Gravity Dreams - L.E. Modesitt Jr.

Gravity Dreams
L. E. Modesitt
Tor Books
Copyright: 2000
9780812566611

The amazon.com product description:

In Earth's distant future, Tyndel is both teacher and mentor, a staunch devotee to his conservative and rigidly structured religious culture. Then a rogue infection of nanotechnology transforms him into a "demon", something more than human, and he is forced into exile, fleeing to the more technologically advanced space-faring civilization that lies to the north, one that his own righteous people consider evil. Although shaken by his transformation, he has the rare talent required to become a space pilot. What no one, least of all Tyndel, expects, is his deep-space encounter with a vastly superior being--perhaps with God.

I've read and reviewed Gravity Dreams before, and loved it. No difference this time - just the challenge of getting my hands on a copy. I know I owned it previously, but for the last year or so I couldn't find it. Figuring it was lost in one of the boxes from my moving, I just shrugged, and thought it would turn up. Books have done this before - usually after I give up and replace them. Well, I replaced my copy of Gravity Dreams, but the original copy has yet to show up. I'm still waiting...

Aside from that - and the note that I ended up buying my replacement copy through Abebooks - I still found Gravity Dreams to be a very good read, racing through it over the course of about four days - including a camping trip.

L.E. Modesitt Jr. writes his science fiction with layers. The surface layer is the story, but there are other deeper layers and themes to each of his books as well. With Gravity Dreams, I'm sure there were layers that I was missing - quite a bit of the Dorchan culture left me scratching my head at their ways of thinking, but at the same time raising some interesting points.

One of the biggest themes in this book, as well as others of Modesitt's such as Adiamante is personal responsibility. In Adiamante, the personal responsibility theme was strongly focused on the environment, but there nonetheless. In Gravity Dreams, it's geared more to responsibility for your choices and the consequences thereof.

The other big theme in this book is honesty. Honesty with yourself and with others, distilled down to the most basic and even extreme levels, even to the point where it's forced on people - using some of the characters own words here. This is where I have to be honest myself and say that this is a world I wouldn't want to live in. I like my illusions a bit too much thank you - a comment I made in my previous review as well.

In terms of story structure, Gravity Dreams is rather interestingly put together with time-jumps both forwards and back. Thankfully, each chapter starts with the date for the events in that chapter, and also the location. Definitely something that I found was needed. Also, and I've seen reviews complaining about this, much of the story is set up around dialogue and internal thoughts. I liked it, but others obviously don't.

Following on that is the depth of descriptions that the author uses. I especially liked the use of color and music in overspace, making it a multi-sense experience rather than just simply visual. Humans have five senses, and Modesitt makes use of that as best he can though the medium of the written word. On the other hand, I quite like descriptive stories, so this was right up my alley.

If you like science fiction and also want a story that will make you think while you're reading it, I highly recommend Gravity Dreams and also L.E. Modesitt Jr.'s other science fiction novels.

Rereads and a Reading Update

I've been doing a fair bit of re-reading over the last month and a bit, but I've also been away for a lot of that time as well - thus the lack of posts.

The thing with re-reading, especially here, is that I've already reviewed these books, sometimes more than once, and I'm having a lot of trouble thinking up new things to say about them. So, I'm going to cheat/take the lazy way and just group them together in this one post with links to my previous reviews.

The books are:
The Parafaith War by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
Overall, I've found that L.E. Modesitt's books are often quite challenging to review, mostly due to the different layers to the story. His science fiction is some of my favorite as well, also due to those layers, which leave me thinking about different aspects of society.

This one, despite being well over a decade old, has aged very well. It's not dated in any way and still very relevant to our own world despite being set in a very far future world.

The Adept by Katherine Kurtz and Deborah Turner Harris.
Another favorite novel. This one's the first in a series of five books, fantasy and set in Scotland. Again, being an older book, I have to say that it's aged quite well. The first time I heard of this series would have been over a decade ago on a Mercedes Lackey mailing-list. If my memory's not playing tricks, it was in reference to someone asking for recommendations of other books they might like to read. So, if you like Mercedes Lackey, especially her Diana Tregarde books, these could be well worth your while to hunt down.

Adiamante by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
Another thought-provoking science fiction novel that's aged very well. As I've noted in my earlier review of this book, it's a world that I don't know that I could live in, although there are some aspects that I really like - especially the environmental consciousness. At the same time, those are the same ones that I think I'd have the most trouble with.

Definitely worth a read though you might have to hunt to find this one.

