Of Tangible Ghosts (Ghost trilogy) [Mass Market Paperback]

L. E. Modesitt Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 1995

Modesitt returns to science fiction with Of Tangible Ghosts, a carefully crafted alternate universe novel. In this world, the Dutch never lost control of the Northeast, and France, Spain, and Chung Kuo are today's superpowers, as is Colombia. And in this universe, the ghosts of the dead linger, sometimes visible, sometimes speaking to the living. Johan Eschbach has retired from service as an agent of the government of Colombia and gone north to teach at a university in his native Dutch territory. Research is being conducted in the university's physics department - research on the control of ghosts - that is of interest to governments worldwide. And Johan is forced by his former employers to work again as a spy. When he discovers too much, he is marked for death. But at least one ghost wants to keep him alive.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Modesitt's writerly tics, so obtrusive in his Recluce fantasy series (The Magic Engineer), seem less annoying than usual in this routine SF novel set in an alternative universe in which the Dutch, not the British, controlled the American colonies. Narrator Johan Eschbach's preachy tone makes the author's frequent infodumps more palatable than in other works, for example, though no less arrhythmic. While Eschbach, a college professor, pads the narrative with his lectures and the presentation of his academic life, his former profession as a government operative comes directly into play as he uncovers a conspiracy. In this world, where unnaturally dead souls remain visible, a plot is afoot in the highest levels of government to capture these "tangible" souls using "difference engines" (i.e., computers). Meanwhile, after a music teacher named Miranda is killed, her ghost spurs Eschbach to find her murderer-though the killer's identity isn't as veiled as Modesitt probably wishes, and Eschbach's technological solutions to the novel's mysteries won't hold most readers' interest (the most engrossing moments here involve a Shakespeare-quoting shade; again there is a link to The Tempest, as in the McKillip review above). Moreover, the overly familiar plot and its complications aren't saved by the author's presenting Eschbach's personal relationship with a singer named Llysette as little more than a plot complication.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

As university professor and former government agent Johan Eshbach reluctantly returns to duty to investigate the death of a fellow teacher, he plunges into the midst of a deadly game of politics and murder. Set in an alternate world where the Dutch settlement of North America did not give way to the British, where "difference engines" handle information processing, and where the psychic energies of ghostly manifestations exert their influence over the living, Modesitt's latest novel transforms a cliched plot into a vivid exercise in historic speculation. The author of the "Recluce" fantasy series (The Towers of the Sunset, Tor Bks., 1992) excels in using subtle details to enhance the credibility of an imaginary parallel world. A good choice for sf collections.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (November 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812548221
• ISBN-13: 978-0812548228
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,606,827 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

After spending years writing poetry, political speeches and analyses, as well as economic and technical reports on extraordinarily detailed and often boring subjects, I finally got around to writing my first short story, which was published in 1973. I kept submitting and occasionally having published stories until an editor indicated he'd refuse to buy any more until I wrote a novel. So I did, and it was published in 1982, and I've been writing novels -- along with a few short stories -- ever since.

If you want to know more, you can visit my website at www.lemodesittjr.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Tale of Spooks and Spectres, July 24, 2003

By 

Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Of Tangible Ghosts (Hardcover)

Of Tangible Ghosts is the first novel in the Ghost series. In an alternate universe, the English Plymouth colony failed and the Dutch dominated Columbia. Austro-Hungary has conquered most of Europe and the French exiles under DeGaulle rule in Mexico. In this timeline, ghosts are much more visible, powerful, and responsive to technical devices.

Doktor Johan Eschbach is a former Subminister for Environment in the Natural Resources Ministry of the Columbian government. Prior to his term as a high level government official, Johan had been a flying officer in the Republic Air Corps and then an agent in the Spazi, the Sedition Prevention and Security Service. When Speaker Hartpence's Reformed Tories party won the election, they cleaned house in the Natural Resources Ministry and Johan retired to his family's old summer home in Vanderbraak Centre, accepting a position in the Natural Resources Department of the local college, Vanderbraak State University.

In this novel, Johan has a close relationship to Doktor Llysette duBoise, a concert quality soprano who also teaches at the college and who is a refugee from the conquest of France. Llysette has a concert one evening and Johan drives her to the music center to prepare for the performance, then goes to his office. Later, as he locks up to leave for the concert, Johan feels a drop in temperature. Then he hears someone sobbing and shortly thereafter he sees the ghost of Miranda Miller, a piano instructor in the Music department. Apparent Miranda has just been murdered. He starts to report the incident to Campus Security, but realizes that such a report would position him as a prime suspect. Instead, he walks to the Music department to attend Llysette's concert.

During the next few days, Johan discovers that the Spazi are interested in Miranda's murder, indicating that the homicide has more that local interest. Moreover, he starts to receive newspaper clippings from an anonymous source, which he knows must be associated with the Spazi. It would seem that he is being maneuvered into investigating the case.

This novel presents some interesting notions about the creation and persistence of ghosts and the technical manipulation of such spirits. Moreover, it speculates about the relationship of the mind to the brain and the consequences of separating them.

As is usual with Modesitt, the plot moves rather slowly as the reader views and reviews the life of the protagonist and the characteristics of his society. If the reader can tolerate the slow pace, however, the story will unfold before your eyes as if you were living it. Maybe Modesitt is an acquired taste, but so is Faulkner, and I find there is much that is common between the two. Faulkner, however, never had to create a whole timeline.

Highly recommended for Modesitt fans and anyone else who enjoys tales filled with philosophical notions, technical speculations and international intrigue.

-Arthur W. Jordin

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Work of Alternate History..., December 2, 2002

By 

Tom Cowie (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Of Tangible Ghosts (Ghost trilogy) (Mass Market Paperback)

I've always been a complete fan of Modesitt's SciFi works, so I decided to pick up this book. Boy, was I ever pleased. Not only does the author manage to weave a completely believable alternate history in which the North American political landscape is totally differnt (though historiclaly plausible) from today, but he manages to insert the idea of ghosts into the stiory - in a highly believable manner.

Within this complex reality Modesitt tells a great tale of political intrigue. The hero is great...an academic who is a reluctant spy who really only wants to leave his past behind and teach in his small regional university.

The bottom line is "Of Tangible Ghosts" is a superb book!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars nice rainy-day reading., July 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Of Tangible Ghosts (Ghost trilogy) (Mass Market Paperback)

Something to read when you have nothing else to do. Interesting, if a little confusing in the begining. I liked it. I picked up the sequal at the library, really not knowing what it was about. I started it, and I kind of liked it, but I had no idea what a lot of the things being refered to were.While in a book store, I saw of Tangible Ghosts and decided that it might help me understand what was happening. This one is good, but if you are looking for a really spy-y novel, read this one so you will understand The Ghost of the Revelater