Modesitt, L.E.
THE
ELYSIUM COMMISSION
L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
TOR 2007
HB 336 pages
ISBN#
13:978-0-765-31720-9
ISBN# 10:0-765-31720-6
This is from the same story world as Modesitt’s, PARAFAITH WAR, though plotted in a new direction. THE ELYSIUM COMMISSION stands alone and is highly recommended for fans of high-tech, far-future, other-world science fiction. The science in this is Coool! The plot is a nice mix of adventure and political intrigue based on characterization that keeps the reader hooked. The initial mystery, however, is to figure out just who “I” is…for this is written in first person--more than one first person, and it’s confusing at first sorting out who is who.
Blaine Donne is a private detective with special talents and skills. His villa is very well equipped for defence and he has a Special Operations-style nightflitter hidden in an underground hanger that only a handful of people know about. He accepts difficult commissions that no one else can solve, some of them coming from foremost sources.
Maraniss is a sociologist with genius ideas for the perfect society and he’s hooked up with a corporate backing of money and power politics.
One of these men is The Shadow Knight who spends evenings strolling the Nouvelle Seine, nobly saving human prey from human predators in all manner of hit and run gambits.
Blaine Donne takes on THE ELYSIUM COMMISSION as well as several others at the same time--there are bills to pay, after all--but one of these commissions is becoming a deadly affair. He’s got to solve all of them fast before he gets vaporized the way his friend just did. Problem is, it appears there’s government tangles involved here, and the connections extend beyond the boundaries of one planetary government. Intergalactic war becomes a possibility. How fast can Blaine run before the powers that be put an end to him, permanently?
I liked this book. Modesitt’s style has a military precision to it, his plots are calculating, and his characterization--as always--is believable and engaging.
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