The Worlds of L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

Ghost of the White Nights

From the hardcover:
L. E. Modeistt has gained a legion of devoted fans for his science fiction as well as for his epic fantasy novels, and Ghost of the White Nights is one of the best displays of his ability to blend dramatic, imaginative stories with rigerous social and scientific extrapolation. This is the concluding novel of the alternate-history adventure trilogy that Modesitt began with Of Tangible Ghosts and The Ghost of the Revelator.

Doktor Johan Eschbach, Professor of Environmental Science and semi-retired service agent, and his lovely wife, the world-renound singer Llysette, return for another adventure, this time in Russia. Their world is an intriguing alternate present in which many things are changed. What we know as the eastern United States is the nation of Columbia, and Russia is still ruled by the Romanovs.

Johan had hoped for a quiet life of teaching. Llysette, a refugee from the burning remains of France, has put her time in the prison camps of the Hapsburg Empire behind her and successfully resumed her singing career. But the Columbian government cannot afford to waste their particular talents and calls upon them again.

Llysette is being sent on a cultural exchange mission to St. Petersburg, where she will sing for the Tzar. Johan will, of course, accompany her, allowing him to work behind the scenes on the oil concession in Russian Alaska that Columbia so desperately needs. But even the oil shortage will fade to insignificance when Johan discovers what new weapons technology the Russians are developing, a threat even more fearsome than the atomic bombs of Austro-Hungary.

L. E. Modesitt, Jr., carries on the science fiction tradition of Gordon R. Dickson and Poul Anderson, hard-edged adventures with sophisticated social and political dimensions. Ghost of the White Nights is a powerfully imaginative addition to this tradition.

From the ARC:
The new alternate history SF novel that completes Modesitt's Ghost Trilogy.

L.E. Modesitt has gained a legion of devoted fans for his science fiction as well as his epic fantasy novels, and Ghosts of the White Nights is one of the best displays yet of his ability to blend dramatic, imaginative stories with rigorous social and scientific extrapolation. This is the concluding novel of the alternate history adventure trilogy that Modesitt began with Of Tangible Ghosts and The Ghost of the Revelator.

Doktor Johan Eschbach, Professor of Environmental Science and semi-retired secret agent, and his lovely wife the world-renowned singer Llysette, return for another adventure, this time in Russia. Their world is an intriguing alternate present in which many things are changed. What we know as the eastern U.S. is the nation of Columbia, and Russia is still ruled by the Romanovs.

Johan had hoped for a quiet life of teaching. Llysette, a refugee from the burning remains of France, has put her time in the prison camps of the Hapsburg Empire behind her and successfully resumed her singing career. But the Columbian government cannot afford to waste their particular talents and calls upon them again.

Llysette is being sent on a cultural exchange mission to St. Petersburg, where she will sing for the Tzar. Johan will, of course, accompany her, allowing him to work behind the scenes on the oil concession in Russian Alaska that Columbia so desperately needs. But even the oil shortage will fade to insignificance when Johan discovers what new weapons technology the Russians are developing, a threat even more fearsome than the atomic bombs of Austro-Hungary.

L.E. Modesitt, Jr. carries on the science fiction tradition of Gordon R. Dickson and Poul Anderson, hard-edged adventures with sophisticated social and political dimensions. Ghost of the White Nights is a powerfully imaginative addition to this tradition.

From L.E. Modesitt's personal press kit:
Retired spy John Eschbach must again become an agent as his wife, the lovely diva Llysette, is recruited to perform for the government of Columbia before the Tzar of Russia, in a world where the Romanovs still rule Russia -- and stand on the brink of war with Austro-Hungary. Each super-power has deadly weapons, and Johan must find a way to keep them from being used so that all Europe does not become a desolate slag heap populated on one side by anguished ghosts and soulless zombies on the other.

Check out the book's page from the
TOR Fall 2001 catalog (.gif)