The One-Eyed Man

July 22, 2013
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.

August 1, 2013
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 themesthe fragility of ecosystems, for example, and the mystery of alien life-formsand 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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)