This book, is kind of like a different take on Lord of Light, but with way more travelling and food. Quite an enjoyable read really, though the descriptions can get tiresome ( )

Modesitt challenges again!

I must admit this was heavy going until I got into the flow. I really wanted to love this--in the end I did. Enter a world where the major religions are confined to ten houses, with a few gods on the side who could become more depending on the added impetus of believers. (This idea I've met before.) A world where when things become out of balance a major catastrophe or 'the fall' could happen.
Something is afoot in Heaven. A symbol of a Trident, dark etched, has appeared branded into places where it shouldn't be able to, a disruption in a tightly balanced world.
Corvyn's task is to monitor the situation. A figure wrapped in shadows, able to weave and bend them to his will. (We've seen others in Modesitt's works do this). Corvyn's investigations take him throughout the ten houses.
Philosophical and religious thoughts form part of the background and as ever food and wine play a part, as Corvyn revisits favoured inns and restaurants, places that haven't seen him for many years.
As always I'm fascinated by Modesitt's ability to construct worlds and their belief systems. I place this novel alongside those that I find interesting and raised questions that have value.
Corvyn, and his electrobike, and black stedora always so carefully placed is an interesting character. My mind just couldn't resist going to those figures like the four horseman of the acopolypse, only more urban fantastical. I'm sure there's many more but they're lingering on the edge of my consciousness at the moment refusing to fully form.
Corvyn's commentary on the various houses and their peculiarities are as concise as they are cutting.
The story is dotted with references religious and mythological. I needed Wikipedia by my side to recall some. Like for example the significance of Ravens as messengers between heaven and earth, birds of prophecy and insight, connectors between the spirit world and the physical world prompting sometimes darkness and at other times a mysterious force when there's a need to reflect on actions.
Well all that works for me within this story, although maybe Corvyn's more an angel of judgement and balance.
Whatever, once again there's acres of images to reflect on and dots to join in this rather more challenging read.

A Macmillan-Tor/Forge ARC via NetGalley
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.) ( )

Modesitt, L. E., Jr. Quantum Shadows. Tor, 2020.
I was disappointed, but not much surprised, to see quite few negative reviews of Quantum Shadows, L. E. Modesitt’s latest standalone novel. Those who did not like the book most often complained about its sidebar discussions of politics, religion, and philosophy, its slow pace, and its blend of fantasy and science fiction tropes. For me, most of those bugs are features. Modesitt is always slow and careful in building his worlds. Here we have a far future planet called Heaven. It isn’t. Each of the major world religions has its own center of power. Our protagonist travels between them on his electric bike, has a meal in the local restaurant, and gets the political lay of the land. In the end, we think we know the place, that is, until the plot pulls the pins on all our preconceptions. For example, until late in the game, we can kid ourselves that we are reading pure fantasy. Corvyn seems to be a mythic figure. Then the science comes tromping in. At that point, we discover that we are in a universe that could have been built by the Roger Zelazny of Lord of Light and that all the references to Poe were a distraction. We expected dragons, but instead we get starships. After writing more than 50 novels that combine science fiction, myth and fantasy, one can see why Modesitt would want to write an homage to Zelazny who had to have been a major influence when he began his career. ( )

I think I wanted to like this more than I did. I've never read anything else by Modesitt but I admit to seeing and thinking I OUGHT to have been reading the books.

So when I did see a new release in Netgalley, I fully jumped on the bandwagon.

What did I find?

A rough-going opening that was more concerned with term-wrangling and a detective game of trying to get a grip on character and what kind of tale this was going to be. When I finally realized that we were dealing with *fairly* normal story bones underneath philosophical, mythological, and especially religious (or meta-religious) settings, I eased into the story and enjoyed the interesting action and mystery aspects.

Getting there, however, made me feel like we were playing catch-up with a big nod to some other big SF names, but put on a particular Modesitt spin. ... So what do I mean? ... I get the feeling like we're stepping into a hard-SF godlike story that blends neatly into multi-religious meta-comparisons with walking embodiments everywhere.

In one way, I love this kind of thing. In another, it REALLY has to be done well or I feel kinda cheated.

I get the feeling like a number of devoted readers, probably fans, are going to get into this book in a really big way. I personally didn't feel the weight of the things that came before, though, so most of it was lost on me.

I didn't get hooked, but I saw some potential. I'm wondering if I ought to have started ANYWHERE else, first. ( )