Subject: Short Take: Gravity Dreams by LE Modesitt, Jr.

From: [email-masked] (P.D. TILLMAN)
Date: 31 Aug 1999 16:18:15 -0400

Short Take: Gravity Dreams by LE Modesitt, Jr. 
	    Review Copyright 1999 Peter D. Tillman

Rating: "B-" -- interesting backstory, but a slow, bloated novel.

The best thing about Gravity Dreams is the backstory. Set 5,000 years from
now, a post-collapse Earth supports static "mite" cultures, secretly
dominated by the spacegoing nanotech Rykasha "demons."  Modesitt's themes
include ecology, personal responsibility; and passive, fatalistic
("eastern") vs. dynamic ("western") culture.

A nice setup, but flabby execution: Gravity Dreams starts out so slowly
that I almost gave up, and kinda wish I had. About 75 pages in
("Sciamachy"), the pace picks up, but once the protag enters starpilot
flight school... well, I learned far more about needleship [note 1] flight
training than I'd *ever* want to know. "It's a sin to waste the reader's
time" -- LvC Niven.

Gravity Dreams would have made a nice novella, but there just isn't enough
substance here to fill 400 pages. For diehard Modesitt fans only -- and
they'll want to skim.

Modesitt's previous five SF outings -- Parafaith War, Ecolitan Enigma,
Adiamante, Of Tangible Ghosts & Ghosts of the Revelator (reviewed, and
recommended, at site below) -- were all good to excellent, so I can
forgive one clunker. If you haven't tried Modesitt's SF, don't start with
Gravity Dreams!

___________
(1) -- one nice touch is a needleship named "Costigan".

%T Gravity Dreams
%A LE Modesitt, Jr. 
%D Jul 99
%I Tor
%O $US 25
%P 399 pp
%G ISBN 0-312-86826-x)

review copyright 1999 by Peter D. Tillman  <[email-masked]>
Read more of my reviews:
http://www.silcom.com/~manatee/reviewer.html#tillman