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.
Rating:
Summary: As A Casual Sci-Fi Reader RatesIt...
Review: I was extremely impressed wit this work and loved every minute of it until the bittersweet ending. Not being a science buff or someone who could tell if Zahn's use of Science was accurate or impossible, I was thoroughly dazzled by the content of this book. Even if just for some of the scientific thought process, this book was wonderful in my mind. I always liked Zahns analysis of situations and the infinite flow of possibilities he can throw out. And here, scientific theories are popped out as easy as Pezz.
It is mostly a story about two people, one: an academic, scientist who is talked into being a Spy in enemy territory (a handful of systems known as the Empyrean) and to research Angels. These subatomic particles are the essence of Good, which bring about calm, reason and honesty in those who wear them (mainly officials in government, military leaders and such). He, along with his nation, the Pax, believe Angels are alien invaders or a plot thereof to remove human suspicion and allow for an easy takeover. He's being sent to find a way to save them, by learning as much as he can about the Angels himself.
Second: a 16 year old girl who is running. She's an underground con-artist and thief who is trying to get away from the obsessed and insane person who taught her the tricks of the trade. She ends up encountering an Angel while trying to make a supposedly profitable "score" and ends up trying to fight against herself with either letting the Angel reform her or running from the Angel. She's also at conflict with herself over what she really wants and needs in her life.
There's also characters battling their own moral problems, a senator who's innocent and seemingly noble action starts to flower into a mess he cannot control, a general at war with politics and a pair of Angel hunters who just seem to smile at every problem over a hot cup of tea. They are all thrown into a pot and shaken around with the threat of an invasion and an enemy that comes from the least expected place.
It is a wonderful story that I'm still in love with, but I'm also easy to please. Zahn's book Heir to the Empire was the first book I read as a child that was not assigned to me as homework. I've been a fan every since.
This book has this type of basic plot line to it. Someone thrown into a place, isn't all that prepared for it, is actually there for a reason he doesn't quite know and has to figure it out for himself and then save the place where he was thrown into. If you have read Manta's Gift by Zahn you'll also note this is a very similar plot line... and the two books were written back to back (variety?). Manta's Gift features a person who basically lost their life in an accident and was talked into being "born" again as an alien, the Qanska. He's actually there for a reason he doesn't know yet and must face a threat against his new "people". Same basic idea.
Though Angelmass plays this out on a pretty large scale and has the issue of What is Good and Evil? As these Angels supposedly are the stuff Good is made of... it talks about that. Manta's Gift has the issue of What is Humanity? As a human is born again as an alien and becomes one of them, what does it mean to be human? Both stories also have a very annoying villain character, the Adjutor Telthorst and Liadof of the Five Hundred, they have someone aligned with the annoying villain but definitely not on the same thought pattern, Faraday and Lleshi, and a leader type character on the other end who's trust must be earned, Forsythe and Latranesto (though they differ highly in personality).
Still I loved this book even though I read itafter reading Manta's Gift and kept going "Wow this is a lot like Manta's Gift." I really liked the personalities and the way that the characters thought, because half the time they were trying to fool themselves more than fool everyone else and you knew it throughout the entire thing. I recommend it to anyone who is like me, a casual sci-fi fan, star wars fan, gamer and hopeless romantic that just eats of any hint of affection between main characters.
"It is a Serious Sci-Fi novel sneakily posing as a Golden Age thrill ride." -Locus
Rating:
Summary: A thought-provoking novel
Review: The black hole dubbed "ANGELMASS" because of what it emits has dramatically changed the Empyrean colonists on planet Seraph. Apparently the unique particles impact people so that everyone goes out of their way to befriend everyone else. Peace, tranquillity, and honesty run the Empyrean colony, as ethical behavior is more than just the norm, it is six sigma. However, even with this high rate of adherence to using ANGELMASS to promote peace, some individuals fear the loss of free will. Still the Empyrean senate agrees to reject overtures to join the Pax Comitus alliance controlled by Earth.
