L. E. Modesitt Jr.

Dear Overcaptain!

I applaud the carefulness of Overcaptain Alyiakal’alt as he does what’s he’s commanded to, but looks for different ways to obey to the letter of the law. This becomes a key personality trait of the Overcaptain.
Alyiakal, leading his Mirror Lances is sent to Oldroad Post. A post near the border with Kyphros. At Oldroad Post he learns quite a bit about tarrif enumerators, bribes, and trade costs, and the rules for traders coming through a Cyador frontier post.
After show more Oldroad Post he's ordered to Luuval to close the Post there. It’s surrounded by lands sinking into the marsh. They’ve already lost houses, land and people.
At Luuval the Imperial Tariff Enumerator doesn’t want the Post closed and strongly encourages Alyiakal to delay the closing it. Of course that’s not about to happen. Alyiakal needs all his cunning and illicit mage craft (healing abilities) to survive.
In the background are hints of the enumerators charging higher tariffs and pocketing the difference, of Merchant Houses running deals, of Merchanters providing weapons to Kyphros. Politics are everywhere.
Alyiakal is still carefully corresponding with his lady Merchanter, Saelora of Loraan House. His mail is always opened and checked.
The letters between Alyiakal and Saelora are wonderful. Carefully constructed, warm and underneath conveying situations and discrepancies they’ve both noticed. Lovely warnings!
Later Alyiakal is posted to Fryad. This will become a major honing ground of many of his skills.
Everything Alyiakal does he has copies of letters witnessed and sent to the Mirror Lance headquarters. He’s being canny about having his actions transparent and above reproach. No prizes for understanding how careful Alyiakal has to be. He’s dodging the M’agi as much as he’s able.
I love that Modesitt’s male leads are always so careful and respectful of their leading lady. No means No!
Alyiakal and Saelora’s relationship develops despite various actions to take Alyiakal out altogether and the long times (sometimes years) between them seeing each other.
Another great tale about the early days of Recluse with characters I’ve become totally engaged with—as always!

A Tor ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher. show less

An engaging read that starts out as a coming-of-age fantasy and advances into something...else. It reminds me in places of Robert Jordan, Michael Moorcock, and Steven Erikson, yet has its own voice.

Modesitt gets a high score for his world building. The world of Recluce is wonderful and the surface is only scratched at here. I'm intrigued enough by this to read more in the series at some point. Since all but one of the 15 or so other books out there happen before this one, there's plenty of show more backstory to add to the world here.

I also enjoyed Modesitt's pace and style. He uses the first person narrative style as the story is revealed by the main character, Lerris. He's a young man learning his powers and his way in the world. He seems to start out as a typical Rand/Frodo/Richard Cypher/Luke Skywalker type but eventually matures into an interesting character in his own right. And he does this mostly by learning things for himself, rather than having a Gandalf figure to tell him what to do.

The magic system of Recluce is excellent. Basically, all of the magic is centered around the forces of order and chaos, and the manipulation or of keeping them up. This is where the Moorcock reminders are. I enjoyed seeing Lerris learn about the system and seeing it in practice from him and others utilizing it. The chaos-masters and order-masters, commanding the white of chaos and black of order fascinated me. I love the switch from typical by having white reprsent evil and black for good, though they're not quite as black and white (forgive the play on words) as that. Chaos leads to evil but isn't evil in and of itself. Same thing with order. The relationships and manipulations of chaos and order are what end up defining good and evil here.

There are some small breaks in the course of the novel where the author switches to a present tense third person and gives us hints as to other happenings away from Lerris. I had mixed feelings about those. While they were interesting and helped set up some of the big picture drama, they were too few and far between to really help the story that much. They were also pretty vague and honestly took away from some of the surprise later. It was a jolt in the narrative whenever one of these came up, both to switch into the third person and then back to Lerris's view. In my opinion, they should have been left out. Or, where there was something useful there, maybe it could have been told to Lerris by someone on the road. As far as giving the reader something that Lerris didn't know, that doesn't make sense in a first person story. There was a LOT going on that he didn't pick up all the details on, and that was fine. It added to the mystery of the world and story.

The other annoying thing wasn't as minor. In fact, it bugged the piss out of me and might have helped keep this book from a 5-star rating. The f**king sound effects! That was a narrative flaw that could very well get a book tossed into the burn pile. If this story wasn't as engaging as it was, that would have had me heading right back to the library to drop this thing in the overnight return.

Here's an example:

"Tharoom...thud...tharoom... Walking the white fir was walking across a massive drum. Antonin's coach must have vied with the real thunder when it rumbled across his bridge...Tharummmm...
Creaaakkkk...The heavy wooden gate, set on massive bronze hinges, eased open even more widely as I watched."

That's annoying. I felt like I was watching one of those old cheesy Batman television episodes. There are ways to describe sound without treating the reader like an idiot or make them feel like they're reading a comic book without pictures. Luckily he didn't really get rolling with this technique too early in the book, and by the time he did I was already hooked by the story. Otherwise it would have been "holy cheesy effects, Batman" and I would have moved on to something else. I was able to live with them eventually, my eyes blurring over and past to the real narrative beyond.

Overall, I give this book high points for the world building, the magic system, the characters, and the writing voice used by Modesitt over the course of most of the novel. I'm definitely interested in reading more books in the Recluce series, I'm just hoping he cuts back on the special effects. show less

Another riveting episode in the history of Cyador.

