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Product Description
Angelmass, a black hole deep in space, emits "angels," small particles that render humans calm, reasonable, and virtually incapable of lying. The Empyrean, human colonies in the far reaches of the galaxy, has discovered the angels and the power they wield. All members of Empyrean government must carry an angel.
The Earth-based Empire, the Pax, view the angels as an alien plot to subvert humanity. They dispatch Jereko Kosta, an innocent academic, to spy on the Empyrean and find out the truth about angels. With Chandris, a grifter who dogs his steps, he enlists on an "angel-hunting" ship. Close up, Kostas learns the angels may be more dangerous than the Pax fear.
Before he can react, the Pax dispatches their most powerful warship to confront the Empyrean. Now, Kosta and Chandris, among the few who know the truth about the angels, stand between the Empyrean, the Pax, and war.
Amazon.com Review
How does Hugo-winner Timothy Zahn turn an otherwise straightforward SF page-turner into something truly interesting? With one of the oldest shticks in the book: the good ol' black-hole-that-spits-out-quantum-particles-of-human-goodness trick.
Of course, that's not exactly an old sci-fi shtick, but the essence of it (and its effect) is: the ever-clever Zahn has taken a very cool idea--what if there were quantum particles (or whatever) that compelled people to act ethically--and then explored the impact that might have, in this case on a society and its internal and external interactions. The particles in question are called "angels," and the interstellar alliance known as the Empyrean has been blessed with Angelmass, the eponymous black hole that emits them. The greedy, Earth-based Pax empire sees these angels as a brainwashing alien invasion and threatens to invade the Empyrean itself to set things straight. Thrown into the fray to explicate the implications are a bumbling but earnest Pax scientist-spy, a pretty young grifter, a brother-sister pair of grizzled space vets, and an Empyrean High Senator who fears the complacency that angels have bred into his society. Fast, fun, and thought-provoking, Angelmass combines Star Wars-style action (which Zahn knows well) with enough substance to satisfy a more serious reading. --Paul Hughes
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