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 hundreds of years after a high technology group landed on the planet to set up a colony it tells the story of their decedents struggling to maintain some of their high technology in a low tech world. Having lost their supporting infrastructure a structured society was created to try to preserve knowledge and lifestyle as long as possible.However, entropy is now winning and the fate of the kingdom is threatened by the non-high-tech barbarians outside their lands as well as political machinations within. The structures of their society are also struggling as more and more of the misunderstood high tech fails.The hero of the book Lorn is thrust into this world as a young man. He is forced to make his way not fitting well into any of the structured groups of Magi'i, Lancers (military), or Merchants. The military path is the most flexible and he ends up there having to face antagonism from all around him.
If you've read the earlier published books in this series, you will probably enjoy this book, told for the "other" side of the magic spectrum. It continues on with the life of Lorn, taking place after the events in "Colors of Chaos". Mr. Modesitt does a good job of showing how each side of the conflict thinks they are doing things for the right reasons, even if there are horrible results. the characters are well developed and you really care what happens to some of them, and cheer when bad things happen to some of them, as well. I listened to the audio book, narrated by Kirby Heyborn. He has read the entire series so far, and is doing a good job. I have loved this series for years, and am finally getting to these later published volumes. It's like going back to a favorite hangout and meeting up with old friends again.
This book was in present tense, and something about the writing made me feel removed from the story. I found the effect subtle and slightly disconcerting, nevertheless I really liked this book. I think Lorn's goal was clear, but in a subtle manner which drove me slightly crazy. I almost had to read the second book just to make sure my guess was right :-P.Lorn (the main character) is a gifted, diligent (but lacking passion) student of Chaos (magic). He gets transferred to the army in an effort to get him killed before he can rise in the ranks. I really enjoyed this book. Not sure I appreciated the few book quotes provided. I really thought you only needed one of them for the story; maybe the others flesh out the story more.
—MarsianMan
After loving the Imager books and being in the mood for more fantasy of the alt/secondary world kind, I started reading the Recluce saga in chronological order. The first complete duology of Cyador (Magi and Scion) begins the saga and tell the story of Lorn, mage and soldier. Lorn is actually sort of similar to Rhenn of Imager, though this one starts slower dues especially to the third person narration which lessens the immediacy of the Imager books; the final book of the duology is excellent though
—Liviu
...Modesitt gave the series a good shake up with the White/Chaos oriented books, something the series needed, I don't think he could have gone on as long as he did by just writing from the Order side of things. In fact, I would not mind if he wrote another White story. This book is among the best in the series and I very much enjoyed this reread. So much so in fact, that I was temped to pick of Scion of Cyador right away... Full Random Comments Review
—Rob
