Isolate
A Novel in the Grand Illusion
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
L. E. Modesitt, Jr., bestselling author of The Mongrel Mage, has a brand new gaslamp political fantasy Isolate.
Book Bub—The 24 Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of Fall 2021
Industrialization. Social unrest. Underground movements. Government corruption and surveillance.
Something is about to give.
Steffan Dekkard is an isolate, one of the small percentage of people who are immune to the projections of empaths. As an isolate, he has been trained as a security specialist and he and his security partner Avraal Ysella, a highly trained empath are employed by Axel Obreduur, a senior Craft Minister and the de facto political strategist of his party.
When a respected Landor Councilor dies of “heart failure” at a social event, because of his political friendship with Obreduur, Dekkard and Ysella find that not only is their employer a target, but so are they, in a covert and deadly struggle for control of the government and economy.
Steffan is about to understand that everything he believed is an illusion.
The Grand Illusion
Isolate
Councilor
Contrarian
Other Series by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
The Imager Portfolio
The Corean Chronicles
The Spellsong Cycle
The Ghost Books
The Ecolitan Matter
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Modesitt (the Saga of Recluce series) impresses with the debut volume of his Grand Illusion political fantasy series, which skillfully melds mystery and supernatural elements. In the vividly drawn world of Guldor, empaths—those with the ability to project strong emotions unto others—serve a variety of functions, including acting as muscle and sex workers. Coal is Guldor's main energy source, so the suspected corruption in the awarding of lucrative mining leases to Eastern Ironway causes a major scandal implicating the official responsible, Jhared Kraffeist, Minister of Public Resources. After the director of logistics for Eastern Ironway disappears, a member of Guldor's ruling council dies from a supposed heart attack, and another councilor, Axel Obreduur, is targeted by an empathic attack, Obreduur's security aide, Steffan Dekkard, investigates possible connections between the three events. Dekkard is an isolate, one of the few immune to empathic projections, and his inquiries enable Modesitt to present the intricacies of Guldor's economic and political systems without devolving into heavy exposition. The detailed politics could make for a dry opening salvo, but in Modesitt's capable hands the setup becomes a taut thriller. This superior book only whets the appetite for a sequel.