If you're noticing a theme in this post, yes there is one. I've been on a bit of a L.E. Modesitt Jr. streak of late, and it's just going to continue. There's another of his books that I want to re-read: Gravity Dreams. And I finally can. For some reason over the last couple of years, my copy of the book simply disappeared. Maybe it's still hiding somewhere, packed away from my first move - five years ago now. (It's happened to me before. Only last month I rediscovered my original copy of Jo Graham's Black Ships, missing since that first move).

Anyway, I've been wanting to re-read Gravity Dreams for a while now with no luck in finding my copy. So, I ended up ordering another copy, which arrived last week.

The reading update portion of this post:

The Lady by Anne McCaffrey
I'm about two thirds of the way through this one and struggling with it, even though I've read the book several times before and loved it. I think what's getting to me this time is the 1970's attitudes in Ireland. For some reason I'm really noticing them this time around.

Aside from that, it's a great story. Some romance, but I'd generally class this as regular fiction as half the story is from the daughter's point of view (13 year old), and more of a horse story than anything.

I'm also still reading Elizabeth Moon's latest novel, Crown of Renewal. I can't believe it's taken me this long to get through it - no reflection on the quality of the book I have to say. My husband got interested in her books as well, and so I promised to read Crown of Renewal only while he's reading the first book, Oath of Fealty. From what he's said, he's really enjoying the read. It just takes him a while. Personally, I can't wait to get back to reading this one - then I'm going to be snatching back Oath of Fealty to start the whole cycle from book one.

The Forever Hero - L.E. Modesitt Jr.

The Forever Hero
L.E. Modesitt Jr.
Tor Books
Copyright: 1999
978-0312868383

The amazon.com product description:

L. E. Modesitt, Jr's first major work was a trilogy of SF adventure novels published as paperback originals in the 1980s: Dawn for a Distant Earth, The Silent Warrior, and In Endless Twilight. Together they form The Forever Hero.

Thousands of years in the future, Earth is a desolate ruin. The first human ship to return in millennia discovers an abandoned wasteland inhabited only by a few degenerate or mutated human outcasts. But among them is a boy of immense native intelligence and determination who is captured, taken in, and educated, and disappears--to grow up to become the force behind a plan to make Earth flower again. He is, if not immortal, at least very long-lived, and he plans to build an independent power base out in the galaxy and force the galactic empire to devote centuries and immense resources to the restoration of the ecology of Earth.

I've had a copy of The Forever Hero for years - long enough that I can't remember where I got it. The book is in good condition, no creases or anything, but it does have a Withdrawn From stamp inside the cover. And no obvious library marks. It also doesn't have a price written inside the cover the way most of my favorite used bookstores do it.

For various reasons I never got around to reading the book until just this past month. With a few stops and starts, it took a little while to get into it, but by the second half of the book I was having trouble putting it down. At the same time, I found The Forever Hero to be somewhat confusing. There are a lot of time-jumps forward and many times I found myself scratching my head and trying to figure out what was going on/how long it had been since a particular event happened.

Overall, I'd have to give this book a mixed review. Most of it I really liked, but there were a few things, like the time jumps that just didn't quite work for me, including to an extent, the ending of the story.

The idea of using biology to manage the clean-up worked really well for me, as did a lot of the issues with the Empire - that just seemed really believable. Despite this not being quite one of my favourite novels by L.E. Modesitt, I did enjoy the read.

I'd have to recommend this if you like science fiction, but I will add the comment that I don't think this book is for everyone.

The Parafaith War - L.E. Modesitt

The Parafaith War
L.E. Modesitt
Tor Books
Copyright: 1996
0812538943

The jacket blurb:

Some bad ideas go back a long way and this one goes all the way back to the original home planet: Someone's god told them they had a right to more territory--so they figure they can take what they want by divine right. In the far future among the colonized worlds of the galaxy there's a war going on between the majority of civilized worlds and a colonial theocracy.

Trystin Desoll grows up fighting against religious fanatics and becomes a hero, a first-class pilot, then, amazingly, a spy. What do you do if you're a relatively humane soldier fighting millions of suicidal volunteers on the other side who know that they are utterly right and you are utterly wrong, with no middle ground? Trystin Desoll has an idea. 

 L.E. Modesitt's science fiction is always thought-provoking at the same time as being exciting to read. The Parafaith War is no exception to this. But, there's always something more to the story than just the technology and the conflict: there's the reasons behind the conflict too - in this case a lot of it is religiously motivated. But the characters aren't just blind about it - they also try to understand what makes the opposing side think and believe what they do.

Normally I don't put much stock in the cover quotes of a book, but the two on this title are ones I'm going to quote. First, there's the Washington Times quote from the back cover:

"Mr. Modesitt's novel is a thoughtful commentary on the comparative influences of science and religion in the human story."

