Some of this is similar to Flash, another SF novel by Modessit Jr. The isolated, independent protagonist who works as a freelance consultant and is drawn out of his self-sufficient rut by violent attacks on his family and himself. In this case though, Modessit paints a future society where a genetically enhanced elite attempts to seal their dominance by laying in place intelligence tests calculated to favour their own and to instill conformism. Like most Modessitt novels I've read, this one paints in a vividly imagined society in economical strokes, spends much time on mundane activities and a gradual build up of background before getting to the action. I don't agree with all of Modessit's ideas, but I appreciate the thought that goes into his novels and the way he takes time to set up the dilemmas his plot hinges on and the eventual climactic scenes.
