Fall of Angels

This is my personal favorite of the Recluce novels. The science fiction to fantasy overlap done at the beginning is not a conceit that I particularly enjoy, but Modesitt moves past it quickly as he begins to tell the story of stranded crew of the Winterlance, a starship blasted into the unfamiliar world of Recluce. The bulk of the story is about the attempts of the Winterlance's captain and chief engineer, Ryba and Nylan, to (at times literally) carve out a home in a world that detests them because most of the crew are women.

Despite the numerous battles and the staggering death toll racked up, this is really a story about building. Constructing buildings, constructing a new way of life, and struggling with the elements and with show more themselves to survive in a foreign and hostile situation.

Of all the Recluce novels, and I own them all, this is the one that I have picked up the most often. show less

explains the origins of the Westwinds, from which Recluce was born. Quite interesting. A starship of women from another universe appears. Some appear to be able to use Order. One man, Nylan [the main character], is the Ordermaster of this story. He comes with the women. More whining and complaining about how he hates that force is necessary. Just refuses to accept that some people will only submit to a greater application of force. That is the main flaw with this series, in my opinion. Modesitt harps [and man, if he was a woman, I'd say she bitches] about this over and over and over. Every single novel. I like the storyline, but not that part of it. I'll keep reading, but no longer have any desire to try to buy these.

Fall of Angels is the only explicitly sci-fi book in the series (although, granted, the magic system may as well be sci-fi throughout, as rigorous as it is) and it's definitely more interesting for it. It sets up the female-dominated societies portrayed in later books as well as the background behind Westwind, which is critical later (earlier?) on.

That said, I'm only mildly fond of it. The lasers and spaceships don't really take up enough of the story to differentiate it, and while it has lots of the crafting porn I so inexplicably enjoy, it's not really enough to make this better than a middling Recluce adventure.

Prior to reading this book it had been a couple years since I had read the last book in the Saga of Recluce. After reading Fall of Angels though I think I will be reading the next one quite soon as this book reminded me of the many reasons I have enjoyed this author and series so far. Although this book is the sixth book in the series it is set earlier than the previous books. It is the origin of Westwind and those who rule it. The "Angels" of Westwind are actually the marooned crew of a military space vessel. They are of a culture where woman, not men, are dominant. Their arrival heralds the dawn of a new era for the world of Recluce and this novel tells of their early struggle against the elements and hostile natives. The story is show more told from the point of view of Nylan, a male, who was the engineer among the crew and becomes a black mage on recluce. Modesitt continues to impress me and I can't wait to read the next installment. show less

9/10
A thoroughly satisfying get entry in the Saga of Recluce, taking the reader back to the time when Westwind was settled by the survivors of an intergalactic battle. Here we get the apparent facts behind the Legend and the start of the Black Order.

Fall of Angels begins a SF story arc in a predominantly fantasy series. This is where the high-tech precursors of Recluce’s order mages become stranded on the world of Recluce and establish the matriarchal society at Westwind. The characters’ technical adaptations and achievements are interesting, and judging by the consistency of the chaos and order potential already showcased in this series, is not surprising that in this book and in The Chaos Balance (its chronological sequel) we receive a consistent SF account of how it came to be. The coherent system of ‘magic’ in the Recluce books is part of what makes it such a standout series for me.

Interesting but ultimately weak book. Apparently this is a prequel of a series of books about two warring groups. I though the premise was interesting: In some galaxy far away, a space ship caring a contingent of warriors is headed to a climatic space battle. Just as they arrive at the battle site, a huge explosion destroys all the warring ships, and forces the troop ship into an uncharted quadrant of the galaxy. Realizing they will never make it home, they search for a planet that can support their life.

They find such a planet, but find it is inhabited by a race of humans similar to themselves, but with only an 11th century culture and technology. With their superior weapons and technology, they are quickly able to carve out a space show more for themselves. But to their chagrin, they find that they are only warriors, and they have no knowledge or way to repair or replace their technology.

The story ends with the space warriors recruiting from the dissatisfied indigenous population, thus creating a new society that will continue to war with the indigenous power structure in future books.

I thought the premise was interesting, but the execution was weak. show less