Synopses & Reviews
In the far future, an indestructible and massive canal more than 2,000 miles long spans the mid-continent of Earth. Nothing can mar it, move it, or affect it in any fashion. At its western end, where it meets the sea, is an equally indestructible structure comprising three levels of seemingly empty chambers.
Scientists from three different civilizations, separated in time by hundreds of thousands of years, are investigating the canal. In the most distant of these civilizations, religious rebellion is brewing. A plot is hatched to overthrow the world government of the Vanir, using a weapon that can destroy anything-except the canal. If used at full power it might literally unravel the universe and destroy all life forever. The lives and fates of all three civilizations become intertwined as the forces behind the canal react to the threat, and all three teams of scientists find their lives changed beyond belief.
Review
Praise for L . E. Modesitt, Jr.:
“Satisfying from a science-fictional perspective, with its discussions of Hawking-effect displacements and intergalactic conflict, from a conceptual perspective as the reader must follow complicated reasoning processes, and from a literary perspective as Modesitt reaches a new stage in the intertwining of plot and character.”
--SFRA Review on The Elysium Commission
“Modesitt's prose is lively, and there's enough sense of wonder here to satisfy even the most jaded.… A must-read for Modesitt fans, as well as those of Jack McDevitt and Arthur C . Clarke.”
-Kirkus Reviews, starred review on The Eternity Artifact
Review
“The plot is classic, but in his pictures of three different societies fighting the same battle, Modesitt shows that cultures may change but people dont. A provocative, enthralling story.”
--Booklist
“Modesitt presents three very different civilizations . . . and interweaves their fate with some seriously challenging and intriguing speculations on the nature of time itself.... [Modesitt] approaches his best when combining practicalities with new ideas.”
--Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
The lives and fates of three civilizations separated in time become intertwined as the forces behind an indestructible and massive canal react to a plot to overthrow the world government, and three teams of scientists find their lives changed beyond belief.
About the Author
L. E. Modesitt, Jr., is the bestselling author of the fantasy series The Saga of Recluce, Corean Chronicles, and the Imager Portfolio. His science fiction includes Adiamante, the Ecolitan novels, the Forever Hero Trilogy, and Archform: Beauty. Besides a writer, Modesitt has been a U.S. Navy pilot, a director of research for a political campaign, legislative assistant and staff director for a U.S. Congressman, Director of Legislation and Congressional Relations for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a consultant on environmental, regulatory, and communications issues, and a college lecturer. He lives in Cedar City, Utah.