Empress of Eternity by L.E. Modesitt Jr.

In the far future, an indestructible and massive canal more than 2,000 miles long spans the mid-continent of Earth. Nothing can mar it, move it, or affect it in any fashion. At its western end, where it meets the sea, is an equally indestructible structure comprising three levels of seemingly empty chambers. Scientists from three different civilizations, separated in time by hundreds of thousands of years, are investigating the canal. In the most distant of these civilizations, religious rebellion is brewing. A plot is hatched to overthrow the world government of the Vanir, using a weapon that can destroy anything-except the canal. If used at full power it might literally unravel the universe and destroy all life forever. The lives and fates of all three civilizations become intertwined as the forces behind the canal react to the threat, and all three teams of scientists find their lives changed beyond belief. Other Series by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. The Saga of Recluce The Imager Portfolio The Corean Chronicles The Spellsong Cycle The Ghost Books The Ecolitan Matter The Forever Hero Timegod's World Other Books The Green Progression Hammer of Darkness The Parafaith War Adiamante Gravity Dreams The Octagonal Raven Archform: Beauty The Ethos Effect Flash The Eternity Artifact The Elysium Commission Viewpoints Critical Haze Empress of Eternity The One-Eyed Man Solar Express At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Excellent combination of high-energy physics, time theory, political extremism, and Norse mythology with well-developed characters and exciting action sequences.

Empress of Eternity

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This seems to have a lot of the same flourishes that I found intriguing in Modesitt's “Ghost” series - bureaucratic infighting, an interest in ecological issues, and an ending that leaves me wondering “what the hell just happened?”

The McGuffin in this case is a massive, indestructible canal - 2, 000 “kays” long and 6 kays wide - that spans the “middle continent” of the Earth. I don't know what a “kay” is. I assumed that it was a kilometer, but it seems to be a common unit of measurement in the three cultures depicted in the book, each of which seems to be separated by tens of thousands of years of time.

At first, I wasn't sure if the “Earth” was our Earth, but the references to a shiny belt in place of the moon made me think otherwise, and, of course, hooked me with the question, “what happened to the Moon?”

Modesitt tells the story from the viewpoint of three pairs of characters separated widely in time. The earliest characters are aristocrats in some kind of constitutional democracy called the “Unity of Caelaarn.” In their time, glaciation has reached the canal. Authoritarian forces are plotting to take over the Unity, and Lord Maertyn is studying the canal in the hopes that there might be a clue in this ancient, indestructible, mysterious artefact that will stave off the glaciers.

The second pair are in the Ruche, which is a polity heading toward a hive mind. The characters can communicate mind-to-mind in a kind of shorthand. Ruche is threatened by global warming and desertification. One faction of the Ruche has overthrown a somewhat more liberal faction and are threatening our characters, who are studying the canal for some clue to fight global warming, with brainwipe.

The final pair is in the far future in some kind of world state called the Vanir Hegemony, which is dealing with separatists called the Aesir. The Aesir have a weapon that can destroy the universe and are using it without care about the risk. The culture of the Vanir is very Norse, for no explicable reason.

As we read the story, the plotlines begin to merge. The canal provides a time-traveling deus ex machina.

I enjoyed the story. I liked that Modesitt provided an answer for his destruction of the Moon plot point, but I'm not sure I understand or accept the explanation. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the characters and was pulled along by the thirst to know more. This is a story with a big science fiction concept wrapped in the big science fiction concept of “deep time,” which nicely captures the gosh-wow! feel of golden age science fiction.