The Forever Hero
The Forever Hero — (1987-1988) Publisher: L. E. Modesitt, Jr’s first major work was The Forever Hero trilogy of SF adventure novels published as paperback originals in the 1980s, of which Dawn for a Distant Earth was the first title in the series. 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.
The Corean Chronicles
The Corean Chronicles — (2003-2011) Publisher: Millennia ago, a magical disaster caused the fall of a great civilization that spanned a continent, and ended a golden age. Corus today is a world of contending countries, of struggling humans, strange animals and elusive supernatural creatures. Though much has been forgotten, it is still a place of magical powers, and of a few people who are Talented enough to use them. Even as a child, Alucius showed very strong Talent. He was warned never to reveal it, lest others seek to exploit it. But as he grows to young manhood, Alucius must serve in the Militia like his father before him. When his country is invaded by the slave armies of the Matrial, immortal ruler of a nearby land, Alucius is captured and magically enslaved. A time of changes has come upon all of the world of Corus. If the evil surrounding the Matrial is not ended, those changes will not be happy ones. Alucius and his Talent have a central role to play.
More books by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
Timegods’ World — (1982-1992) The Timegod is an expansion from Modesitt’s first novel, The Fires of Paratime. Publisher: Lovi, a young timediver, becomes a full-fledged member of the Temporal Guard of the planet Query, but he soon rebels against the parasitic culture in which he lives. TIMEGOD’S WORLD is reminiscent of the Change War stories of Fritz Lieber, and although they are SF, they contain intriguing connections to the fantasy universe of Modesitt’s Recluce novels. This is SF adventure in time and space, full of action and big ideas.
The Ecolitan Matter — (1986-1997) Publisher: Four hundred years after winning Secession from the Terran Empire, the star system Accord wants to sign a simple trade treaty on microchip export tariffs. But if the agreement is so minor, why is Professor Nathaniel Whaler — top economist at the Ecolitan Institute, and his world’s top commando killer — chosen Accord’s Envoy? Because the Imperial capital is a maddening bureaucracy of sniveling diplomats, high profile figureheads, powers behind the throne, and spies — everywhere, spies…. Because the Envoy has to face red tape, politics, prejudice — and a gauntlet of kidnappers, assassins, snipers, and bombs… Because some Ministry — but which? — doesn’t want the treaty. Because some in the Empire still blame Accord for Earth’s poisoning and the defection of fifty star systems after the war between Imperial nuclear might and Ecolitan bio-ecological weaponry. A hidden cabal wants to fight the war again — even if, this time, the entire galaxy dies. And only Nathaniel Whaler, the Ecologic Envoy, has the power to stop the catastrophe.
The Ghost Trilogy (Johan Eschbach) — (1994-2001) Publisher: Johan Eschbach, Professor of Environmental Science and semi-retired secret agent, and his lovely wife the world-renowned singer Llysette, return for another adventure, this time in Russia, during the long ‘white nights’ of summer. Their world is an intriguing alternate present in which many things are changed. What we know as the eastern U.S. is the nation of Columbia, and Russia is still ruled by the Czars. Llysette is being sent by the Columbian government on a cultural exchange mission to St. Petersburg. Johan will, of course, accompany her, allowing him to work behind the scenes on the oil concession in Russian Alaska that Columbia so desperately needs. But even the oil shortage will fade to insignificance when Johan discovers what new weapons technology the Russians are developing, a threat even more fearsome than the atomic bombs of Austro-Hungary. This is the concluding novel of the of alternate history adventure trilogy that Modesitt began with Of Tangible Ghosts and The Ghost of the Revelator.
The Spellsong Cycle — (1998-2003) Publisher: When Anna Marshall is transported from her boring and frustrating life in Ames, Iowa, to the very different world of Erde, she’s angry and confused, but soon finds out that for the first time in her life she’s uniquely powerful. In Iowa Anna was a music instructor and small-time opera singer, but on Erde her musical ability makes her a big-time sorceress — potentially. First she must figure out how to use her ability before the big-time rulers who’ve noticed her arrival kill her just because she’s an unpredictable new power… Those rulers may wish they hadn’t waited as long as they did.
Parafaith — (1996-2003) Publisher: 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.
