Published by Del Ray, 1991.
paperback, $4.99, ISBN: 0-345-37942-X
411 pages.

It has been quite some time since Inherit the Stars, the first in the Giants series by James P. Hogan, appeared on my reading rack, followed by The Gentle Giants of Ganymede and Giant's Star. All three followed a more exploratory nature than military nature, with the heroes a group of scientists endeavoring to discover the origins of a spacesuited alien found dead on the moon.

With such pleasant memories, I picked up Entoverse, the fourth in the series, to continue the saga of the Jevlenese, the Ganymeans, and yes, the humans. This, too, is not a military bash, but a more cerebral effort by scientists to investigate social upheavals on the planet Jevlen.

Hogan's style manages to keep the plot moving along, although sometimes interest flags when he introduces one too many conference table discussions into the storyline. You can almost forgive a number of bad puns throughout the book, as if he was writing this fourth book for a laugh rather than as "serious" science fiction. Almost.

Back on Jevlen, the threat of military intervention hangs over the heads of the local crime syndicate that befriends the scientists from a fanatic religious order's political coup. The drug of choice for the masses is a virtual reality plug, which provides an illegal "holodeck" experience while reclining on couches. Somewhere in the planetary political struggle is another dimension where magic works, anarchy reigns, and the truly righteous from both dimensions can make the transit between the two worlds.

Although the sense of wonder has faded from the intial trilogy, Giants fans will want to pick up Entoverse if they do not already have it, if only to continue the voyage. For those that missed Inherit the Stars et. al., Entoverse is less compelling and a tad confusing, although if you go back to the initial book and work your way through the trilogy, you may find you need another Giants' fix.