Lanterns Over Demner [Paperback]

Dale A. Kagan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 5, 2001

The Special Forces Council taught Governor Eccles how to develop a telepathic block. Now their telepaths cannot find out what he is trying to hide. Four members of the elite Council, an adjunct of the military, are summoned to Governor Eccles' estate on the Planet Dauropa. Eleven people are present at the Governor's mansion. One of them is a murderer.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dale A. Kagan earned an M.B.A. from the Harvard Graduate School of Business, and gave an informal talk at the B-School on how George Lucas used the principles of sociology for Star Wars and American Graffiti.

She has worked as a marketing executive in high tech fields, and now has her own consulting company.

She wrote a humorous article, "Heroes and Heroines in Science Fiction". Technical Director for "Expression Through Film" on PBS WLIW-TV.

A member of the New York Academy of Sciences.

The Special Forces Council is the brainchild of Diana Richard, United States Air Force, retired.

Product Details

• Paperback: 156 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris Corporation; 1 edition (March 5, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738841714
• ISBN-13: 978-0738841717
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,527,758 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Technical Director "Expression Through Film" for PBS special on WLIW-TV
Guest Lecturer: MOS Chips and Nano Technology at New York Academy of Sciences Expo for Colleges & high schools
Appearances: "Books and the World" Cape Cod, MA
Member: IEEE, American Marketing Association, AAAS
Interests: sailing, lacrosse, NY Mets baseball games, tennis
Winnner of 6 Sailing Yacht Race Trophies and 2 Awards for assisting disabled in NYC.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Science Fiction? Good Mystery? It's Both!, June 29, 2001

By 

Steve Gray (Lake Worth, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lanterns Over Demner (Paperback)

Although this book seems to be the first by this author, it's a pretty solid effort.

It seems to me that writing a satisfying mystery story would be difficult enough, but add to that the equally difficult demands of writing a believable science-fiction story, and the task seems daunting indeed.

Ms. Kagan tackles the task with great gusto, and by and large does well.

For the science fiction fan, there are a corps of telepaths, and two distinctive planets, each with its own alien race (as different from one another as each is from the humans who are the major characters).

For the mystery fan, there is murder, smuggling, and kidnapping.

There are also many interesting characters and unique action scenes, and enough startling plot twists to hold interest to the end.

It was a little slow getting started, with the first quarter of the book largely composed of lengthy flashbacks. But stay with it. The pace picks up very quickly after that. Think of that first quarter of the book as the long slow climb at the start of a roller coaster ride.

The ending seems to imply that the author plans more books set in the same universe, if not necessarily with the same characters. I look forward to them.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars LANTERNS OVER DEMNER SHINES BRIGHT!, April 23, 2001

By 

Andrea Simon (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lanterns Over Demner (Paperback)

Fans of science fiction and/or murder mystery will love LANTERNS OVER DEMNER. This fast-paced book blends technical innovation along with the idiosyncracies and personal qualities of human beings to tell its story. Agents from Earth's Special Forces Council are dispatched to Planet Dauropa after receiving word that a fellow Councilman has been found dead. The agents encounter Governor Eccles, the sultry Hawken Eccles, mystical Wendnagel, Free Trader Tennyson, suave Renate Ramon y Cabal, and others.

The plot thickens with psychic overtones, political intrigue, romance, and modern mindgames. The agents become involved with smugglers and alien creatures from the Planet Julag as they travel through the universe in an attempt to uncover the truth. Readers bond with the various characters as they weave their way through this well-written novel.

Can the Special Forces Council maintain their health and sanity and solve the mystery? Will they discover the secret surrounding the stolen cargo?

Dale A Kagan's debut novel will delight younger and older readers. Get it for yourself or give it as a gift.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A very difficult read, February 16, 2004

By 

"voracious_eyes" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lanterns Over Demner (Paperback)

I have tried to read LANTERNS OVER DEMNER three times over the past two years, and find the book completely baffling. There is so little characterization of the numerous players in the story that I found myself not caring in the slightest about any of them or their goals. It is a relatively thin book, and looks as if it suffered badly at the hands of a merciless editor: What remains has no beauty in the writing, no substance to the characters, no atmosphere to the setting, no philosophical underpinning to the motives, and nothing to catch and hold this readers interest. Or maybe it wasn't there in the beginning. The prose is telegraphic, dry and dense, and more work to read than most collegiate textbooks. Every time I turned a page it seemed there were new characters to keep track of, and eventually I became hopelessly lost just trying to keep track of all the minutiae. I'm sorry Ms. Kagan, but the book reads more like a technical document than novel, and the LAST thing I would want to do is impose this book on my friends. For personal reasons, I really wanted to read and enjoy this book--yes, I was biased in its favor from the start--but now I think I'd have more fun scouring my sink.