Diamond Mask

In spite of a confusing opening section, those who persevere through Book II of the intricate Galactic Milieu Trilogy will discover an intriguing piece of work. Set in the year 2113 and told through the memoirs of Rogatien Remillard, the story looks back on events that took place half a century earlier, when humanity became part of a vast galactic civilization. Remillard's family, virtually immortal and psychically gifted, has become Earth's most powerful force. On the death of the evil Victor Remillard in 2040, an insane metapsychic creature known as Fury comes into being. Fury uses several corrupt younger Remillards, known collectively as Hydra, as its agent against his Great Enemy, the powerful young mutant Jon Remillard (from Book I, Jack the Bodiless ). Equal in power to both Jon and Fury is the young Dorothea Macdonald, who comes to be known as Diamond Mask. Will she join forces with Jon to oppose Fury, or will that frightful entity use her for its own purposes? May holds out the promise of answers in the trilogy's concluding volume, Magnificat. Meanwhile, readers should be forewarned not to peek at the final page here, where the Fury's secret is revealed. Then again, maybe it isn't. (Mar.)