The Ethos Effect

With so many of today's government and business leaders more concerned with being re-elected; the bottom line; popularity; and enriching their bank accounts rather than their souls, The Ethos Effect provides an opportunity to reflect on where this type of behavior can lead and the disasterous consequenses that may result.

Modesitt's "ethics" sci-fi novels include the Parafaith (religion) and Ecolitan (ecology) series. I read "Ethos Effect" a second time for enjoyment and to check again, was Modesitt advocating a particular morality? I like the novel for several reasons. It clearly proposes an ethical dilemma: Is there an absolute morality that everyone must follow, or is there an individual morality each person must follow on their own, at the risk that they are just personally justifying what to others are clearly immoral actions? In this novel, the hero accomplishes what he sets out to do by acting several times according to the operational premise, "it's better that some die now in order that more live in the future". But the plot line requires the hero to continually reflect on, be responsible for, and clean up after the consequences of his actions. Modesitt's main message is being responsible and accountable for one's choices in life, whatever they are. But it's told in the context of a rousing interstellar conflict, with excerpts from a sort of "encyclopedia galactica" discussing ethics, giving the book a stature reminiscent of Frank Herbert's Dune series,

Imagine that you have fallen through a portal time and have been transported back in time to October, 1939. Germany has invaded Poland, and World War II has just begun. You find yourself in Berlin, and you think about what you should do with your knowledge of the future. You think about assassinating Hitler, but realize that it would be too late; even if you could succeed, his successor would continue to carry out his policies and little would have been accomplished. You then see an object appear out of nowhere in front of you. It is a button that, exactly seven days after it is pushed, will detonate several hydrogen bombs, killing every person in Germany. By activating it, you would kill of millions of people, many of which have committed no crime themselves, but you would bring World War II to a quick end and save millions of others. Do you press the button? If you did, could you live with yourself afterwards? L. E. Modesitt, Jr. has written many stories of cultures at war, usually told through the eyes of one single individual in a position to alter the course of history. Is there a limit to how far you can go to protect yourself, your country, and your way of life when faced with an enemy that will continue plotting your destruction until one side or the other has been completely defeated? The Ethos Effect is one of his best novels, but you should be warned. This book is meant to be controversial and upsetting. It raises serious questions and provides answers, but deliberately leaves the reader wondering if the hero's solution to the problem of the evil he slowly uncovers throughout the novel was the right ones. You may not like this book, but you ought to read it and consider it carefully.

First things first: the dust jacket says "Set in the same universe as The Parafaith War (but two centuries later, and intended to be read independently)". While this book *will* make sense even if you haven't read The Parafaith War, I would strongly recommend reading that book first, for two reasons: on the one hand, The Ethos Effect gives away much of the plot of the first book; on the other, reading The Parafaith War will make the actions of characters in this book much sharper.I won't say too much about the plot of the book--since I don't want to spoil either of these books--but I can say that I was swept along, and I certainly didn't see many of the plot twists coming. [This is surprising, as some of these twists were, in fact, presaged by comments made by characters in The Parafaith War.] The book is also rather more politically-oriented than The Parafaith War; fans of Modesitt's "The Ecolitan Enigma" should enjoy this book.There is little in the way of graphic material in this book; Modesitt more than makes up for this, though, with thorny ethical dilemmas--ones which are not clearly resolved, and both condemned and applauded. A number of parallels are drawn between the events in the book and events in the world today, although you'd be hard-pressed to tell who's who. Modesitt suggests a solution to the problem--but is it the *best* solution? And is it a just one?As in The Parafaith War, Modesitt presents a story, and invites you to decide what *you* would do in the same situation. It ties up some of the loose ends from the previous book, while leaving some questions unanswered. The door is left open for yet another book in this universe; if Modesitt chooses to write it, I will certainly read it.

Taran Republic Space Force Commander Van C. Albert defeats an unknown enemy's cruiser that attacked his vessel, the RSFS Fergus. However, his rejoicing is short-lived as his actions also caused the destruction of a civilian liner. A board of inquiry condoned his actions, but his career is over though he retains the rank of Commander.His current loser position is as a military attaché at the Taran embassy on Scandya. However, he gets once last chance to show his courage when he stops an assassination. To the elation of his superiors, Van ends in a coma so he is decorated and given a disability retirement.Van awakens to learn that he no longer works for the military. Integrated Information Systems of the Eco-Tech Coalition hires him to command a starship. The exiled former commander finds he is the prime focus in an interstellar conflict that will leave no world the same and some potentially eradicated.THE ETHOS EFFECT occurs two centuries after the Parafaith War has ended, but retains much of the complex military science fiction that made the previous saga a fan favorite. The story line is action-packed yet contains fully developed characters especially the lead protagonist. Van is more than just a strong strategist and courageous warrior. Readers will feel his guilt over the civilian deaths and his dissatisfaction with his post incident assignments, his shock over his dismissal, and finally his sense of self worth when he is placed in a vanguard position. He makes the tale that will provide much enjoyment to L.E. Modesitt, Jr. fans and sub-genre readers.Harriet Klausner