There are times when I wish I were not such a quick reader. Why? Because I truly think Modesitt’s works are to be savoured and reflected upon. Weaving the lines of connecting characters both major and minor are to be well explored. But alas, I become totally engrossed and couldn’t slow down. I needed to continue, to see what was around the corner.
After reading the chat forum on Modesitt’s home page my understanding deepened. Thank show more you!(https://www.lemodesittjr.com/2022/03/15/20022/ ) One member, Bill M. pointed out where Modesitt has cross referenced his new book “From the Forest” with Magi’i of Cyador where the Emperor Alyiakal is a footnote in the history books of Cyad.
“Despite his many successes in establishing the current borders of modern Cyador, and his formalization of the balanced power structure that has come to govern Cyador, he has become the “One Never to be Mentioned” among the Magi’i and Mirror Lancers of Cyad.” (Magi’i of Cyador XIII p.56)
I raced to hold the plot together, whilst continually wondering what would come next. When I arrived at the end I found myself desperate for the next book in the series, but settled for taking up a reread of the Magi’i of Cyad titles arc.
In ‘From the Forest’ Alyiakal is being tutored by a white mage in the hopes of him evincing some Magi’i aptitudes. His father is a Mirror Lancer Majer who has risen through the ranks. He hopes for more for his son. Alyiakal has some slight aptitude for healing. He’s grown up in Jakaafra, an area bordering the Accursed Forest. He’s interacted with the Forest and people who belong there. Does this awaken his senses? Maybe! It does make for very interesting suppositions.
During his Mirror Lance training, he studies with a healer who sees that he’s more than thought. The healer advises Alyiakal to strengthen his wards, even to develop wards within wards.
Whilst training as a Mirror Lancer Alyiakal befriends Hyrsaal. Hyrsaal suggests he correspond with his bored, much younger and inquisitive sister Saelora. They correspond over the years.
Alyiakal is eventually posted to an Undercaptain position in a remote area at Pemedra near the border with Kyphros, fighting barbarians.
At Pemedra, Alyiakal discovers a road of the First Ones that has been forgotten, or deliberately let slide from memory, and Kyphran raiders holding down ruins that First One’s machinery is hidden in.
Things become challenging. Alyiakal wonders if he’ll be conveniently killed or shipped off.
The ties between merchants, mirror lancers, and magi’i for many are those of greed and power. A far cry from what Alyiakal sees as his role.
On the more personal front, I love the deferential way Alyiakal interacts with Saelora who becomes a fully fledged merchanter. Something rare for a woman.
I absolutely loved From the Forest! This is the first episode of Alyiakal—of his journey somehow from Mirror Lancer to Emperor.
I couldn’t put it down! Another intriguing, full to over flowing, page turner from Modesitt!

A Tor ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher. show less

Gaslight fantasy slowly comes to the boil!

One man stands against the tide. Modesitt nails it as far as I can see. Modesitt’s voice is recognisable. As steam powered machinery displaces personnel, social unrest is not very far away. The tone and the belief that things can get better despite the way things are, flies in the face of the ‘what is.’ Corporations are busy gathering power. Self-interest is evident.
Stefan Dekkard and Avraal Ysella are now married and living with Avraal’s show more sister, Emrelda, a District Patroller, whose husband has gone missing, presumed dead.
“It’s been a long time, if ever, since the council has had an isolate councilor married to a powerful empath from a regal lineage, both of whom are experienced security aides.” People are nervous!
Dekkard, Avraal and Emrelsa go about their business in a regulated way. They have systems that help. The three don’t imbibe to freely. They have breakfast and when possible, dinner together either at home or more infrequently out. They are not lavish. The food is a central part of Modesitt’s novels; the coming together over a meal, the catchup on moments of the day. This says something about the author, this attention to detail.
And always we’re on edge, waiting for that moment when a simple person being on the street is more than that, where a vehicle might be out of place.
Dekkard, now a Councilor, has been given the task of drafting policy to reorganize the Security Ministry—an agency thats grown in power with little or no overriding authority. Deckkard makes changes in that process, but not quickly enough. Always we’re waiting for the other shoe to drop.
By grounding his story in a world where some people are Isolates and Empaths, we have a situation that fluctuates and yet calls for stability.
I found the exercising of steps to uncover who is answerable to whom slowing to a crawl except where it isn’t. Each “brick in the wall” uncovered is another minute move forward. Where have the unaccounted explosives, the dunnite, has gone and who is controlling the movement of assets? As Dekkard moves forward things happen. He’s like a dog with a bone, small moves that flush the aggressor out, never good for those around him, but necessary.
This slow inexorable march forward, of changes coming, is attractive. To stand still will not work. Change is the only way, but that change needs the will to stand against corrupt multinationals in an ordered way. Once again “order” raises its head.
I am puzzled by the book that Ingella Obreduur, Legaist and wife of Axel Obreduur has lent Dekkard and Avraal. I know it has purpose but just what it is I still have to get my head around. (There have been other series where a book has an important part.)
I am glued to Modesitt’s processes. When I came to the ending I immediately wanted more. I thirst for what Dekkard’s actions uncover, even as I mourn the loss of good people. I’m hooked!

A Macmillan-Tor/Forge ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change show less