Review: Isolate

Isolate by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a 4-star review. My experience is closer to 3.5 stars.

Isolate is the latest book from L.E. Modesitt Jr. It is the first in a series. I have been a fan of Mr. Modesitt for many years and was hoping that this book would be worthy of being on my Hugo Awards nomination list this year because that sort of recognition of his work is long overdue. Sadly, it fell a bit short of that high bar.

There are many plot elements to this book that mostly interlock. The characters are well developed. Despite the flaws and the predictable ending, I was fully engaged with the book from beginning to end.

The Isolate world appears to be steam-punk-ish. Automobiles are powered by water and kerosene. There might be electricity, but it isn't a significant feature. Gas lighting is evident. Long-distance communication is accomplished via light reflectors sending coded messages. Travel over long distances is done via rail. Technologically, the world is on par with roughly the 1910-1920 era.

The most significant speculative fiction element is the presence of a range of empaths; people capable of sensing/projecting emotions/thoughts. On that range are "isolates" who are anti-empaths with emotions/thoughts that cannot be sensed by empaths.

The author likes to explore issues of social science in his work. In this book, the political framework is a sort of parliamentary system with a monarch; sort of like the UK. There are three parties formally recognized in the nation's formal organization. There are electoral restrictions that are intended to prevent any one party from becoming too strong without preventing an outright majority.

The three parties are separately presented as representing labor, business, and inherited wealth. Inherited wealth tends to line up with business more as a matter of convenience than ideology. The regulatory framework tends to enable corruption with big businesses controlling construction contracts.

Another unique feature is that votes by members of parliament are secret. Members enter a voting booth and vote via a mechanism that hides their hands. They select a tile that indicates their party that is then dropped into the appropriate yes/no slot. This is intended to prevent voters from responding against votes cast by a single individual. This in turn causes a plot point where some citizens are campaigning for changes so that a politician's discreet voting record will be public. "People not parties!"

The story centers on a politician, Axel Obreduur, and his security team of one empath, Avraal Ysella, and one isolate, Steffan Dekkard. The two are teamed together as their relative "abilities" are complementary.

There are several plot lines that are woven together in the central story. Most of them have to do with the powers of the government and how laws are made/changed/etc. That sounds pretty dry, but it really isn't. Most of the political negotiations occur behind closed doors while the reader is engaged with other characters elsewhere. Some of the plotlines deal with personal/private relationships either as a result of government policies and in some cases despite government policies.

There is some action (Steffan kills a few people while defending Axel and Avraal). But this is largely a quieter story that unfolds gracefully.

The author introduces some interesting twists. The policies and interests of the three parties do not map perfectly onto modern American political parties. Axel supports some interests that might be considered "left" and others that would be considered "right" relative to American political interests. That skewing of interests relative to party labels opens up opportunities to consider/re-consider different perspectives.

There were some plot issues that detracted from the overall story.

- There are several instances of markets being distorted by government regulations/taxation. It never occurs to the characters that less government might result in greater individual success due to the increase in individual autonomy.

- All of the policies that Axel supports are considered to be desirable. All of the policies that he opposes are considered undesirable. Conversely, the business party is presented in all their mustache-twirling glory. In a book with moral grey areas, that sort of binary characterization seems out of place.

- The conclusion(s) of the book is/are predictable after reading roughly a third of the book.

- In an attempt to explore social conditions, there are a few features that are nonsense. The first of those features is the fact that the police are armed with revolvers and the rebels/terrorists/youpickaname have semi-automatic pistols with a larger magazine capacity than the standard revolver. If pistols are available, then why wouldn't the police have them? Another would be Axel's penchant for campaigning outside of a "sportball" arena on game day, but never actually engaging with the event. He campaigns while the crowd is filtering in and then leaves when the game starts.

This book is worth reading, once. I doubt I will continue reading the series.

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