Archform: Beauty

by L.E. Modesitt Jr.

Book Overview

Most readers recognize L. E. Modesitt, Jr. as the author of a favorite fantasy series, be it The Magic of Recluce or The Spellsong Cycle. It's always a special treat when he turns his hand again to SF, and Archform: Beauty is no exception. Four centuries in the future, the world is rich -- nanomachines watch the health of the wealthy and manufacture food and gadgets for everybody -- but no utopia, as we see in the lives of five very different people...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765343649
• ISBN13: 9780765343642
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.5" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Beauty in Action

Archform: Beauty (2002) is a standalone SF novel set about four centuries in the future. After the collapse of the Commonacracy, North America was re-unified, with the capital in Denv. The political climate is very different, however, as are the laws and enforcement. A major change is the privacy laws. In this novel, Luara Cornett is an Adjunct Professor of Music at the University of Denv. She teaches two classes in Music Appreciation and has six private students in Voice. Still, university pay is not enough even for her rather frugal lifestyle. She also does backsinging for rez-based net commercials and occasionally she is hired for art song recitals. Lieutenant Eugene Tang Chiang is Trends Analysis Coordinator for the Denv District Department of Public Safety. His staff is finding signs of social disturbance, but not in any particular location. The new strain of Ebol14 from the West Asian biowar labs is causing some of the unrest, but the unexplained overdoses and suicides among the young are the most unsettling. Jude Parsfal is a senior researcher for NetPrime. He searches out historical data and interesting angles to current news stories. He is working on the background of water diversion within the southwest, but his editor diverts him to the McCall death. While the initial investigation concluded that this death had resulted from an accident, the Regional Advocate now claims that her husband had reprogrammed the electral's defense screens to crush the car. Eldon Cannon is the Senator for Deseret District. He is Chairman of the Economics and Commerce Committee. In the upcoming elections, Cannon is facing a strong bid for his seat by Hansen. His campaign consultant has discovered that Hansen will be depending heavily on a new type of rez-ad tailored for each genotypical group. Cannon decides to anticipate his opponent by using the new techniques early in the campaign and with a positive message. Christopher Kemal is the new family head since the death of his father. He had been running the family business for ten years, but the death will now make it official. He moves from the office of the President to that of the CEO after the funeral and then continues his normal routine. He has a private conversation with Evan McCall about the death of his wife and the DPS suspicions, then discusses his father's will. In this story, Luara performs art and classical songs at a private party and gets into a conversation with an older man about music. She passionately argues that music is an essential element of civilization. It promotes rational thinking and accelerates learning. When the older man points out that rezrap and rezpop have widespread followings, Luara declares that they are not music in the same sense as classical works. Senator Cannon thinks on the subject and has his staff prepare a small prototype program to increase the amount of music appreciation in the colleges. He also suggests that the program will make

Well thought out future thriller

In "Archform Beauty" the prolific L.E. Modesitt, master of the plain tale plainly told, opts for something more complicated--an intricate five-voices point of view (a singer, a reporter, a cop, a politician, and a businessman), and a tangled plot line. He resolves everything nicely, as the five protagonists, who don't know each other when the book begins, converge by the end.While the book is set in the 25th century, it has more of a near-future feel (change the Martian Republic to some rogue state on earth and it's likely the technology described is no more than a generation or two away). People communicate instantly via "linking"; fabricated food is fabricated in "formulators"; cars are electric.And the author doesn't relish the future he imagines--one in which "resonance" enhances music, and maybe manipulates minds as well. In short, it's a world without beauty, and this irks Mr. Modesitt more than somewhat, and he'll probably get you on his side also.It's seemlessly written and fast paced. And it's less of a whodunit than it is a "how will they figure it out?" You know what the bad guys are up to before the good guys do and, as Alfred Hitchcock knew well, that is the kind of scenario that creates the most suspense of all.Notes and asides: Sigh. Like most futuristas, Modesitt feels compelled to make reference to "the holos." But since he actually describes how this tech might work instead of search and replacing "movies" with "holos" after he completed his first draft, I am not deducting any stars. The shortening of city names is disconcerting and not believable and sometime merely silly (Denv for Denver). Paris has been around a long time, and nobody's ever tried to shorten it to Pris.

