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Title: Vigilant by James A. Gardner ISBN: 0-380-80208-2 Publisher: Avon Pub. Date: 01 March, 1999 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.05 (21 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A great sci-fi mystery
Comment: On the planet Demoth, a deadly plague decimates the Oolom race, while leaving their human neighbors unaffected, at least physically. Faye helps care for the patients, and is a witness when her father finds a cure. After her father's mysterious death a few days later, Faye drifts through life, enters into a group marriage (her culture is bisexual), and eventually becomes a member of the Vigil, a watchdog group who fiercely monitor the government. On her first assignment, her partner is killed and Faye finds herself fleeing not only the assassins, but also a couple of government agents who feels she is hiding something. With the help of her new Oolom partner and of Festina Ramos (from Gardner's first book "Expendable"), Faye sifts through the mystery of this multilayered conspiracy which is connected not only to Demoth's past before the Ooloms arrived, but also to Faye's father. Now if Faye could only stop being distracted by the enigmatic Festina, so she could concentrate on surviving... "Vigilant" starts slow, but after the arrival of Festina, the story flares to life and the reader can hardly read quickly enough. James Alan Gardner is a gifted writer whose stories capture the imagination and entertain readers for all their worth.
Rating: 5
Summary: Another superb novel. Comparable to "Expendable"
Comment: 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.
Rating: 4
Summary: The Return of Festina Ramos
Comment: Demoth is a world that was devastated by a plague. The disease decimated the Oolom population with whom humanity shares Demoth. The human minority suffered psychological trauma as it watched millions of Ooloms die. The protagonist, Faye Smallwood, suffered as much as anyone. Gardner's description of Faye's response to the illness and eventual death of one Oolom is particularly well-drawn. It was Faye's father, in fact, who found the cure in something as prosaic as olive oil, but only after the Oolom Faye admired and loved had died.
Eventually, Faye put the trauma behind her, becoming a member of the Vigil, Demoth's unique supra-governmental auditors and monitors. But her first assignment is a disaster. She narrowly escapes death; seven of her fellow members of the Vigil are killed. Faye escapes, in part, because of a peacock-like creature of light. And that narrow escape plummets her into an interplanetary plot with too many players, and an ancient, evil war that is still going on. With the help of Festina Ramos, the sensible heroine of "Expendable," she solves the nested mysteries and saves Demoth and its peoples.
This is a much better book than "Expendable," Gardner's first book. In particular, the plotting is far better and the mystery at the core of the story is much better conceived. Gardner's insistence on the implausible stupidity, corruption and arrogance of Earth's governing Council of Admirals is annoying, but not as critical to the story as it was in "Expendable" (and will be in "Hunted").
A good read, with clever plotting. Recommended.
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Title: Ascending by James Alan Gardner ISBN: 0380813297 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 30 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Trapped by James Alan Gardner ISBN: 0380813300 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Commitment Hour by James A. Gardner ISBN: 0380798271 Publisher: Avon Pub. Date: 01 April, 1998 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Expendable by James Alan Gardner ISBN: 038079439X Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 01 March, 1999 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Paladin of Souls: A Novel by Lois McMaster Bujold ISBN: 0380979020 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 23 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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