Vigilant (League of Peoples)

When our story begins, fifteen-year-old Faye Smallwood lives in Sallysweet River on the planet of Demoth. She is human, the daughter of a doctor. A species called the Ooloms (think flying squirrels whose skin changes color like a chamaeleon) peacefully coexist with the humans. A new and deadly plague is wiping out millions of the Ooloms. Humans are somehow immune. Faye's father, Dr. Henry Smallwood finds the cure. The last Oolom to die is Proctor Zillif, a member of the Vigil, who Faye has become close to. Her father dies in a mining accident shortly thereafter. Once an adult, Faye joins the Vigil, a band of fiercely independent monitors charged with rooting out government corruption. To help in this struggle, her mind is linked to the powerful datasphere that regulates the planet, Xé (pronounced Chay). While on her first assignment a couple of robots try to assassinate her. It is one of multiple attacks on proctors around the globe. Ooloms and humans were not the first species to inhabit Demoth. The planet is riddled with long-abandoned mines and settlements. Somewhere deep among them is something that had been left behind: an alien technology of unimaginable potential to build or destroy. Enemy agents want desperately to find it. Even some of Faye's own people would kill to find it and unravel its mysteries. Proctor Faye Smallwood teams up with Admiral Festina Ramos (from the books "Expendable" and "Radiant") to discover who or what is behind a sinister conspiracy. During it all, new plagues are forming. ***** Author James Alan Gardner won me as a fan from the book "Expendable". From then on, I have been scrambling to get my hands on each of his previously published novels. I worried that none of his other books would equal the wonder I felt upon reading the first. Fortunately, the author has yet to let me down. As it stands, this is the third book by the author I have finished reading and I could not choose upon which I have enjoyed best. Therefore, I will plainly state that if you come across a book written by James Alan Gardner, do not bother reading the back to learn what it is about. Simply purchase the book. It is more than worth the money! ***** Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

This is Mr. Gardner's third novel. Like the previous two, it's set in a world that he himself had created - very realistic future for mankind, very logical and interesting. It's the 25th century and mankind had long since achieved interstellar travel and came in contact with other races throughout the Galaxy. The life in the world is good with the "League Of Peoples" (a league of races so far advanced, that to call them Gods would be belittling) supervising over the world's order. They have only 1 rule: No race or person that is non-sentient (meaning that the person/race have intentions to wage murder/war onto others) can leave their home planet.The action of the novel takes place on a provincial planet, populated by 2 friendly races: Humans and Ooloms. All is great until a plague strucks and kills most of the Ooloms before a cure is found. Humans were left untouched by the disease. The main character, a woman named Faye Smallowood is the daughter of the doctor that discovers the cure. She is full of guilt for not being able to save all the Ooloms that she saw die, and it takes her 20 years to recover. Finally, she pursues her dream of joining the Vigil - a government agency that supervises all the government actions on the planet and weeds out corruption... Her acceptance to the force coincides with some mysterious murders, and suddenly she finds herself in the middle of a very important investigation that brings back her hard past...The book has a very long exposition, with the main heroine telling the reader, who she is and how she got there, and only then the story and the action begin. I must say that the long intro is just as interesting and intriguing as the rest of the book. I found myself unable to put the book down, my heart pounding, can't wait to see what happens..."Vigilant" definitely compares to Mr. Gardner's first novel, "Expendable", both of which are now in my top-10 favorites.I recommend the book to everyone, especially to fans of such genres as mystery, suspense, sci-fi and psychology.

I really like James Allan Gardner's writing, and that's no something you can say about every sci-fi author. You might like their ideas, or their plots or even their characters, but you won't necessarily say that their writing is exemplary. But Gardner's is. I buy his books as much for his use of language (Douglas Adams with a dash Arthur Clarke's sense of wonder) as for anything else. There's lots of plot synopsis already here, so I won't spoil anymore of it, except to say I disagree with the fellow who said the book was slow getting going. Not for me it wasn't. Gardner had me in his spell from the beginning.

As in Expandable, then in Commitment Hour, James Alan Gardner manages to surprise the connaisseur Sci-fi reader. Whereas Expandable introduced a new universe, with depth, with humanity, with a thrilling new storyline, Commitment Hour achieved much the same (but different), Vigilant now proves that Gardner is not only capable of introducing us to a new heroine, in a new universe, with depth, with humanity, with a thrilling storyline for the third time, he is also capable of subtly weaving in some of the fabrics that were so pleasing in his debut. Another pure pleasure from a writer who seems to be raising the bar for himself tremendously high.

Gardner's Faye reminds me of Anne Lamott, author of Operating Instructions and Bird by Bird. Her biting, sarcastic humor and references to a wild past are very similar. The world he has created is fascinating and rich in detail. I haven't read his other books, but I will now.