This is the second book in the Imager's Portfolio, and it is a solid entry. The world already being established, this book does not have as much of Rhenn getting lectured about how this are, so that is a plus. One minor quibble, is that as things heat up towards the end the author was looking f...
I was worried about the ending of this book because it suddenly picked up the pace really quickly but I was pleasantly surprised!I picked up this book at my local bookstore and I'm definitely happy that I did. I loved it. I loved being immersed into a world where the author did a fantastic job de...
Princeps by L.E. Modesitt, jrIn some ways this is a bit repetitious. We have a similar protagonist to the Recluce series but different. This is a continuation of the Imager Portfolio. This is the 5th volume. The budding journeyman from the first book is coming into his own however he discove...
Quaeryt is now a subcommander in Lord Bhayar's army against Rex Kharst. As far as Imager history goes, this is the unification war for what becomes Solidar as well as explains the bigger Why there is an Imagisle school/residence for imagers in Rhen's time.There is plenty of action in this book, a...
Again, wow. Such a complex world with complete economies & even a really neat take on religion. I should have mentioned both in earlier reviews, especially the latter. The idea of the Namer being evil due to spreading misconceptions, leading people into fallacy. Very well done.The mystery is ...
Another satisfying book set in the Saga of Recluce world. The characters were for the most part enjoyable, but Modesitt's rampant use of the letter Y in every character name was a little tedious.I'd say this is one of his weaker books concerning use of the system of magic as well. While it could ...
Latest in the Imager series, following Quaeryt Rytersen and his wife Veloria into Khel to treat with the Pharsi council and then back to the middle of the southern side of the island to deal with the Autarch of Antiago. It was a lot of politics, a lot of imaging roads, and a lot of destruction of...
This was one of the most boring reads ever I must confess. Don't get me wrong: this book has its merits: It's nicely written and the characters and setting are intriguing. The story itself however drags endlessly, not only because there's too much telling instead of showing, but also too much sho...
The second story focused on Mykella (the first being Lord-Protector's Daughter). The previous book on her seemed to be the same Modesitt formula of learning about your powers and needing them as fast as you can develop them, 'or else', but from a female point of view. This book goes in a bit of a...
I was charmed by the first book in L.E. Modesitt's Spellsong trilogy. I discovered the first book, The Soprano Sorceress at the library while on maternity leave. It left me wanting to read more about the fascinating universe and powerfully strong protagonist.It would have been better if Modesitt ...
My sister told me if I was looking for a Codex Alera fix, I'd find it with this. 'It's even better than Alera,' she said.I'm amazed I finally finished it - it's one of those books that even after you've been reading it for days, you don't seem to have got any further.The first 3/4 of the book are...
In the end, the legacy we leave behind is one wrought in truth and action.Secca was never my favorite (I still miss Anna), but she does show growth in this final installment of the Spellsong Wars. Facing not only the might of Sturinn directly, but even her own liege and his cowardly manner. If no...
This book concludes a sorta-trilogy of Recluse novels. The first one the White Order follows the story of Cerryl a white mage (turning grey) as he grows up and joins the White Order. The second, the Magic Engineer, follows the story of Dorrin a very black mage who is exiled from Recluse and goe...
Nearly 300 years after the founding of the island nation of Recluse Cerryl a (probably) grey mage enters the scene. An orphan of a probable white mage he must find a place for himself in the world. The stalemate between the blacks of recluse, and the whites of Fairhaven has stood since the isla...
The Order War is the fourth book in Modesitt's Recluce series. The events in this book take place subsequent to the events in the previous book, The Magic Engineer, but before the events in the first book, The Magic of Recluce. To sum this book up, it has a lot of good information regarding the...
Darkness by L.E. Modesitt, jrThis is book two of the Corean Chronicles. A new world and new protagonists that are separate from the world of Recluce. This world is locked in war between states that are mere shreds of a more pervasive and powerful defunct nation state. This book provides more i...
In this second book of the prequel trilogy, we continue to follow the dual stories of Dainyl, the alector near the top of the military command, and Mykel, now in command of a battalion of mounted rifles. As in the earlier book, both are admonished by the mysterious "ancients" to develop their ow...
This is one of my favorite books. Not just because it's a good sci-fi story, but because there's a pervasive idea throughout about taking care of the environment and wastefulness.There's this great story about the cybs coming back to Earth after generations to kind of get their own back from the ...
_The Elysium Commission_ by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. is basically a somewhat film noir-ish style private investigator story set in the far future. The setting is the planet Devanta, many centuries in the future from now, a setting in which humanity has spread among the stars and a number of different h...
Scepters was a decent end to the first trilogy of Corean books, closing off Alucius and Wendra's story, but while I liked the overall story, I also felt that this book had just too much going on. Modesitt had at least two books worth of plot points crammed into a little over 600 pages, and frankl...
This is the second part of the duo of the earliest history of the land of Candar.Our hero from the first book is now moderately well successful in the military branch of the structured remnants of the high tech society he lives in. However, his problems are not yet over. He has learned some mod...
I typically stay away from the fantasy section of the bookstore, not because of any dislike for fantasy, but because the genre is riddled with clichés and Tolkein knockoffs. However, when an intended five-day trip unexpectedly turned into a two-week stay, I picked The Magic of Recluce up from the...
OK because I am odd I have decided to read these books in internal chronological order. The author has stated that this is not his preferred order, but I am not only odd but stubborn.This is the first of a duo of novels concerning the earliest history of the land of Candor. Set probably hundred...
This one isn't for everyone as it's more philosophy than adventure.I never put spoilers in my reviews.This book can be dry but it's invaluable in understanding this world Modesitt has built. The ending is a climactic as any would wish.L. E. Modesitt, Jr. writes epic fantasy with political comment...
Reading this back-to-back with The Magic of Recluse (which it follows directly in the internal chronology, but is separated by three other books in the publication order) really both shows up how unusually weak Magic of Recluse is and how much the series developed over the course of a couple of b...
“The Towers of the Sunset” is the second book of the Recluce saga. However, instead of depicting events that occur subsequent to the ending of the first book, it jumps back in time to before the island of Recluce was established. Overall, it's a good read if you liked Modesitt’s first novel. T...
Have you ever had a friend (or nemesis, I won't judge) who thinks that any problem can be solved with enough violence? I did, once. It was kind of weird. He was a nice enough guy, and I liked bantering and hanging out with him, but his willingness to resort to punching in lieu of actually havi...
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 gene...
A long time ago, humans destroyed the earth's environment with their greedy wants and wars. Moving onto other worlds humanity broke into two factions: the Greens, mostly comprised of the brown people's of the world and crazy religious zealots, mostly white people. Trystin, a soldier for the Green...
(This review was written in 2004.)I read my first L.E. Modesitt Jr. book back in the early nineties, right around the same time Robert Jordan was getting popular. My first thought, upon seeing The Magic of Recluce, was that Modesitt looked like a Jordan clone. He had the same cover artist, same p...
A solid conclusion to Kharl's tale, showing him with the same reassuring solidity and sensibility despite his elevation to being a lord. Of more interest is his position as a mage, as he finds himself using his power more directly to shape the political landscape. I appreciated how he was able to...
I am "on a mission", if you will, to re-read the Recluce saga in order, because I most of the first eleven books when I was younger and then lost touch with the series, and now I'm "reconnecting with my fantasy roots". Note, however, that this is one series where the order—at least at first—doesn...
My relationship with Modesitt's "Recluce" series began several years ago with the first book, "The Magic of Recluce". It was a good read. Since then I have slogged my way through numerous sequels, prequels, spin-offs, or whatever else they might be called. None of them were read in order of pu...