Empress of Eternity

Prolific author Modesitt (Imager's Intrigue) stumbles with this tedious tale of a far future in which a new ice age threatens Earth, and a vast canal, built by an ancient civilization, splits the world's central continent for no readily discernible reason. Even more glacial than the ice is the narrative, replete with whole chapters that could have profitably been rewritten into single paragraphs or even single sentences. Occasional hints of international tension show promise, but the characters are no more than blandly chattering ciphers, and the distant epoch lacks so much detail that it might as well be the present day. While there might be some appeal for the hardest of hardcore Modesitt fans, new readers would be well advised to start reading elsewhere. (Nov.)