The Magic Engineer

how the Black ships of Recluce came into being. Even though these stories seem to follow a VERY predictable pattern and the characters all start out stubborn and headstrong, I find myself staying up to read as much as I can. I like this series.

In some ways, I feel like I'm reading the same book over and over as I work my way through the Saga of Recluce. This is the third book in the series, although the published order does not follow the internal chronograph of Recluce and its world. Each book features a relatively young person who must, through assorted travels and travails, learn the lessons of the Balance between Order and Chaos. This book features a young smith who is also a healer. In addition to an overall engaging story, there is more information on smithing than I would ever need to know, just as the first book included information on woodworking.

I plan to read the rest of the Recluce books, but not without lots of other books in between to break up the sameness.

The Magic Engineer is also high up on my list of favorites in this series. It's particularly crafting-focused, as the title implies, and while occasionally my eyes glaze over at the detailed descriptions of blacksmithing, I enjoy the relatively sedate pace of the book and the main character's modest goals.

It's particularly interesting to read it back-to-back with Colors of White - both in how they match up and in how they differ. In particular the fact that CoW reveals that the true enemy is not who the "good guys" think it is is not all that well-supported - in fact it's pretty clearly a retcon - but it's also not contradicted.

Modesitt, L. E., Jr. The Magic Engineer. Saga of Recluse No. 3. Tor, 1995.
In L. E. Modesitt’s Recluse world, there are two sorts of magic, white and black. White magic is the magic of chaos and disorder. Black magic is the magic of order and healing. Into this world comes Dorrin, a healer who believes that “black iron” and machines can be elements of order. He is exiled from the black-magic centered island of Recluse to the mainland, where he combines his talents as a healer with blacksmithing and designing and building machines on sound engineering principles, to the consternation of wizards both white and black. Modesitt is a fine storyteller with a procrustean imagination. The Recluse series has been running now for more than a show more quarter century and as of 2019 comprised 21 volumes. So, if you need a fantasy series to rival Brandon Sanderson and Robert Jordan in scope, you could not do better than take yourself to the island of Recluse. show less

Almost didn't finish this. Same as the earlier books. Not sure if I have it in me to continue. Liked the first book in the series quite a lot but I'm not sure if the author is telling a story here or just typing words.

Good, but the first volume is the best.

SAGA OF RECLUCE