L.E. Modesitt, Jr is perhaps better known for his many fantasy novels, ‘The Saga Of Recluce’ above all, but he turns out a fair bit of Science Fiction, too. ‘The Elysium Commission’ falls into this category and is also a detective novel. Science Fiction detective novels are a venerable category going back to Isaac Asimov’s 1954 novel ‘The Caves Of Steel’, if not further. Combining the complex plot of a good detective story with the complex background of a good Science Fiction novel can make things…well, complex. Be prepared to focus for the first few chapters of this book as it contains much information and many names to remember. The first three chapters were so good I read them twice, though I was tired the first time. I must admit that I was confused at times by later chapters and wasn’t sure what the hell was going on.

In summary, Blaine Donne is our hero and the first person narrator of this adventure. He is a retired military special operative, now for hire as a private investigator. Business has been slack and he’s short on credits but in chapter three, he gets two commissions. One is from Seldara Tozzi, a very rich widow and patron of the arts. Her great-granddaughter is setting out to marry an unsuitable chap, Guillaume Richard Dyorr, a scoundrel who represents himself as ‘straight-straight’ but may actually be keeping another man. It’s his misrepresentation, not his sexual orientation, that bothers the grande dame. She wants Blaine to get the goods on him. The second case is from another lady, Seigniora Elisabetta Reynarda. She wants to find out the exact relationship between Eloi Enterprises, Judeon Maraniss and Elysium. Our hero knows that Eloi Enterprises is a gigantic media and entertainment empire but the other names are a mystery. Elysium, of course, is a word used for many enterprises down the ages, from hotels to consulting firms. He has a lot of work to do.

The novel is set in one of those far distant futures where competing interstellar powers occupy the galaxy, where men can become women and women become men, where technology can do just about anything. Our hero’s home planet is ruled by a Sisterhood and not democratic but that doesn’t bother him too much. He has seen worse democracies. Interestingly, as in many such novels, the character of man (and woman) has not much improved in the far future. Nor has society generally, though advanced technology makes it very comfortable for many. Surely, one reason for the popularity of ‘Star Trek’ is its vision of a better future for humanity, albeit one besieged by Klingons, Cardassians and super-powered whales. The more realistic vision is more likely to be true, if the future follows history, but the Trekkie vision is much nicer.

As in the ‘Imager Portfolio’ series, L.E. Modesitt goes in a lot for French place names: Nouvelle Seine, Left Bank and so on. It goes well, this Gallic air, with his love of good food and wine which is adoringly described as usual. Perhaps we should call him Le Modesitt as his surname is of French origin. There is also a bit of barbed sophistication about the social interchanges among the rich elites he describes. They don’t quite say what they mean but their meaning can be inferred by one who knows the code. As Le Modesitt spent some time in Washington politics, I can only assume that this kind of thing and he does it well, reflects his own experience of a certain social scene. In general, his books are about successful, powerful people competing for high stakes. This novel is no exception.

I’ve enjoyed a half dozen or so of Modesitt’s fantasy novels and a volume of his Science Fiction short stories but this is the first SF novel of his that I’ve read. Despite getting a bit lost in the middle, indicating either a very complicated plot or my grey matter shrinking with age (probably the latter), I was very happy with the book by the time I reached the end. Everything was wound up in a satisfactory manner and I set it aside with a satisfied sigh. Hopefully, other readers will do likewise. ( )

...I do think that Modesitt leans on what he has done before a bit too much in this novel. Not so much in terms of characters (an often heard criticism of his work) but thematically. Over the course of many novels he's laid out a structure of ethics, views on society and human nature that is so central to his work that it is almost misleading to consider The Elysium Commission a standalone story. The author builds on the foundations he has laid in earlier books. They are so interlinked in a way that you will get more out of this novel if you have read more of his work. If you like Modesitt's writing you can't really go wrong with this one, but if you are looking for a good entry point into his oeuvre I'd look elsewhere.

Full Random Comments review ( )

What a fun read! A good mystery wrapped in SF is a treasure for me combining two of my favorite genres. This one was a bit too mysterious at times & not helped by quite a few strange names. You really need to remember all the names & I found that tough at times.

But two wonderful quotes came out of this book & are now added to GR:
Deities are invented by fallible and finite beings in the hope and desire to create immortal perfection; unfortunately, such deities only reflect their creators and inspire their followers to similar imperfections.

Hatred is a form of faith, distilled by passion to remove all rationality.

I especially like the last one, but each chapter starts with one, so there are plenty to choose from.

As usual, the characters are mysterious & the world/characters & all have stringent limits on them as Modesitt's economic background shines into a new civilization. People have a lot more toys, but they're still the same, too. He makes the future fantastic almost mundane. Love it! ( )

Action packed sci-fi thriller and very enjoyable. Had a bit of trouble in the beginning with Modesitt's futuristic terminology - left me floundering a few times. The climax was nerve-racking. ( )

L. E. Modesitt is best known for his fantasy works and has been on my radar for a while now. However given that the various fantasy series he's written (such as the Saga of Reclucce) have a large number of volumes, most of them hefty door-stoppers at that, I wanted to dip my toes in the waters with a stand-alone book first, before starting yet another long fantasy series. The Elysium Commission, a stand-alone science fiction work seemed to fit the bill.

The story follows an ex-special forces fellow who is now a private eye named Blaine Donne. The action takes place on the far future world of Devanta and begins with Donne receiving a mysterious commission to investigate the connection between a corporate moghul, a research scientist and the word "elysium" (hence 'The Elysium Commission'). Of course, in true PI fashion, Donne soon finds that the connection is far more convoluted and mysterious and dangerous than he had bargained for.

Modesitt's prose is workmanlike but fluid. Its an easy read. The world he creates is an interesting one, with some thought given not only to the technology, the society, but also to wider galactic politics. Beyond the setting though, one gets the feeling that the story itself is a little vanilla. Donne is so hyper-competent and has so many technological gizmos at his service that he seems like more than a match for the villains. This is a PI who hasn't bitten off more than he can chew. The bulk of the book seems to consist of Donne calling up people asking about his various commissions and googling (sorry, "diving into the datastacks"). This is punctuated by the odd failed attempt to kill him. The sense of mystery is further disappointed by inter-spaced chapters where we switch to the main villain's perspective. This does little for the story except informing us of what's going on well before Donne figures things out and also slowing down the pace of the story. Thankfully Modessitt abandons this approach halfway through and the chapters from the villain's perspective become much more infrequent later on. The characters are nothing to write home about. Overall, I would say its a decent read, but not outstanding in any particular way. ( )