Archform: Beauty by L. E. Modesit Jr
01/12/2003 . Source: Joules Taylor 
pub: Orbit/Times Warner. 434 page paperback. Price: £ 6.99 (UK). ISBN: 0-84149-251-5. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check
out website: www.orbitbooks.co.uk
Supposedly set four hundred years into
the future - although the sociology is really not that much different
from today.
The Earth of
this story is a technological wonderland: nanites protect the body from harm (all
harm, if you can afford upgrades), everyone has a 'link' (an internal communication
system allowing contact with anyone else just by thinking, a kind of techno-telepathy),
criminals are 'altered' to become law-abiding and useful servants and everyone's
basic needs are provided for...
 That's
basic needs. Anything more than that has to be worked for, unless
you happen to be filch (a contraction of 'filthy rich' with overtones
of theft from the other, lower classes - a nifty use of language
on the part of the author).
It's also a world in which the occurrences
like the death of six million people, those who can't afford the protective nanomeds,
from a mutated bio-weapon, ebol4, appears to be a fact of life. Regrettable, yes,
but it's not the first time it's happened and the implication is that it won't
be the last.
In this world, music is used to force subliminal messages
into the brain (resonance advertising or 'rezads') for everything from drinks
to which politician to support - the man with the most effective rezads (read,
the most money to pay for them) being the one who gets into office. It's all about
control and it starts at an early age with the networks vying subliminally to
gain and keep the loyalty of children...
Ignore the blurb on the back
of the book that implies this Earth should be viewed as Utopia. It very obviously
isn't from almost the first page. This is not a nice place to be, even if you're
filch.
'Archform: Beauty' is essentially a detective story and a complex and
intriguing one at that. It's told from five points of view - Luara Cornett
- Professor of Music, the terse Lt Eugene Tang Chiang - Trends Analysis Co-ordinator
(the trends in question being criminal ones), Jude Parsfal - reporter with a penchant
for getting more involved in his stories than is safe, Chris Kemal - CEO of KC
Constructors (and involved in some rather nasty, and deadly, financial manipulations)
and Senator Elden Cannon - whose main concern appears to be keeping his office.
All of them have a major role to play in the unravelling of the plot and
despite the hints and clues along the way, the resolution comes as something of
a surprise.
Overall, it's an enjoyable book. The five main characters
are written in distinctively different and highly appropriate first-person styles
- very skilfully, in my opinion. Far too often, it's difficult to tell
characters apart: that isn't the case here. The author has also managed to make
each of them believable, dropping little snippets of memory and rationalisation
into the story, creating well-rounded personalities for each of the five. I could,
however, have lived without the male characters all effectively falling in love
with the female - smacked too much of the infamous 'Mary Sue' style of writing
for my taste! I'm not too sure I agree with the book's continual insistence
that beauty can be found in everything either. I'd agree that in context, yes,
I can see why the characters would insist that their perception of beauty is correct.
I'm just not sure they make their respective cases strongly enough to be completely
convincing.
So, who would enjoy 'Archform: Beauty'? Anyone who likes
a meaty detective story that requires a certain amount of intelligent thought.
The book can be read without working out the clues but it's a more satisfying
read if they are picked up along the way.
Joules Taylor
http://www.wordwrights.co.uk
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