Silence in Solitude

Rating:
Summary: Rescued the trilogy for me
Review: This is the second of Melissa Scott's Five-Twelves of Heaven trilogy (Five-Twelves of Heaven, Silence in Solitude, and Empress of Earth) and a dandy book it is, too. Scott's description of space drives depending on "harmony" and Neo-Platonic imagery is as marvelous as ever, but it's the plot that really moves this book along. Little touches, like Silence's relationship with her husbands, or the description of the life in the Women's Palace, bring this story very much alive. Silence is a maga in training, a woman in concealment, always trying to get out of the maze the events in book 1 have led her in to. (slight spoiler) By the end of the book, she and her husbands have come to a certain arrangement with the Hegemony, which leads into the events in the last book. It's probably my favorite book of the trilogy--I was working on my doctorate at the time of reading it, so empathized heartily with some of Solitude's experiences!