Contrarian

The Grand Illusion, Book 3

De: L. E. Modesitt Jr.

Narrado por: Michael Bower

L. E. Modesitt, Jr., bestselling author of Saga of Recluce and the Imager Portfolio, continues his gaslamp political fantasy series which began with Isolate and Councilor. Welcome to the Grand Illusion.

In Contrarian, protests against unemployment and poor harvests have become armed riots as the people sink deeper into poverty. They look to a government struggling to emerge from corruption and conspiracy.

Recently elected to the Council of Sixty-Six, Steffan Dekkard is the first Councilor who is an Isolate, a man invulnerable to the emotional manipulations and emotional surveillance of empaths—but not the recent bombing of the Council Office Building by insurrectionists.

His patron, the Premier of the Council, has been assassinated, leaving Dekkard with little first-hand political experience and few political allies.

Not only must Dekkard handle political infighting, and continued assassination attempts, but it appears that someone high up in the government and corporations has supplied arms and explosives to insurrectionists.

Insurrectionists who have succeeded in taking over a naval cruiser that no one can seem to find.

©2023 Modesitt Family Revocable Living Trust (P)2023 Tantor

The Story Keeps Getting Better

I read this book in a few days. I could not put it down. I really like the characters and plot line. It is simple, wholesome and interesting.

A great third entry… but what’s with this ugly book cover?

First, this cover is horrendous! Whoever authorized this should never get the ability to authorize a cover ever again! This looks like the worst AI Art attempt I’ve ever seen. A sheer travesty on an artistic level.

Beside that, this book was great for a third entry and a good tie-up for the major plot points of the storyline. Narration is quite solid by Mr. Bower. Well written and paced, though ironically less action than either of the first two books. However, how the characters handled the incidents made sense for where they were in the actual story.

A great politician fantasy trilogy.

want more in this setting

modesitt does it again imo. this trilogy is one of my favorites he has written. I am always intrigued to see the various systems of governance that Modesitt imagines to fix the flaws in current day systems, and then watch as he shows how even those systems themselves over time will develop flaws and need to be adjusted to deal with the reality of the corruption of power and money in all societies.

A perfect end

This book was great! it ties plot threads together from all 3 books and has a very satisfying ending. I highly recommend the whole series and not just this book.