your desktop (and wouldn't that be fun to explain in a 1950's story.) Early science fiction would have spent pages describing (inaccurately) how a door dialated and why it was so interesting. The mechanism got in the way of the plot. Here, it doesn't, and that's both good (the story's tight) and bad (I want to know more about several aspects of it.) At the risk of my encouraging an octology, Zahn left me with many, many questions unanswered. They may have been addressed in previous stories I haven't read, but I want to know: 1. How did the Pax form and just how did the auditors gain so much control? It's explained in the book, but just in passing, and I'm sure there's a novel or two there. 2. Angelmass particles are difficult to capture. What lead to someone figuring out how to do it the first time? Why? And how were the effects noticed and quantified? Another novel? 3. How was the protagonist able to discover so much about the particles, when hundreds of scientists who had studied them for years were unable to? Was it his background? A passing mention in a future novel, perhaps? 4. Is Angelmass science fiction or fantasy? Definately another novel here to explain how the particles affect humans (and let's rise above the metaphysical and not deal with "good" vs. "evil" particles.) Mind you, I'm not complaining. The story is nice and tight - a refreshing change from bloatbooks that drag on through novel after novel with never an end in sight. And the detail is sufficient to tell the story. I hope what Zahn has started is not a series about Angelmass, restricted to the characters in it, but a series of novels about the particular future he's crafted. It looks to be an interesting place, and I'd like to visit again. Whether you prefer "hard" science fiction or the softer variety, Angelmass will provide you with some fun reading; the book is enjoyable from either aspect. And I suspect, like me, you'll want to learn more about the future that was partially revealed in Angelmass. Rick
Rating:
Summary: Frustrating - and that's good!
Review: Before I ramble on, I'd like to say that I recommend Angelmass, so please don't take this review as being negative in any way. "The door dialated." That phrase from a Heinlein story is often used to illustrate how he began the practice of treating future technology as everyday life. The characters treated it as matter-of-factly as you'd treat syncing your PDA with your desktop (and wouldn't that be fun to explain in a 1950's story.) Early science fiction would have spent pages describing (inaccurately) how a door dialated and why it was so interesting. The mechanism got in the way of the plot. Here, it doesn't, and that's both good (the story's tight) and bad (I want to know more about several aspects of it.) At the risk of my encouraging an octology, Zahn left me with many, many questions unanswered. They may have been addressed in previous stories I haven't read, but I want to know: 1. How did the Pax form and just how did the auditors gain so much control? It's explained in the book, but just in passing, and I'm sure there's a novel or two there. 2. Angelmass particles are difficult to capture. What lead to someone figuring out how to do it the first time? Why? And how were the effects noticed and quantified? Another novel? 3. How was the protagonist able to discover so much about the particles, when hundreds of scientists who had studied them for years were unable to? Was it his background? A passing mention in a future novel, perhaps? 4. Is Angelmass science fiction or fantasy? Definately another novel here to explain how the particles affect humans (and let's rise above the metaphysical and not deal with "good" vs. "evil" particles.) Mind you, I'm not complaining. The story is nice and tight - a refreshing change from bloatbooks that drag on through novel after novel with never an end in sight. And the detail is sufficient to tell the story. I hope what Zahn has started is not a series about Angelmass, restricted to the characters in it, but a series of novels about the particular future he's crafted. It looks to be an interesting place, and I'd like to visit again. Whether you prefer "hard" science fiction or the softer variety, Angelmass will provide you with some fun reading; the book is enjoyable from either aspect. And I suspect, like me, you'll want to learn more about the future that was partially revealed in Angelmass. Rick
Rating:
Summary: Good Character Development
Review: Excellent development of the main characters. I cared about them enough to be concerned for them--I didn't want to see them get hurt, etc. In fact, I really liked them. So the minor tactical twists in the plot that put the characters in tough situations kept me interested--chase scenes, and the like. But the overall plot was just O.K. Characters: 5 stars, Overall plot: 3 stars. Chandris is a bit like Skywalker's wife, no? In my opinion, this book is much better than Icarus Hunt, but not quite as entertaining as his Star Wars novels.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty Disappointing
Review: I finished this book, but afterwards I have to wonder why. The characters were trite, the plot was juvenile, and the science in the science fiction was ludicrous. I hadn't had much experience with Zahn and I could forgive him for joining in writing the Star Wars crap (which along with Star Trek is ruining the SF genre), He seems to be a decent writer with some skill, but this was embarassing. If you want to read some real SF then try some of the British writers like Banks and Hamiliton.
Rating:
Summary: A quick Reveiw
Review: I really enjoyed this book, it's one of Zahn's better novels and a refreshing change from all the Star Wars stuff he's written latly. The book is about a young academic (who studies angels, more about them in a second) trained to be a spy by the Pax (35 worlds, trying to unite (forcefully) all of Earth's colonies.) and sent into the one collection of worlds fighting the Pax. The Pax believe that angels (things that are from the blackhole - Angelmass, make people calm, and almost unable to lie) are aliens and are trying to take over. I thought the idea was interesting and Zahn pulled it off well, some of the angel theories were very involving (but I won't spoil it). That's just me, if you're interested then buy it, if not don't.
Rating:
Summary: Scientific mystery, spy thriller, space opera all in one
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Zahn's engaging writing style makes this book a real page-turner. He blends some elements of "hard" sci fi within a space opera and spy thriller context. The political/strategic conflict between the Pax and the Empyrean is fascinating, as is the scientific mystery about Angelmass that slowly unfolds as the story progresses. The philosophical issues (can "Good" be quantified? What constitutes sentience?) are thought-provoking and handled very naturally in the narrative. We don't find out the truth about Angelmass until the end of the book. Also, the main characters are very believable and realistic, in my opinion. Kosta, Chandris, Forsythe, Telthorst, Lleshi, Ronyon, Hanan, and Ornina are all very human, and each seems to have very valid reasons for his or her actions. Their motives are believable and reasonable, given their backgrounds. Each character has his or her own fears/vulnerabilities and aspirations, and I found them all to be very memorable (BTW, I keep imagining Christopher Lee as Lelshi, due to his aristocratic, military demeanor). I found the plot to be highly engaging, and I found the ending of the book to be very satisfying. One previous reviewer thought there were some loose ends, but I don't see it that way at all. I found the conclusion to be perfectly reasonable, without resorting to a "storybook picture-perfect" ending with everything neatly tied with a bow. On the contrary, I found the ending had more of an authentic feel to it.
If you're looking for a science fiction story with both a sense of wonder and action, this might be what you're looking for.
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