Set on the vividly imagined world of Corus, Modesitt's well-crafted fifth volume of his Corean Chronicles picks up where the fourth book, Alector's Choice
(2005), left off. Dainyl, an alector who's now a submarshal of the Myrmidons, and Mykel, a major commanding a rifle battalion who secretly possesses some of the psychic "Talent" of the ruling alectors, are useful to each other, but usefulness does not equate with complete trust. When Mykel discovers renegade alectors using forbidden weapons, Dainyl must respond to the threat with both force and delicacy. Meanwhile, the mysterious and powerful "ancients," natives the alectors thought extinct on Corus, communicate with both alector and man, stressing that change is needed for survival. Political scheming figures more than bloodshed and battle in this transitional installment. New readers should note that the first three volumes in the series (Legacies
, etc.) form a separate trilogy covering events that occur thousands of years later. (Apr.)
