Archform: Beauty

Technology, philosophy, politics, and mystery combine in this well-told tale of murder and corporate machination. Archform: Beauty weaves together the stories of five people in 24th-century North America who find themselves involved in a political conspiracy that spawns a string of murders. An old-style singer despairs over graceless contemporary music that uses overlaid resonances to emotionally manipulate the listener; a police investigator identifies a disturbing pattern of suicides and murders; a powerful senator and an equally powerful corporate tycoon pursue their own agendas toward a potentially violent collision; and a news researcher with a flair for background finds himself drawn into all of their affairs as pieces of various puzzles begin to come together.

Modessit handles the five voices well, particularly those of the detective, singer, and researcher, and sets their stories against a well-realized social and political background, incorporating interesting philosophical questions about reality and beauty into the action without slowing the pace. --Roz Genessee