Customer Reviews

Arms-Commander (Saga of Recluce)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is a continuation of the story line of the Chaos Balance, where Nylan and Arylyn saved Lornth from the Cyadorian's. It begins back on the roof of the world from the view point of Sarryn, the arms commander of Westwind. Also an officer who used the neuro-net on board the angel spacecraft, Sarryn begins to discover she has order-chaos powers too, that are somewhat different than those of the other angel officers. She is pushed by external threats and politics from Westwind into Lornth, where she must hold the country together using her growing magical prowess, the martial abilities of westwind guards, and her ability to predict and counter the plots of her enemies. Besides all of the action, Modesitt tries to ask and answer a number of moral and social questions, such as if it's justified to change cultural beliefs through the use of force. A fan of Modesitt's earlier work will definitely want to add this to his or her collection.

Something else worth mentioning, this was the first recluce book with a female as the protagonist. This may have been a cause of concern for some, but Modesitt pulled it off quite well.

One of the things I love about Modesitt's Recluce series, is his ability to revisit, and plumb new depths of the history, filling in more detail by virtue of showing new characters, or older characters in new light. If one is not already familiar with the Recluce series, there may be some bits that are either confusing, or perhaps would not resonate to the reader as they might with a fan of the series. And while this is the sixteenth book in the series, it might be useful to understand that the series is not written chronologically, and that Modesitt often sets novels in vastly different historical (for the world of Recluce) periods such that you wouldn't need to have read all the others prior to this one to enjoy it. It's a layering, and if you have experienced the other works you will likely note interesting tidbits that can explain or expand a reader's perspective of events that take place in the other novels.

In Arms-Commander, the viewpoint shifts to Sayrn, the Arms-Commander of Westwind and one of the original Angels who came from beyond the Rational stars. Chronologically speaking this is, I believe, the fifth book in the series taking place shortly after The Fall of Angels, and The Chaose Balance. At first we return to the setting of Westwind itself on the Roof of the World. It is ten years since Nylan has left, and we see that Westwind has become a haven for women, particularly the abused, and disgruntled women who do not like their lot in life among the heavily mysogynistic territories that border Westwind. They literally struggle to keep their place, a home where women can live freely, rule over their own lives, or even over the fate of men. Soon, however, we follow the adventures of Saryn as she takes a force of Westwind guards into Lornth, at first to negotiate and inform the regent, herself the wife of the man who last tried to lead the failed assault on Westwind, and mother of the young man who would one day lead the country. The primary conflict here is that of a futuristic societal norm, IE equality, being forced up against a overly slanted patriarchy that seems all too well aware of the idea that it is a patriarchy and that it feels a need to keep the women down. For me, this felt at times over the top, pushing in some places even beyond what seemed plausible. It felt artificial to me, how strongly against women living free of oppressive rule seemed to me. I got a sense that there might have been some kind of historical justification underlying it, but the reasons were never well explored nor came to light. I found it almost impossible to accept the idea that regent would even have been given such an important role, especially with the grandfather still alive, that it made much of the irrational attitude towards women seem unbelievable to me.

The counter to that, the women's attitude toward protecting their place and space within the world, was successfully convincing. I could quite easily imagine someone who came from a futuristic, equalitarian society would fight tooth and nail not to have themselves or their descendents forced into subservience based soley upon their gender. Overall, the book is enjoyable, though perhaps not quite as strong as some others in the series. It is a solid action book, with a lot more direct war and conflict than many in the series, though with a main character whose job it is to train and command troops, this is perhaps not at all surprising. The role Saryn plays in the history, is intriguing, and I look forward to wherever else Modesitt chooses to take the series.

For the second time - for the first time in the Saga of Recluce - Modesitt tries on a female protagonist. He did it earlier in The Lord-Protector's Daughter (Corean Chronicles), set in a different series. That first effort was a little embarrassing. This time Modesitt does a much better job of making his female real. And manages a very thorough job of establishing The Legend.

