Contrarian: A Novel in the Grand Illusion

(Hardback)

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Description

Protests against unemployment and poor harvests have become armed riots as the people sink deeper into poverty. They look to a government struggling to emerge from corruption and conspiracy. Recently elected to the Council of Sixty-Six, Steffan Dekkard is the first Councilor who is an Isolate, a man invulnerable to the emotional manipulations and emotional surveillance of empaths-but not the recent bombing of the Council Office Building by insurrectionists. His patron, the Premier of the Council, has been assassinated, leaving Dekkard with little first-hand political experience and few political allies. Not only must Dekkard handle political infighting, and continued assassination attempts, but it appears that someone high up in the government and corporations has supplied arms and explosives to insurrectionists. Insurrectionists who have succeeded in taking over a naval cruiser that no one can seem to find.

Reviews

Praise for Isolate "This superior book only whets the appetite for a sequel."--Publishers Weekly, starred review "Readers will be caught up in Modesitt's world . . . anyone who likes to delve into the way worlds work will be riveted."--Library Journal, starred review "Masterfully blending gas lamp fantasy, mystery, and political thriller, Modesitt's latest is vast in scope and rich in detail, proving a captivating start to his Grand Illusion series."--Booklist "I couldn't put it down."--Amazing Stories "Delicious with intrigue and artful revelations, Modesitt's Isolate comes at you with top-drawer worldbuilding and compelling characters. Here we have a hot new gaslamp world fraught with political machinations that will keep you up reading into the night. Modesitt has always been great, so how does he keep getting better Read Isolate and find out." --Peter Orullian, author of The Unremembered "Riveting.... A political story, told through fascinating characters.... I loved every minute."--Reading Reality

Author Bio

L. E. MODESITT, JR. is the author of more than seventy books-primarily science fiction and fantasy-including the long-running, bestselling series the Saga of Recluce and the Imager Portfolio, as well as a number of short stories.