One of Modesitt's best

"Archform: Beauty" is a masterpiece.In "Archform: Beauty," L.E. Modesitt, Jr., manages to do something very, very few other writers have done well. That's to juggle five multiple points of view, and have them interrelate, while solving a mystery at the same time.In the near future, music has been taken over by "resonance" music, artificial overlays intended to evoke emotion by intent, rather than by the beauty of the design. To make matters worse, in this world, only the middle class on up can afford the health treatment needed to stay alive, as there are now so many genetically engineered virii out there that no doctor or Center for Disease Control can keep up.So, nanotechnology has taken the place of that, and if you have the money, you can get the treatment. Otherwise, you get the shaft.So, the music teacher (one of the five viewpoint characters) laments the loss of one of her students, because her student didn't have the money to get treatment for the latest killer disease. (Students, as you may know, are almost always broke by definition.) The ruthless businessman, another character, says things like this are good for business (or at least implies it), and shrugs it off. The newspaper man (another character) says it's horrible and runs statistics. The policeman tries to correlate the stats he has on the illness and on other things, and tries to project crime waves (another nice near-future touch, something similar to the movie "Minority Report") and stop them (or at least mitigate them) before they happen. And the congressmen tries to balance everything, the needs of the many against the needs of the few -- and sees that music *is* necessary to the future after all, not just this new "rez" stuff.I believe this book is one of Modesitt's best; it's more subtle than the Ecolitan saga, it's more complex than the Soprano Sorceress stuff, and it's a lot more developed than his Recluce series. (All of those are very good seria, btw. Just not as good as this stand alone book in my opinion.)This book is a very enjoyable read; highly recommended.

The way near-future novels should be written!

Mr. Modesitt is one of my favorite authors of all time. His character development, focusing on regular people who *influence* history by reacting to situtations they're forced into gives each and every novel a depth and realism not often found.In Archform: Beauty, Mr. Modesitt follows one timeline, through the eyes and situtations of 5 distinct people. Sometimes, the story is advanced through one person, and a time period, be it hours or days, may pass before the next 'chapter' is begun and the next character picks up the story. Othertimes, you'll be reading a chapter that overlaps with a previous chapter.Regardless, this book is complex and believable. Futuristic technology that is just a *streach* beyond what we have and know to be possible. Politics that are infinitely believeable, with water disputes, terrorism, new diseases springing up, the 'haves and have-nots', and obtuse threats from the 'third-world' equivalent. And through it all, individuals who are worried about their jobs, families, and finding the money to pay for necessary repairs to their homes. This is *life*, just a bit in the future.The most impressive thing about this book is simply that Mr. Modesitt presents extra or extraneous situtations and items that you will try desperately to figure out how they all tie in together, until in the last portion of the book you realize the actual thrust of the book, and that the additional items are all just the depth and coloring of the world. Amazing work here.I gave this book 5 stars, although it is not perfect. Mr. Modesitt often introduces new words to books, and I feel seldom exactly defines them adequately. I tend to appreciate explanations laid out simply and obviously, and in this book there are several new terms presented which you must figure out their intent throughout the book.I highly recommend this book; it is among the best developed I've read, and an example of the continuing excellence of my favorite author!

Near-future crime story, a moral, and good characters--great

Police Lieutenant Chiang is overwhelmed with work--the last thing he needs is a series of strange overdose cases--cases where no excessive drugs or alcohol seem involved. As he investigates, he learns that the cases may be involved with something even more sinister. Someone is attempting to take over one of the largest Earth-based technology companies and murder is no object. Author L. E. Modesitt, Jr. delivers a futuristic earth with close ties to today's technologies and dangers. Extrapolating on trends in science (nanotechnology is the dominant means of producing food, protecting buildings, and preventing disease), the Internet (everyone has a built-in web connection), biological warfare (there an outbreak of an e-bola virus during the story), and space technology (Mars inhabitants are bombarding the earth with supposedly out-of-control asteroid debris), Modesitt's earth is both believable and interesting. Modesitt uses his novel as a polemic in favor of the arts and beauty--support for 'great art' rather than popular art, and for the irrational over pure rationalism, but this sermon is delivered well in the context of the story (except for occasional essay bits inserted to make sure the reader doesn't miss the points--trust us, Modesitt, we would have got it without them). The mystery, a number of sympathetic characters, and even a hint of a romance add up to a compelling read. Highly recommended.