Customer Reviews

Flash

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Flash is an interesting one-man-against-the-world story but ultimately falls short as the world doesn't quite support the plot. Still, an interesting read.

Jonat deVries is an ex-Marine colonel who resigned after running one too many missions for a government doing the bidding of heartless multinational corporations. He founds a consulting firm that specializes in analyzing the effectiveness of emotionally charged advertising, and then discovers the newest contract he has is a setup. The story basically revolves around his attempts to discover the why, what, and who of his enemies, the use of his spec ops training to destroy them, and how he falls in love.

The fact that deVries is a full adult protagonist is a nice switch from the typical Modesitt junior officer pilot, as well as the fact that he ends up having to deal with family issues - something none of Modesitt's heroes outside of the Spellsong series have ever faced. Modesitt is clearly trying to break out of his formulaic rut, and the plot as a result is better than his last few scifi ventures.

The problem - unusual for Modesitt - is that the world he builds up doesn't quite support the characters. Part of the problem is that the predecessor Archform: Beauty was an interesting exercise for Modesitt in writing 5 separate characters, but the world built up was not particularly well fleshed out given how much the plot shifted around. Flash isn't helped by this. We're still not really sure what happened to cause the ecological disaster that changed the world, how humanity recovered, or for that matter how the technology that deVries analyzes affects people. Modesitt usually gets away with ok plot writing by making a really interesting world; in this case, the plot is above average but the world isn't. Modesitt does a nice job as usual with ironic political observations; as in the Ghost series some of his most powerful observations come from the alternate world he creates.

Still, an interesting read and better than average...just not worthy of 5 stars.

In this tome, Modesitt demonstrates a real talent for putting words down on the page without advancing the plot one whit. The story's OK, when it's moving, but in the meantime we get so much detail about the protagonist's workday at his consulting practice that we could easily write his invoices for him. Do we really need to know about every single time the character gets up to make a pot of tea, or what he had for lunch and what he thought about the quality of the food?

If Modesitt had cut out half the pages, this book would've been a solid 80's-style cyberpunk yarn. As it stands, perhaps he should've gone for stylistic novelty by presenting the novel as a LiveJournal circa 2100, since that's what the content basically amounts to.

I have yet to find a Modesitt book I didn't like. I read this technothriller in one sitting, and sucked it down like candy. Don't get me wrong, it was smart and superb - great characterization and plot.

But, did anyone read The Octagonal Raven? We've got a similar storyline and a similar protagonist.

Octagonal Raven features a former military space pilot, now a freelance media consultant, who becomes embroiled in corporate interests and politicians when his sister is assassinated. Flash stars a former Marine, now a freelance advertising consultant, who becomes embroiled in corporate interests and politicians when his sister is assassinated.

Flash does feature the new character types of an intelligent computer (but then again, so did "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress") and linked to the AI is an android that becomes independent and a romantic interest - quite cool.

The Octagonal Raven does feature a lot more (foiled) assassination attempts than Flash, and more flying cars :-)

Both espouse the philosophy of "Big Business Sucks and must be taken DOWN", with lots of internecine squabbling of corporate boards that is really fun to read...

So, buy it anyway - I own 'em both!

This is a thoughtful, well-done 25th century SF thriller, set in the same world as 2002's ARCHFORM BEAUTY -- but this one's better, I thought. An ex-Marine commando, now an advertising consultant(!), gets caught up in a web of political intrigue when he accepts a seemingly-innocuous consulting assignment. In what is (in retrospect) a weak, ad-hoc auctorial plot-pusher, the ruthless Secret Masters of Earth and Mars decide to make a patsy of ex-Col. Dr. Jonat deVrai, then murder him. DeVrai turns out, unsurprisingly, to be both hard to kill and good at turning the tables on his attackers. Besides having a curiously apposite surname.... <G>

This is all pretty basic, plot-boiling stuff, but Modesitt makes the book more intriguing by going deeply into his protagonist's life, and makes 25th century ad-consulting sound pretty interesting. Really. Plus there's a heavy dose of quotidien details that I (mostly) liked, setting up some startlingly-effective juxtapositions. On an 'interesting' day, deVrai's 'To Do' list might read:

1) Get the kids fed and off to school.
2) Make sure Charis practices piano for an hour.
...
7) Blow up Mahmed Kemal, a local ganglord.

There are the customary Modesitt ruminations re what's a good guy to do if the system won't stop the bad guys? Answer: "Get them before they get you." DeVrai also gets involved with an unusual police AI and its attractive cydroid remote, Paula Athene(!), in a clear setup for a sequel or two. Jonat de Vrai's not quite up to Johan Eschbach, the very resourceful environmental-economist protagonist in Modesitt's excellent "Tangible Ghosts" trilogy, but he's cut from similar cloth. Recommended for Modesitt and political-thriller fans.

Happy reading--
Pete Tillman

I really enjoyed this book by Modesitt. He brings an interesting angle and delves into the world of product placement which we are seeing in today's television. His analysis is detailed and believable and I found his research and diligence to be solid.