That's exactly what the book is, as well as being incredibly exciting. By the last handful of chapters, I couldn't put the book down at all last night. But, it's also the way Modesitt keeps asking questions with the characters, and adding that extra dimension to the stories that makes me come back to his books again and again. The Parafaith War isn't the only science fiction book of his that I've reviewed here, there's also Gravity Dreams and Adiamante.

The other quote, from the front cover of the book, and from Kirkus Reviews, is:

Echoes of both Joe Haldeman's The Forever War and Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers: dense, gritty, strong on technical details.

As far as I'm concerned, this is another great recommendation to pick up the book as I loved reading Starship Troopers, and I've heard good things about The Forever War, although I have yet to read it.

L.E. Modesitt dropped me right into the story at the beginning complete with the dust and the problematical atmosphere, as he described things very vividly and then kept it up for the next four hundred and seventy pages or so. Characters, places, grand things such as the canyons and right down to the little things, all of them came together to help make the world. Even the aliens, which add another layer of mystery, right down to the final pages of the book, when things become clearer.

Personally, I find this to be a top-notch novel effort and one that's worth reading, without being dated at all well over a decade after it was first written. Well done, Mr. Modesitt!

Teaser Tuesday - June 14

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser of choice this week is:

Most pilots - those who survive - end up with dated and obscure senses of humor. You get used to it, and about the time you do, everyone except the older pilots will give you blank looks because what you thought was funny they haven't got the referents for.

The Parafaith War by L.E. Modesitt, page 146.

Arms Commander - L. E. Modesitt Jr.

Arms Commander
L. E. Modesitt Jr.
Tor Books
Copyright: 2010
978-0765323811

Amazon.com product description:

Arms-Commander takes place ten years after the end of The Chaos Balance and tells the story of the legendary Saryn. The keep of Westwind, in the cold mountainous heights called the Roof of the World, is facing attack by the adjoining land of Gallos. Arthanos, son and heir to the ailing Prefect of Gallos, wishes to destroy Westwind because the idea of a land where women rule is total anathema to him.

Saryn, Arms-Commander of Westwind, is dispatched to a neighboring land, Lornth, to seek support against the Gallosians. In the background, the trading council of Suthya is secretly and informally allied with Gallos against Westwind and begins to bribe lord-holders in Lornth to foment rebellion and civil war. They hope to create such turmoil in Lornth that the weakened land will fall to Suthya. But Zeldyan, regent of Lornth, has problems in her family. To secure Zeldyan’s aid, Saryn must pledge her personal support—and any Westwind guard forces she can raise—to the defense of Zeldyan and her son. The fate of four lands, including Westwind, rests on Saryn’s actions.

The latest of the Recluse saga novels, but set earlier in time. And, I have no real idea of the chronolgy for this series any more. I do know that this book follows The Fall Of Angels, but beyond that, I don't know. It's been a while since I read the Recluse books.

L.E. Modesitt Jr. is an author who likes making the reader think. In the Recluse books he turns conventional stereotypes upsidedown, then destroys them. The main one being the assumption that white is good and black is evil. Here, it seems that black is more good than white, but neither is exactly "good". There's plenty of examples of black (or order) magic being used to evil purposes in the series.

He's also one of those authors who's equally good at science fiction and fantasy. A fair number of his earlier science fiction novels are among my favorites. All of them are thought-provoking (as is, I'm discovering, his blog). Arms Commander is no exception. There's certainly no glorious war, although there is plenty of fighting, rebellion and war. Instead, we see plenty of the destructive side of the activity, along with the efforts of rebuilding.

The characters, particularly Saryn are some of the most profound I've seen in fantasy novels, something I liked, as it added more depth to the story and the characters. They do have their flaws, but, at least some of them are aware of it. Others though, seem to fit the stereotyped stupid male category (something Modesitt has used in quite a few of the novels. The Spell Song Cycle comes to mind).

Overall, I liked Arms Commander, although I did feel somewhat lost. This is definitely a book that builds on knowledge of the previous book: The Fall Of Angels. It's possible to read it and enjoy it without that, but I think it would have helped. It's definitely been a few years since I read any of the other books and I found myself struggling to remember characters and events.

Guess I'm going to have to re-read the other books in the series.

L.E. Modesitt's Blog

I've just discovered that the author L.E. Modesitt Jr. has a fascinating blog, which I'm adding to my "In Their Own Words" list as well.

Modesitt is the author of the Recluse books, the latest of which, Arms Commander (amazon.com link), I"m reading right now. He's also written the Spellsong Cycle (fantasy) and numerous science fiction books, including The Parafaith War, Adiamante and The Octagonal Raven. I find the books to be nearly unique in terms of the way they make me think about different issues within the context of the story.

