The colony world of Stittara is no ordinary planet. For the interstellar Unity of the Ceylesian Arm, Stittara is the primary source of anagathics: drugs that have more than doubled the human life span. But the ecological balance that makes anagathics possible on Stittara is fragile, and the Unity government has a vital interest in making sure the flow of longevity drugs remains uninterrupted, even if it means uprooting the human settlements.
Offered the job of assessing the ecological impact of the human presence on Stittara, freelance consultant Dr. Paulo Verano jumps at the chance to escape the ruin of his personal life. He gets far more than he bargained for: Stittara's atmosphere is populated with skytubes—gigantic, mysterious airborne organisms that drift like clouds above the surface of the planet. Their exact nature has eluded humanity for centuries, but Verano believes his conclusions about Stittara may hinge on understanding the skytubes' role in the planet's ecology—if he survives the hurricane winds, distrustful settlers, and secret agendas that impede his investigation at every turn.
The One-Eyed Man is a thrilling new far-future science fiction novel from New York Times bestseller L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
Other Series by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
The Saga of Recluce
The Imager Portfolio
The Corean Chronicles
The Spellsong Cycle
The Ghost Books
The Ecolitan Matter
The Forever Hero
Timegod's World
Other Books The Green Progression Hammer of Darkness The Parafaith War Adiamante Gravity Dreams The Octagonal Raven Archform: Beauty The Ethos Effect Flash The Eternity Artifact The Elysium Commission Viewpoints Critical Haze Empress of Eternity The One-Eyed Man Solar Express
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
**
From Publishers Weekly
This plodding off-world mystery is replete with annoying quirks but devoid of suspense. Paulo Verano is an ecologist sent to survey the far-flung planet of Stittara, the sole source of life-extending cosmetic and physiological anagathics and home to the mysterious and possibly intelligent skytubes. The boring Verano hogs the stage; supporting characters strut and fret but leave no impressions. Verano's investigation spins its wheels without advancing the plot, sprinkled with pointless and distracting futuristic spelling (kalzone for calzone, duhlars for dollars) and ellipses (Ah... yes. That. There's a matter... of timing). References to real-life politics include Verano's home world of Bachman, another world called Randtwo, a university and a dessert named after Ronald Reagan, and a totally gratuitous discursion on the virtues of low income taxes and a capital gains regimen favoring homeowners over apartment dwellers. Verano muddles through to a sputtering, unsatisfying ending. Readers may choose to bail out earlier. (Sept.)
From Booklist
The prolific Modesitt, best known, perhaps, for the multivolume Saga of Recluce, delivers the compelling story of ecoconsultant Paulo Verano, who is hired to travel to the planet Stittara and assess whether the human presence there has disrupted the natural ecosystem (the planet is a major source of some important drugs, which must continue to be produced even if it means removing the human presence). As Modesitt’s devoted fans know, he doesn’t do simple. Although the premise seems straightforward, the novel is layered with serious themes—the fragility of ecosystems, for example, and the mystery of alien life-forms—and peppered with some impish in-jokes, such as a pair of cops named Dannel Craik and Pierse Shawn (attention Bond fans), a young couple called Georg Golitely and Holly Peppard (a nod to, of all things, the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s). The book grows richer and more compelling the further along we go until, by the conclusion, we realize the story is much bigger than the premise suggests. Another winner from an always exciting writer. --David Pitt
Description:
The colony world of Stittara is no ordinary planet. For the interstellar Unity of the Ceylesian Arm, Stittara is the primary source of anagathics: drugs that have more than doubled the human life span. But the ecological balance that makes anagathics possible on Stittara is fragile, and the Unity government has a vital interest in making sure the flow of longevity drugs remains uninterrupted, even if it means uprooting the human settlements.
Offered the job of assessing the ecological impact of the human presence on Stittara, freelance consultant Dr. Paulo Verano jumps at the chance to escape the ruin of his personal life. He gets far more than he bargained for: Stittara's atmosphere is populated with skytubes—gigantic, mysterious airborne organisms that drift like clouds above the surface of the planet. Their exact nature has eluded humanity for centuries, but Verano believes his conclusions about Stittara may hinge on understanding the skytubes' role in the planet's ecology—if he survives the hurricane winds, distrustful settlers, and secret agendas that impede his investigation at every turn.
The One-Eyed Man is a thrilling new far-future science fiction novel from New York Times bestseller L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
Other Series by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
The Saga of Recluce
The Imager Portfolio
The Corean Chronicles
The Spellsong Cycle
The Ghost Books
The Ecolitan Matter
The Forever Hero
Timegod's World
Other Books
The Green Progression
Hammer of Darkness
The Parafaith War
Adiamante
Gravity Dreams
The Octagonal Raven
Archform: Beauty
The Ethos Effect
Flash
The Eternity Artifact
The Elysium Commission
Viewpoints Critical
Haze
Empress of Eternity
The One-Eyed Man
Solar Express
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
**
From Publishers Weekly
This plodding off-world mystery is replete with annoying quirks but devoid of suspense. Paulo Verano is an ecologist sent to survey the far-flung planet of Stittara, the sole source of life-extending cosmetic and physiological anagathics and home to the mysterious and possibly intelligent skytubes. The boring Verano hogs the stage; supporting characters strut and fret but leave no impressions. Verano's investigation spins its wheels without advancing the plot, sprinkled with pointless and distracting futuristic spelling (kalzone for calzone, duhlars for dollars) and ellipses (Ah... yes. That. There's a matter... of timing). References to real-life politics include Verano's home world of Bachman, another world called Randtwo, a university and a dessert named after Ronald Reagan, and a totally gratuitous discursion on the virtues of low income taxes and a capital gains regimen favoring homeowners over apartment dwellers. Verano muddles through to a sputtering, unsatisfying ending. Readers may choose to bail out earlier. (Sept.)
From Booklist
The prolific Modesitt, best known, perhaps, for the multivolume Saga of Recluce, delivers the compelling story of ecoconsultant Paulo Verano, who is hired to travel to the planet Stittara and assess whether the human presence there has disrupted the natural ecosystem (the planet is a major source of some important drugs, which must continue to be produced even if it means removing the human presence). As Modesitt’s devoted fans know, he doesn’t do simple. Although the premise seems straightforward, the novel is layered with serious themes—the fragility of ecosystems, for example, and the mystery of alien life-forms—and peppered with some impish in-jokes, such as a pair of cops named Dannel Craik and Pierse Shawn (attention Bond fans), a young couple called Georg Golitely and Holly Peppard (a nod to, of all things, the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s). The book grows richer and more compelling the further along we go until, by the conclusion, we realize the story is much bigger than the premise suggests. Another winner from an always exciting writer. --David Pitt