The action is phenomenal and gripping. Modesitt shows his best in the battle sequences.

On the other hand, the relationships are wooden, De Vries and his niece start with a very interesting relationship but it becomes very 2 dimensional. His pseudo/potential relationship with paula meets a similar downfall, but I enjoyed his relationship with the AI.

PRO- outstanding battle scenes, very interesting take on product placement and advertisment, interesting plot with good story flow

con- wooden relationships

An outstanding read. I highly recommend it.

Ex-marine Jonat deVrai suffers from flashbacks to his marine days--when he was sent around the world fighting battles to keep North American multinational corporations from facing competition, but mostly he is a successful consultant. He's parlayed his economics expertise into a business analysing the impact of product placement in commercial entertainment--a job made difficult by privacy legislation. When he gets a major contract to see if product placement is being used in political campaigns, it seems like an interesting extension to his business. He knows his employers have a hidden agenda--who doesn't? What he doesn't know is that his report will have a lot more credibility if he ends up dead just after presenting it.

deVrai is tougher to kill than most men. He has maintained (semi-legally) his marine enhancements. But he is just one man against the power of multinational organizations with much of the government, significant parts of law enforcement, and the ability to hire gangland thugs. He quickly realizes that he's in a moral quandry. If he does nothing, he'll end up dead, as will what remains of his family. But the only actions he can think of turn him into something of a terrorist. For an ex-marine, the choice isn't easy.

An artificial intelligence within law enforcement offers a degree of information and some more tangible assistance. But everything deVrai does seems to make his own death that much of a necessity for the multinationals that rule most of the world.

Author L. E. Modesitt, Jr. creates a fascinating near-future world building on political, environmental, and economic trends that are evident now. There is a strong political message in the story, but it's a message that neither current political party (in the US at least) is likely to be completely in synch with.

Fans of SF will see Modesitt's debt to classics such as Heinlein's THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS and others in his development of the relationship between humans and computer-based intelligence.

I thought FLASH got off to a relatively slow start. Still, half the fun of Modesitt's work is in the world-building and this was very strong. Althoug FLASH lacked some of the emotional impact of some of Modesitt's works, I have no hesitation in recommending it highly.

In the twenty-fourth century, observing his government lie and condone atrocities, former Marine officer Jonat deVrai resigned his military commission; he became an expert on product advertising. The Centre for Societal Research hires Jonat to analyze the election campaign of Juan Carlisimo to become a Senator. Jonat quickly questions the ethics and perhaps the illegal use of "rez", resonant amplification of music to enhance the candidate's message through emotional manipulation. The simple case turns nasty when thugs try to drive Jonat off the investigation.

At the same time Abraham Vorhees, whose services were exposed as a sham by Jonat threatens to kill his adversary. Jonat also becomes involved in a dastardly plot to smuggle illicit weapons onto Mars to smother a revolt. So when four illegal cydroids attempt to kill Jonat; he has no idea who is behind the assault that has led to the homicide of his sister and her husband. No one even his clients is trustworthy, but he must rely on someone for help so he turns to cydroid law enforcement officer Paula Athene in hopes of staying alive to raise his deceased sibling's children.

Though all over the place, science fiction fans will full enjoy this wild futuristic crime thriller which condemns big government and big business as being an incestuous team interested in the furthering of their own personal needs at the cost of the masses. The story line is exciting with non-stop action as the ethical Jonat keeps landing in one deadly scene after another. Fans will appreciate this law-enforcement thriller peopled with terrific characters (A.I. included) while seeking the author's fabulous ARCHFORM: BEAUTY (same time, same place, same terrific writing)

Harriet Klausner

This book started out slow for me, but got better and better so that I was glad that I stuck it out. The first half of the book is mainly full of the main character's work projects and working on them and talking to clients. It was interesting for a few pages, but I didn't see where it was going. Of course, looking back, I can see the need for some of it and it gives deeper meaning to the tasks.

Setting: Futuristic earth. Interesting ideas on what the world would be like and why. Felt like a fully realized world. We only get to see small parts of it, but those trips are fun and interesting.

Plot: The plot is that an ex-military guy who is just trying to make a living gets caught up in some events that threaten his life and the lives of his family. He has to figure out how to stop his pursuers before they stop him, all while trying to save a sentient computer. So, this is your basic action plot. Lots of intrigue and some romantic subplots, as well as subplots involving his niece and nephew.

Conflict: Once it gets going, we see lots of conflict and conflict that was even created as part of the slower, early parts of the book.

Character: The main protagonist is interesting and sort of complex.. His field of work was not so interesting, but the author did a good job of making it a bit more interesting than I would have expected. Some of his moral dilemmas felt a bit weak and unclear, but overall and nice round character. The interactions with the computer and "robots" was also intriguing. I lost track of who most of the other characters were because there were so many names and projects and such.

Text: Nothing really stood out, good or bad, but that is still a good thing.

Borrring.
It almost got good a couple of times, but that quickly passed as we got back to the mundane life of answering the phone and writing a report.

I got this book on Kindle during a for free promotion. It was better than I expected and I am likely to try some other books by this author.