Events begin about ten years after the events of The Chaos Balance (Saga of Recluce), about 1,450 years before "present" events in Recluce. Westwind, the small colony of women at the crest of the mountains of the continent of Candar, remains under siege by the unrelentingly misogynic lords of the surrounding country. Saryn, the Arms Commander of Westwind - and former pilot of the space cruiser Winterlance - is dispatched with a small force to Lornth, Westwind's nearest neighbor. Lornth is governed by a regency, and is under attack from without and within. Saryn is drawn into those battles, and must deal with the treachery of most of the Lord Holders, the scheming Suthyans and the barbarian Jeryani.

In some ways, this is the same story Modesitt has told in most Recluce novels: the protagonist discovering his/her order/chaos powers, facing increasingly narrow choices and ever more difficult challenges. And after dozens of novels, Modesitt still remains purely incapable of writing a romantic scene. But I'll give this effort four stars. Saryn is a credible woman. Modesitt does a really nice job with The Legend, the Westwind heresy (in Candar terms) that a woman can fight, rule and be the equal of a man. He also ties the events here into earlier novels, some of which deal with events much later in time. Among other things, we learn why Lornth doesn't appear on the maps of Candar. And it may not be for the reason you think.

A good addition to the Saga of Recluce; a very good addition to The Legend. Perhaps not the starting place for those new to Recluce, but strongly recommended to fans.

I've read all of the Recluse series and when this one came out I bought it as well. Overall, it is fairly consistent with what you'd expect and fills in a piece of history in a fairly predictable way for the Recluse Universe. It is the first female protagonist for Modesitt, so that was a bit different though she behaves in a similar manner to virtually all the protagonists (powerful, reluctant, but extremely competent and ultimately willing to make the hard choices). Would have been interesting to see a more feminine perspective given the time period, but then Saryn is a nontraditional woman (arms commander). If you like Modesitt, you'll like this, but nothing ground breaking or earth shattering here.

As most of you know, I've been a fan of L. E. Modesitt, jr.'s Recluce saga since the early 90s. Though I've enjoyed every installment, my favorites remain Fall of Angels and The Chaos Balance. Both deal with the mythology of Recluce, and the blend of fantasy and science fiction found in these two novels always scratched my itch. If you have never read anything by Modesitt, you might want to begin with these two Recluce books. They might be a bit easier to get into than the others.

Anyway, I was quite excited when I learned that the author would write another installment set in the far past of Recluce. Unfortunately, my reading schedule did not permit me to reread Fall of Angels and The Chaos Balance. Yet that did not take anything away from the overall reading experience, other than perhaps missing a few details and nuances.

Here's the blurb:

Arms-Commander takes place ten years after the end of The Chaos Balance and tells the story of the legendary Saryn. The keep of Westwind, in the cold mountainous heights called the Roof of the World, is facing attack by the adjoining land of Gallos. Arthanos, son and heir to the ailing Prefect of Gallos, wishes to destroy Westwind because the idea of a land where women rule is total anathema to him.

Saryn, Arms-Commander of Westwind, is dispatched to a neighboring land, Lornth, to seek support against the Gallosians. In the background, the trading council of Suthya is secretly and informally allied with Gallos against Westwind and begins to bribe lord-holders in Lornth to foment rebellion and civil war. They hope to create such turmoil in Lornth that the weakened land will fall to Suthya. But Zeldyan, regent of Lornth, has problems in her family. To secure Zeldyan's aid, Saryn must pledge her personal support--and any Westwind guard forces she can raise--to the defense of Zeldyan and her son. The fate of four lands, including Westwind, rests on Saryn's actions.

The worldbuilding is an interesting aspect, for it allows readers to discover how Saryn's involvement in protecting the regency culminated in drastic changes throughout Lornth, shaping that country into what it will become in later years. And just as Nylan changed the face of Candar when he faced the might of Cyador, Saryn's coming down from Tower Black and the Roof of the World will echo down the centuries.

The characterization would probably have benefited from more POV characters. Saryn, regardless of the fact that she is a three-dimensional character, is a bit too aloof to carry the weight of this story. Not that she isn't an interesting character in her own right, and Saryn does stay true to herself, but witnessing the events unfold through the eyes of other characters might have given Arms-Commander more emotional impact.