Archform: Beauty — (2002-2004) Publisher: Most readers recognize L. E. Modesitt, Jr., as the author of a favorite fantasy series, be it The Magic of Recluce or The Spellsong Cycle. It’s always a special treat when he turns his hand again to SF and Archform: Beauty is no exception. Four centuries in the future, the world is rich — nanomachines watch the health of the wealthy and manufacture food and gadgets for everybody — but no Utopia, as we see in the lives of five very different people. A singing teacher suffers for her music and fights bureaucracy and apathy. A news researcher delivers the essential background details but can’t help looking deeper and wondering about the real story behind the grim incidents that make the headlines. A police investigator, assigned to study trends, begins to see a truly sinister pattern behind a series of seemingly unrelated crimes and deaths. A politician aids his constituents, fights the good fight, and tries to get reelected without compromising his principles. A ruthless businessman strives to make his family powerful, wealthy, and independent. Theirs is a society where technology takes care of everyone’s basic needs but leaves most people struggling to extract a meaningful life from a world crowded with wonders but empty of commitment and human connection. Alternating the voices and experiences of these five characters in a tour de force of imaginative creation, Modesitt overlaps, combines, and builds their disparate stories into a brilliant tale of future crime and investigation, esthetic challenge and personal triumph. In the same way that he has built fantasy landscapes of surpassing fascination, Modesitt creates a believable future, one imbued with a deep understanding of the way politics works and how people act and react when their sense of themselves, of justice and truth, is exploited by others for power and control. When there’s nothing left to need or want, will beauty live on in people’s lives or disappear forever? L. E. Modesitt, Jr. asks difficult questions, sets himself unlikely challenges, and once again delivers an absorbing tale that enlightens, entertains, and uplifts all at once.
Hammer of Darkness — (1985) Publisher: Martin Martel is an exile in trouble with the gods in this SF novel by the bestselling writer L. E, Modesitt, Jr, now back in a new trade papeback edition from Tor. After finding out that he has unusual powers, he is banished from the planet Karnak. Martin is thrust into the tranquil world of Aurore, vacation paradise for the galaxy. There he finds that the reality of Aurore is much different from its serene veneer. The gods are wantonly cruel and indifferent to the chaos they cause: are they really gods or just men and woman with larger-than-life powers? Whatever the answer Martin Martel must challenge their supremacy to defend his life, love, and the fate of all mankind.
Gravity Dreams — (1999) Publisher: 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.
The Eternity Artifact — (2005) Publisher: Five thousand years in the future, humankind has spread across the galaxy and more than a dozen different planetary and system governments exist in an uneasy truce. Human beings have found no signs of other life anywhere approaching human intelligence. Until scientists discover a sunless planet they name Danann. Moving at unnaturally high speed, Danann travels the void just beyond the edge of the galaxy. Its continents and oceans have been sculpted and shaped and there is but a single, almost perfectly-preserved megaplex upon the surface — with tens of thousands of near-identical metallic-silver-blue towers set along curved canals. Yet, Danann has been abandoned for so long that even the atmosphere has frozen solid. Orbital shuttle pilot Jiendra Chang, artist Chendor Barna, and history professor Liam Fitzhugh are recruited by the Comity government and its Deep Space Service as part of an unprecedented and unique expedition to unravel Danann’s secrets. And there are forces that will stop at nothing to prevent them, even if it means interstellar war.
The Elysium Commission — (2007) Publisher: L.E. Modesitt returns to SF with a whole new future world on the brink of destruction. A brilliant scientist on the planet Devanta has created a small universe contiguous to ours — and a utopian city on one of the planets. The question becomes, though, an utopia for whom? And why is a shady entertainment mogul subsidizing the scientist? More critical than that, does this new universe require the destruction of a portion — or all — of our universe in order to grow and stabilize? Blaine Donne is a retired military special operative now devoted to problem-solving for hire. He investigates a series of seemingly unrelated mysteries that arise with the arrival of a woman with unlimited resources who has neither a present nor a past. The more he investigates, the more questions arise, including the role of the two heiresses who are more — and less — than they seem, and the more Donne is pushed inexorably toward an explosive solution and a regional interstellar war.
Viewpoints Critical: Selected Stories — (2008) Publisher: This is the first story collection ever from bestselling fantasy and science fiction writer L. E. Modesitt, Jr. Modesitt began publishing short fiction in the SF magazines in the 1970s, and this collection includes a selection of stories from the whole of his career. Some of the early stories are kernels for his early SF novels, others display the wide range of his talents and interests, from satire to military adventure. This book also contains three new stories that have never been published before: “Black Ordermage,” set in Modesitt’s bestselling Recluce series; “Beyond the Obvious Wind,” set in his Corean Chronicles universe; and “Always Outside the Lines,” which is related to the Ghost of Columbia books. Viewpoints Critical is an excellent introduction to the work of one of the major SF and fantasy writers publishing today.
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(1943- )
