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Searching... Monmouth Public Library | Fic (sf) Modesitt, L. 2005 | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Salem Main Library | FANTASY Modesitt, L. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Stayton Public Library | FN MODESITT, L. E. | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
L. E. Modesitt, Jr. returns to Corus, setting of his recent trilogy ("Legacies," "Darknesses," "Scepters"), to begin the epic story of the fall of a great civilization.
Corus has been designed to become the new home of a superior race from a distant world whose very life depends on drawing sustenance from the biological life force of a planet. After changing the climate, they have grown ordinary people to tend the plants and animals, in preparation for their eventual arrival in force. Meanwhile, their plans are supervised by a staff of Alectors, who in effect rule the world. Alectors are bigger, tougher, and have both psychic talents and technology unavailable to the natives.
The time is now fast approaching for the transfer from the old world, nearly bled dry of life force. But neither the Alectors (who will be reduced in status when the real powers arrive) nor the local humans (who seem destined to become no more than cattle, though they know nothing of this) are ready. The tension builds throughout the book, as deeper and deeper levels of complications are revealed.
Author Notes
Leland Exton Modesitt, Jr., was born on October 19, 1943 in Denver to Leland Exton and Nancy Lila Modesitt. He was educated at Williams College and earned a graduate degree from the University of Denver. Modesitt's career has included stints as a navy lieutenant, a market research analyst, and a real estate sales associate. He has also held various positions within the U.S. government as a legislative assistant and as director of several agencies. In the early 1980s, he was a lecturer in science fiction writing at Georgetown University.
After graduation, Modesitt began to write, but he did not have a novel published until he was 39 years old. He believes that a writer must "simultaneously entertain, educate and inspire... [failing any one of these goals], the book will fall flat." A part-time writer, he produces an average of one book per year, but he would eventually like to write full-time. The underlying themes of many of his science fiction novels are drawn from his work in government work and involve the various aspects of power and how it changes the people and the structure of government. Usually, his protagonist is an average individual with hero potential. Much of his "Forever Hero Trilogy"--Dawn for a Distant Earth, The Silent Warrior, and In Endless Twilight--is based on his experiences working with the Environmental Protection Agency. He made The New York Times Best Seller List in 2012 with his title Princeps.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
While not quite up to the Spellsong saga or the best of the Recluce novels, Modesitt's complex fourth entry in his Corean series (after 2004's Scepters) contains plenty of fine world building and intelligently developed magic. With the life force of the planet Ifryn almost exhausted, its population is about to migrate to Corus, where the eight-foot Alectors, a superior race with psychic powers, are overseeing the biological preparation of this new world. Unfortunately, the migration will reduce the status of the powerful Alectors, while the Corus natives, known as indigens, will move so far down the social ladder as to be barely visible. The many subplots tend to slow the pace, but Modesitt fans, knowing what they're in for, will find reaching the end of this challenging fantasy well worth the effort. Newcomers would do best to start with Legacies (2002), the first of the Corean chronicles. (June 8) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Instead of resuming the adventures of Alcius, the fourth volume of the Corean Chronicles adopts the points of view of Dainyl, an Alector, and Mykel, one of his talented (and Talented--i.e., psychic) company captains. As previous chronicles ( Legacies, 2002; Darknesses, 2003; Scepters, 2004) have imparted, Corus has been developed as a future home for aliens who live by draining one planet's biological life force before moving to another. The development is supervised by Alectors, bigger, stronger, technologically superior to the natives, and all possessed of Talent, which most natives lack. The aliens' transfer to Corus is imminent, but the highest-ranked Alectors are intriguing among themselves, making use of the natives' political and economic aspirations. Dainyl, a just-promoted Alector, is supposed to straighten out a revolt among the steers, as the natives are derisively called. He discovers that higher-up Alectors instigated it, and the rarely seen aboriginal inhabitants of the planet, the Soarers, have gotten involved. Readers of its predecessors may most relish this book, which does, however, stand on its own. --Frieda Murray Copyright 2005 Booklist