The pace was also an issue at times. I feel that too much "air time" was given to the various confrontations with the recalcitrant lord-holders. A number of those clashes could have taken place behind the scenes, which would have sped up the rhythm of the novel.

Feminism and the emancipation of women continue to be two very important themes, and you find them underlying every facet of the narrative. The dedication on the first page reads:

«For all the women cursed as tyrants in getting the job done when their male
counterparts are only considered tough.»

Still, the pace is a minor issue that didn't diminish my reading pleasure. All in all, Arms-Commander is another solid effort by Modesitt, one that should please long-time fans. Here's to hoping that we'll have the opportunity to read more about the Angels and how their coming changed the world forever.

If you've read more than one book by L.E. Modesitt, Jr., then you've probably noted that he has a fairly standard formula for his hero's journey and this book was no exception.

That being said, it was still very well crafted with a different application of Recluse's magic and telling the story of the founding of one of the major powers/countries that appear in the other novels. It also seems to have given him a few new places to insert more stories into the world of Recluse.

I don't know if another novel has been annouced, but I'm betting that Modesitt will be releasing a sequel to the Arms-Commander in the next year or two.

All in all, an enjoyable read and another great chapter in the Saga of Recluse!

I am a huge fan of the author's work, but this one fell a little short for me. I am usually drawn deeply into the plots and characters in the Recluse series, but this time I did not feel much for either the main character or the overall story. This book felt a lot like The Towers of Sunset to me, the only other book that I would rate at 3 stars by this author. This book will fill historical gaps in the Recluse saga, but in reading this book I felt more more like I was skimming a history book rather than feeling like I was living the history with the main character as is usually the case with Modesitt. The best judge for me was the fact that it took me 2 weeks to read this book, while most of the time I crank through a Reculse book in a couple of days. If this is the first Modesitt book you have read, please don't judge the author on this work alone. He is a fantastic writer and I cannot recommend his others works strongly enough.

I have read--and thoroughly enjoyed--ALL of the other books in the series and looked forward to devouring this latest installment of the Recluse saga, only to be sorely disappointed. The book is typical for the series in that it deals largely with the growing realization of order/chaos skills by the protagonist. Where it diverges is in the thin storyline and its inability to retain the reader's interest to the end.

Yes, all men are evil and the world isn't fair. Got it the first time the heroine encountered it. By the fourth time of beating the reader over the head with this theme I started counting the remaining pages. At about the sixth I couldn't care less what happened to Saryn, because the story seemed to take a back seat to The Message. Sayrn can battle injustice without the need to inject the equivalent of INJUSTICE HERE! signs throughout the text.

Previous works provided a rich set of circumstances that wove the challenges and obstacles into a story that progressed the characters along a path of personal growth. That simply didn't happen here.

I'm a fan of most of the Recluce books. This book was bad on many levels. The plot, which is usually a strong point, felt circumstantial and superficial. Character development did not exist, and previously established characters like Ryba ended up feeling like caricatures of their former selves. I found several problems with the writing itself: word repetition, grammar, dialogue could have all been improved. Overall, a very disappointing read.

As an addition to the Recluce series, I don't really have anything bad to say about Arms-Commander. It's nice to see my favorite period in the Recluce timeline revisited, and it's very nice to see a female lead character in this series.

"Arms-Commander" is a quasi-sequel to "Fall of Angels" and "The Chaos Balance." It takes place a few years after the latter, and moves the character of Saryn (the second-in-command of the Angel forces) from a supporting role to the lead. A few years after "The Chaos Balance," everything in Lornth is in turmoil and Saryn has to sort it out before it becomes a danger to Westwind. If you've taken a look at the Recluce map and noted some homophonous place names, you might have a decent idea how this ends, but the way Modesitt gets Saryn from Point A to Point B is entertaining.

One thing I do want to mention, though, is the format of the e-book. While not an unmitigated disaster like the Kindle version of Modesitt's "Wellspring of Chaos,", there are a few minor things that keep cropping up. The first letter of the first word of each chapter is on its own line, some words are unnecessarily hyphenated, and so on. I realize these are fairly minor complaints (again: nowhere near as bad as "Wellspring of Chaos"), but a professionally-produced commercial e-book should be better than this.