Angelmass

I almost thought I wasn't going to like this one. It started out jumping around several different POVs, one of whom was a 16-year-old cyberpunk street girl, a character type I'm not too fond of, and I let the book sit for a while and was about to take it back to the library when I got sick and it was the only book I had lying around to read, so I picked it up and tried it again. I'm glad I gave it another chance, because it was really good once I got into it.

The story is about "angels"—tiny quantum particles emitted from a black hole called Angelmass. No one really knows what the angels are, but they seem to influence people to behave more ethically. The Empyrean system has ruled that all politicians and leaders above a certain level show more must wear an angel at all times. The Pax system believes the angels to be controlling people's minds, and is bent on "liberating" the Empyreans from their servitude. Meanwhile, Angelmass is behaving oddly for a black hole.

It's a fascinating concept, one that Zahn explores from various sides. The main characters all experience the angels in different ways and are changed by the angels' influence, or lack of it. And it has a very tense and exciting ending. Great book! show less

Far from perfect, but still as gripping as any other tale of Zahn's, Angelmass really relies on its strength of characterization, and that's what carries the day. I want the characters to uncover the plot, to discover the truth, to push past their strange almost anti-social tendencies. If I didn't want that, it wouldn't have worked. But it did.

Pre09: Zahn is always good for a enjoyable but forgettable read. This one had some fun characters but a *really* anticlimactic ending. I mean, all that build up and then just 'whoops we died'.

Still, the actual concept was fun and the characters were memorable.

I've been told that Zahn's regular science fiction books are better than his Star Wars books, but I didn't think this was. I would have preferred more focus on fewer characters, maybe a few less random plot devices, and the twist at the end to make more sense or be more meaningful.

If this book had ended on what I was expecting, it would've been an absolute beauty... a little disappointed that it did not end with a bang.

An enjoyable sci-fi mystery by Timothy Zahn.

Great book. A character in this book named after me (Dr. Laurn Podolak):)
Thanks Tim!