When word reaches earth about these so-called "angels", the leadership concludes that it is a Trojan Horse sent by aliens to conquer humanity. To learn more about the perceived danger from the angels, earth dispatches subatomic research scientist Jereko Kostas to investigate. He quickly joins forces with thief Chandris Lalasha, Empyrean Senator Forsythe and his aide Ronyon in a quest for the truth.
ANGELMASS is as deep a science fiction adventure tale as one can get due to the powerful characterizations and the profound look at intergalactic political, social, and behavioral interactions. The question of what is and who determines ethics is interwoven into the fantastic story line without slowing done the action. Timothy Zahn paints quite a landscape that enables the reader to understand the author's message while entertaining the wide spectra of speculative fiction fans who will fully enjoy this zestful outer space novel that seems like a throw back to the Golden Age. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Falls Flat
Review: There are some books that when they end, you want to run to the book store to make sure your copy wasn't missing any pages. Angelmass is one of those. It's a pretty good book right up to the end, where things just end without being resolved. There are more questions than answers at the end, which leaves room for a sequel, but left me feeling that all the build-up was for nothing. When all is said and done the Pax still hold Lorelei, Angelmass is still a threat (not an immediate one), and Empryan society is about to be thrown into chaos. I shouldn't be surprised really. All of the Zahn books I've read: the Star Wars Thrawn Trilogy, the Conquerors Trilogy, Star Wars Hand of Thrawn Duology, and Icarus Hunt all have the same kind of open-ended finish, but in those cases there was always enough excitement to make the trip worthwhile. Angelmass, however, moved along slowly but didn't have much of a payoff for readers who plodded through the first 500 pages waiting for the "secret" of Angelmass to be revealed and for the big showdown between the Pax and Empryans. The good thing about Angelmass, though, is that Zahn sticks to his strengths. The overall universe is about the same as the Conqueror's Trilogy and Icarus Hunt (and even his Star Wars books) and similar enough to our own that he doesn't need to spend the whole book explaining how everything works. There's more science featured in Angelmass, making it less approachable than his last efforts, but in small enough doses so that it doesn't dominate the entire book. The characters are fairly well-written, though some seemed like warmed-over versions of characters from previous novels. And as always, Zahn uses a mix of political intrigue, military strategy, science, and con artistry to full advantage. No other SF author I've read comes close to smoothly integrating all those elements. If you're a fan of Zahn's other books like me then you'll definitely want to read this. While maybe not as good as his others, Angelmass still blows away a lot of SF books I've read.
Rating:
Summary: Falls Flat
Review: There are some books that when they end, you want to run to the book store to make sure your copy wasn't missing any pages. Angelmass is one of those. It's a pretty good book right up to the end, where things just end without being resolved. There are more questions than answers at the end, which leaves room for a sequel, but left me feeling that all the build-up was for nothing. When all is said and done the Pax still hold Lorelei, Angelmass is still a threat (not an immediate one), and Empryan society is about to be thrown into chaos. I shouldn't be surprised really. All of the Zahn books I've read: the Star Wars Thrawn Trilogy, the Conquerors Trilogy, Star Wars Hand of Thrawn Duology, and Icarus Hunt all have the same kind of open-ended finish, but in those cases there was always enough excitement to make the trip worthwhile. Angelmass, however, moved along slowly but didn't have much of a payoff for readers who plodded through the first 500 pages waiting for the "secret" of Angelmass to be revealed and for the big showdown between the Pax and Empryans. The good thing about Angelmass, though, is that Zahn sticks to his strengths. The overall universe is about the same as the Conqueror's Trilogy and Icarus Hunt (and even his Star Wars books) and similar enough to our own that he doesn't need to spend the whole book explaining how everything works. There's more science featured in Angelmass, making it less approachable than his last efforts, but in small enough doses so that it doesn't dominate the entire book. The characters are fairly well-written, though some seemed like warmed-over versions of characters from previous novels. And as always, Zahn uses a mix of political intrigue, military strategy, science, and con artistry to full advantage. No other SF author I've read comes close to smoothly integrating all those elements. If you're a fan of Zahn's other books like me then you'll definitely want to read this. While maybe not as good as his others, Angelmass still blows away a lot of SF books I've read.