Free Short Stories

SF Signal has a list of 95 new short stories from the Baen webscription site. Thing is, these ones are free. There's stories from several authors I read and enjoy, including Elizabeth Moon, S. M. Stirling, and L.E. Modesitt Jr., as well as a whole bunch of other authors.

The David Gemmell Legend Award

There's a new award out there for fantasy books this year: the David Gemmell Legend Award. According to the website, it's an award for the best fantasy novel of 2008, and they've asked for readers to vote for the best fantasy novel to form their shortlist.

Some of the books on the list include:
Mage Guard of Hamor by L.E. Modesitt
Foundation by Mercedes Lackey
Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik
Graceling by Kristin Cashore

There are a whole host of other books as well. These are just the ones I remember seeing on the list. There's a good chance that one of your favorites will be on the list, so you should go and vote.

Gravity Dreams - L. E. Modesitt

Gravity Dreams
L. E. Modesitt
Tor Books
Copyright: 2000
9780812566611

The amazon.com product description:

In Earth's distant future, Tyndel is both teacher and mentor, a staunch devotee to his conservative and rigidly structured religious culture. Then a rogue infection of nanotechnology transforms him into a "demon", something more than human, and he is forced into exile, fleeing to the more technologically advanced space-faring civilization that lies to the north, one that his own righteous people consider evil. Although shaken by his transformation, he has the rare talent required to become a space pilot. What no one, least of all Tyndel, expects, is his deep-space encounter with a vastly superior being--perhaps with God.

One of L. E. Modesitt's earlier books now, Gravity Dreams is a favourite of mine. It's written from the perspective of a character, Tyndel, who has grown up in a society at about a tech level of our current world, or perhaps a little above, who is forced into a world with a much higher level of technology and very different attitudes. Through the book we are watching Tyndel as he struggles to make his place in the new society.

In the process, Modesitt has laid out a book that, at least in my case, makes me think about ideas around personal responsibility. That's typical of all of this author's science fiction novels, that they center on a theme. Adiamante for example shares the theme of personal responsibility but also connects it with stewardship of the environment. I like this as it makes his books into something a bit different from the typical sci-fi novel.

Where this book is somewhat different from the others is that the main character is an outsider, and we learn about the world as he does, which was definitely not by taking the 'easy way'.

The author uses some interesting language, with Tyndel from the beginning referring to the high tech society as one of 'demons'. While that makes sense given the culture he is from, where it gets interesting is when those of the high tech society also refer to themselves as 'demons', and it seems to be their typical term for themselves. What does that say when a society generally seems to use a negative term for themselves, but without any obvious negative effects?

There seems to be a tendency to take these societies to somewhat of an extreme, which makes for a good read. However, I know that I wouldn't want to live in either society as described in Gravity Dreams. I like my illusions too much, and yet we should at least think about the consequences of the way we live.

One thing, the chapter headings are there for a reason. Modesitt seems to like to jump around, be it from character to character as in Archform: Beauty or backwards and forwards in time as in this book.

I do recommend reading this book if you can find it. The local library might be a good bet in this case. I know it's only available used through chapters.ca and I'd bet its the same through Amazon.

Updated with the cover image and amazon.com blurb in 2013. The content of the review itself is unchanged.

L.E. Modesitt - Adiamante

Adiamante
L.E. Modesitt J.R.
Tor Books
Copyright: 1996
ISBN: 0812545583

The amazon.com product description:

After ten thousand years in exile, the cyber-warriors return in their fleet of spaceships to the planet that rejected them: Earth.

L.E. Modesitt's science fiction always seems to examine a particular issue as the author tells the story. In Archform: Beauty, the he looks at advertising and ethics, for example.

Adiamante seems to focus on themes of power and environmental responsibility, as well as personal responsibility. I'm trying to figure out if these books are all set in the same world/universe or not. Certainly he uses the same names in a lot of the books, ie "Deseret" for one of the cities.

The ending of the story is very ambiguous as well. Will the whole cycle repeat itself in a few more centuries? With Kemra at the end, there seems to be a hope for change, but will she be listened to or simply disregarded as having been 'contaminated' by the Demis of Old Earth?

There are passages in this story, such as the three legends which I found to be very thought-provoking as I read them, if only to decipher what the author was trying to say.

As noted above, personal responsibility is a running theme through a lot of his books, including Gravity Dreams.

While this is a great story, and is quite relevant to today, with the environmental issues, it's a world I don't think I'd care to live in. The responsibility side is a bit much, I think. I like my CDs and books etc a bit too much. Certainly though Adiamante is a very thought-provoking read.

Updated with the cover image and amazon.com product description in 2013. The review itself is unchanged.