I just read Initiate Brother by Sean Russell in about a day. I haven't been that into a book in a long time. Highly recommended, especially since you can find it used on Amazon for basically free plus shipping.
I'd never heard of Mr. Russell before; I bought it based on Orson Scott Card's recommendation. Now I can't wait for my copy of the sequel to arrive.
One Amazon reviewer compares Initiate Brother to Dune. I wouldn't quite rate Russell's work that high, but then, I think Dune might well be the best novel of the 20th century. The main point of commonality is very well-done political intrigue. I'm drawing a blank trying to think of another author who really pulled that off well, so maybe the comparison is more apt than I thought at first...
The only real cloud marring my silver lining here is that I suspect I'm likely to agree with the Amazon reviewers who think IB is Russell's best work. The set of authors who manage one high-quality piece of work is much larger than the set who pull it off consistently. (My favorite of the latter is Vernor Vinge, whose Rainbows End just came out a couple months ago.)
I'm going to give Beneath the Vaulted Hills a try next.
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