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 L. E. Modesitt, Jr. - Author
 
Eregion2
Posted: February 8, 2010 03:00 pmTop
   
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IRC Nickname: Wayne|Eregion2
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 I was bored so I spent ~15 minutes skimming the sci-fi stacks at the library on Friday and picked up The Ethos Effect by this random guy named L. E. Modesitt, Jr.; and, bluntly, this guy is a freaking GENIUS. Shot through all ~500 pages over the weekend and completely ignored the fact that I've got a huge exam and two essays due tomorrow. But damn, not only can this guy write but you come away from it SHARPENED.

I'm not sure about any of his other books, and there's an astronomical number of them, but The Ethos Effect was not only an excellent sci-fi novel it was also an extraordinary critique of culture, ethics, moral absolutes and absolution, and everything. He actually devoted a few (short) chapters JUST to ethics and its role in society to keep you up with what he's trying to convey in the story, and the climax turns into an intense inquisition:
    Within the story Modesitt has contrived, is committing the greatest act of terrorism and genocide ever conceived of ethically defensible? And not only that, was it literally the RIGHT thing to do? "Should one man decide the fate of a world?"
I think he lost focus towards the last third of the book and strayed into an examination of religious fanaticism without fully keeping the reader informed, but in a way his apparent deviation from the rest of the book lets you expand on ANOTHER whole aspect of ethics and society and how the beginning and end of the book mesh or collide gratingly. I'm going to reread those three chapters on ethics and maybe take notes for a class I've got this semester.

I can't wait to site a sci-fi novel in a business ethics paper the professor will be like madeoface.gif .

PS:
QUOTE
[Modesitt] has worked as a Navy pilot, lifeguard, delivery boy, unpaid radio disc jockey, real estate agent, market research analyst, director of research for a political campaign, legislative assistant for a Congressman, Director of Legislation and Congressional Relations for the United States Environmental Protection Agency, a consultant on environmental, regulatory, and communications issues, and a college lecturer and writer in residence.
TOTALLY explains how much he can bring to bear on his stories.
 
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