Adiamante

Rating:
Summary: A story of conflict and great responsibility.
Review: Adiamante seems to follow the underlying theme that most of Modesitt's works incorporate. Once again there is found a people who wish nothing more than to be left alone, yet are forced to protect themselves at great price. Modesitt continues to write of the inherent lack of understanding by most people. There are those characters that will not listen to reason. They must go their own course untill they are forced to act differently. The main characters cannot, by their very nature, act in a pre-emptive manner for any reason. Modesitt's developement of the ideas expressed in the "Paradigms of Power" and the "Construct" work excellently with this theme. All in all a good read and I look forward to the next book sent forth.

Rating:
Summary: Old Earth...
Review: After ten thousand years, after the Flight, the rise as well as fall of the Rebuilt Hegemony and the Chaos years demi and draffs have learned a peaceful way of life. They have set up rules that allow this, rules that can't be broken no matter what the cost. Into this Utopia come the cybs, their thoughts mired in the past, they want vengeance. Can Earth's people defend themselves when they are not even allowed to show mistrust because even THAT would be looked at as a threat under the principles they live under? Or will the cybs realize that just because the Earth seems backwards to them DOES NOT mean the demi and draffs don't have weapons of their own?
A book that forces you to think. A book that will never be outdated and will always have important issues for us to deal with about violence, power and social ethics.

Rating:
Summary: Mature and thoughtful fiction
Review: How would you run a planet if you were truly Grown Up? Having set up a society you like, how would you defend it without losing your soul? I'm careful about what I read these days. Don't have time for adolescent knock-over-the-empire stuff any more. This is the kind of fiction that you read SF for when you get past that stage. Modesitt does a fabulous job with this. He posits an Earth struggling to clean up the toxic residues of old societies and old wars. Some residues are left in place as reminders. The inhabitants understand, but the people from Gates just don't get it. The blurb on the back cover from the New York Times is dead on: "morally persuasive and emotionally wrenching." Read this book.

Rating:
Summary: The Earth is a Dangerous Place
Review: I believe Modesitt is trying, with this book, to get the readers to look around at the world today for what it is. His Cybs (in a very Vulcan manner) can view only the literal facts and are not able to deduce the power they are facing.The Demi's use near telepathic powers to communicate and control their planetary powers, much as secret societies use hand signals and sign language to control, subjugate, and enforce their will on others. I would rate this book as enlightening as Orwell's 1984 for its ability to demonstrate how much power is available to be wielded by "the Demis" and how they choose to use it.

Rating:
Summary: A daring work of utopia
Review: If you are at all interested in thinking about and exploring Utopias, this book is a must. Unlike much other speculative fiction about utopias, Modesitt dares to explain the rules of his utopia in a thoughtful and engaging story. I truly enjoyable read, I would recommend this book to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: One that will make you think...
Review: This book is an excellent example of what makes science-fiction so appealing to me : timeless questions and ideas, put in a different perspective, so that a new understanding may be found.

Power vs responsibiliy, and what make a society stable ? Food for the thought, packaged in a good action plot.

Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: This has to be my favorite book by L. E. Modesitt Jr. (I've read about ten).

I'm prone to multi-volumne series, but this one is short but sweet.

Rating:
Summary: an inverted storytelling approach
Review: This is the first L. E. Modesitt book I picked up, and it was a pretty entertaining read. It sustains through a second read too, for the presentation of the two different cultures remains consistent throughout.

I found the approach unexpected - even though by the end of chapter 3 there is little doubt about how the story will conclude, that leaves room for an amazing amount of suspense in just what the path will be to get to that foregone conclusion. Also the changes in points of view - first person for the demi and third person for the cybs - are a good way to unrelentingly underscore the impersonal outlook of the cybs as opposed to the demi's beliefs that life must be lived "whole-body".

All in all the best science fiction book I have read in a while. I realize it's been published for some time but that just means it's still worthwhile to browse outside of the newly-published book selections.

Rating:
Summary: Well done, but blandly seasoned
Review: This novel presents a compelling entree to a mythos/universe that the author expands in other novels, but Adiamante may lack the vicersal tug that you get from a truly great novel. Well worth reading, even loosing sleep for, but by the very nature of its characters and message, not one you'll push on your friends.
More mature and thoughtful readers will remember this one fondly, and return to it often.

Rating:
Summary: Well done, but blandly seasoned
Review: This novel presents a compelling entree to a mythos/universe that the author expands in other novels, but Adiamante may lack the vicersal tug that you get from a truly great novel. Well worth reading, even loosing sleep for, but by the very nature of its characters and message, not one you'll push on your friends.
More mature and thoughtful readers will remember this one fondly, and return to it often.