Rating: 
Summary: Zahn can't really make a bad book
Review: This book was pretty good (not great). It was a little lacking in Zahn's typical "take existing sci-fi technology and do things with it no-one has ever thought about", which i LOVE. But i'm glad i bought it, and you should get it.
Rating:
Summary: Change of pace
Review: This is not your everyday novel involving a massive interstellar plot. It involved few character to keep track of. It was definatly a change of pace. I realy enjoyed it. Instead of all out war there was subtle hints of a possible alien invasion.
The Empyrean has found a way to keep their polititions and high ranking military members ethical. The use of angels. The angels are produced by a small black hole aptly named Angelmass. The Pax, a goverment that seems like the good guys at the begining, see the angels as a alien intelligence trying to warp the minds of the Empyreans. The Pax has sent a young inexperienced spy, Jeriko Kosta, to find out the truth behind the angels. But instead finds the whole thing to be utterly confusing. Meanwhile the Pax is sending a task force to "liberate" the Empyrean's form the angels. This presses Kosta for time to find what is really going on out at Angelmass.
I was expecting a plot more like the other Timothy Zahn books I have read. Nevertheless i still enjoyed this novel aproach on the whole good vs. evil idea. The only thing I didn't like was the sub plot with the Adjutor's real agenda came out at the very last and didn't have the mystery and guessing I would have liked with plot twists. All in all, a good book.
Rating:
Summary: Angelmass, a blackhole of boring
Review: Well, what can I say. I finished it, and I can't say I hated it, but I wasn't rushing home to finish it either. Interstellar war, spies, con artists, mammoth space ships and a thinking black hole... sounds like it could've been something, but... no, didn't work. The strange thing is that the characters were done pretty good, just the story was boring. Scientist spy is sent to investigate enemy's black hole, and... he does. Meets interesting people along the way. Ta-da. The war is a side story, no sense of panic or really anything, it's happening. The con-artist is the love interest and almost works, yet, doesn't. The battle ship is under utilized, nice side story, but yet unimpressive. The black hole was, well, just there. I never got involved in this book, everything was ok but not exciting. Did like the space travel concept though.
Rating:
Summary: Angelmass, a blackhole of boring
Review: Well, what can I say. I finished it, and I can't say I hated it, but I wasn't rushing home to finish it either. Interstellar war, spies, con artists, mammoth space ships and a thinking black hole... sounds like it could've been something, but... no, didn't work. The strange thing is that the characters were done pretty good, just the story was boring. Scientist spy is sent to investigate enemy's black hole, and... he does. Meets interesting people along the way. Ta-da. The war is a side story, no sense of panic or really anything, it's happening. The con-artist is the love interest and almost works, yet, doesn't. The battle ship is under utilized, nice side story, but yet unimpressive. The black hole was, well, just there. I never got involved in this book, everything was ok but not exciting. Did like the space travel concept though.
Rating:
Summary: Zahn falters
Review: When Timothy Zahn is at his best, there is nobody better. The Conquerors Trilogy deserves to be remembered as an all-time great, and The Icarus Hunt was a delightful action/suspense novel that keeps the reader on the edge of the seat. Angelmass, unfortunately, does not come close to Conquerors or Icarus. It is better than some of Zahn's middle-period works (like Triplet, for example), but not the five-star we'd been coming to expect. (And that's okay; we can't expect a writer to be perfect *every* time, can we?) Angelmass is a black hole that spits out "angels." What the angels are and how they affect humans is the center point of the novel, and often the science babble overwhelms the story. Characters here are often too wooden, and sometimes seem to be caricatures of previous Zahn characters (High Senator Forsythe reads like a dumbed-down version of Talon Karrde, for example). We learn on the last page to our astonishing lack of surprise that the two main characters are becoming romantically involved - a result both blatantly predictable and poorly developed. But then one doesn't read Zahn for character or romance, does one? Zahn is best at plotting and action, and Angelmass provides both. Zahn is a master of battle - both space battles and one-on-one combat, and there is enough of each here to please any Zahn fan. There's political intrigue, too, of course. In short, Zahn fans will find enough here to enjoy. Non-Zahn fans, however, may read this one and wonder what all the Zahn fuss is about.
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