Fall of Angels [Hardcover]

L. E. Jr Modesitt (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates (1995)
• ASIN: B000HF5HBK
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,489,352 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

After spending years writing poetry, political speeches and analyses, as well as economic and technical reports on extraordinarily detailed and often boring subjects, I finally got around to writing my first short story, which was published in 1973. I kept submitting and occasionally having published stories until an editor indicated he'd refuse to buy any more until I wrote a novel. So I did, and it was published in 1982, and I've been writing novels -- along with a few short stories -- ever since.

If you want to know more, you can visit my website at www.lemodesittjr.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding & Enjoying the World of Recluse, November 15, 2000

By 

J. Bryant "t0problemsolver" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fall of Angels (Saga of Recluce) (Mass Market Paperback)

-L.E. Modesitt jr's Recluse series is a world of magic and balance. a world that will grab you and make you loss track of time as you are unable to put his Recluse books down. The author, recommends that you read his book in the order of they were published. If you are the person who likes to read the last 50 pages of a book first, and then skip around to different areas of the book as you read it through, then by all means, read the Recluse series in the order of publish. WAIT!..... If you are a reader who truly enjoys finding yourself part of the on going story, as read a series from the start of he story to its end. Then the Recluse series will grab you and not let you go until the conclusion of the series. L.E. Modesitt, jr. has written an 11 books series of the Recluse world so far. This author wrote the Magic of Recluse first. As be has published books, he has jumped around throughout the story time line of the world of Recluse, and put together books of set, and other single books, which he may add another book to that part of the story in a future published book. This author has written the story in books of set, that is the first three book of story: 1st book) "Fall of Angels", 2rd) "The Chaos Balance" & 3rd) "The Tower of the Sunset". Tells the birth and the destruction of kingdom of highly skilled warriors, with the third book leading into the creation of a new kingdom, (Recluse). Then the next book is, 4th book of the World of Recluse) "The Magic Engineer". Then Modesitt, jr. switches to the side of Chaos, and tells a story where the character's of Chaos will became heroes in your eyes too. So with time, you will gain a better understanding of the World of Recluse through the following books: 5th book) "The White Order", & 6th book) "the Color of Chaos". The next set of books that go together in the World of Recluse, are: 7th book) "The Order War", 8th book) "The Magic of Recluse", & the 9th book) "The Death of Chaos". As for the last two book that the author has written, he has drifted into the life of some of the troops found in the World of Recluse. My $0.02 worth.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The beginning of the blend, February 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Fall of Angels (Saga of Recluce) (Mass Market Paperback)

If you have yet to experience Modesitt's Recluce Series then this book is the perfect place to start. Fall of Angels is the first book in the timeline of the story, and is consistent in its approach to the rest of the series. What Modesitt does that few other writers can or will, is blend science fiction and fantasy together, and it is in this book where this is most easily seen, for the survivors from the spaceship must learn to adapt from a universe where science rules to one in which magic is the master. Modesitt also focuses in depth on one particular character in each of his books, and what this does besides add to character development in general, is let the reader see and feel what it is like to be a blacksmith or a carpenter. Other fantasys use these occupations as a general piece of the setting, but Modesitt seems to have a firm grasp of the importance people place on what they do, especially in a society in which work is still done on a hands on basis and not on an assembly line. In this book, we see the character of Nylan up close, who apparently in addition to being an inventor, engineer, blacksmith, and carpenter, is also the founder of the order of black mages. What we see in this character is a scientist, not one in a futuristic setting, but one who must learn to do things that we take for granted even today. What this book does not make as clear as the others in the series is the role that chaos and order play. The reason for this is, of course, that Nylan is just learning how to use Order. But even here one can begin to see how different this series is. Modesitt takes Order and Chaos, two scientific concepts, and through the use of his blending of science fiction and fantasy, turns them into magical concepts. This is more realistic than the normal antithesis between good and evil, and allows the characters to have more depth. If you're a fantasy lover and want something different than this book is for you.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Saga Begins, May 22, 2010

By 

Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fall of Angels (Saga of Recluce) (Mass Market Paperback)

Fall of Angels (1996) is the sixth Fantasy novel in the Recluce Saga, following The Death of Chaos. By internal chronological order, this novel is the first in the series. It tells the story of the origins of the black mages.

In this novel, Ryba is the Captain of the United Faith Forces' frigate Winterlance. She had been raised by the Sybran nomads, where women fought and commanded.

Nylan is the engineering officer of the Winterlance.

Ayrlyn is the communications officer of the Winterlance.

In this story, Ryba is leading two other frigates against a Demon outpost. The destroyers in the first wave have all been wiped out and the other two frigates are failing. Even though the heavy cruiser line is now attacking, the Demon beams remain focused on the Winterlance.

The shields are being overloaded, even at emergency power levels. Then the Demon nexus point collapses and fundamental chaos slams into the Winterlance. The ship is sucked through a dark funnel into red-tinged whiteness framed with black order.

When Nylan recovers consciousness, the Winterlance is near a water world with signs of habitation. He notices that the ship fusactors are dead. The firin cells are discharging at half their normal rate.

Instrument readings convince Nylan that the ship is within another universe. Apparently fusactors don't work in the new milieu. They will have to abandon the Winterlance or die with her.

The world is much hotter than their own planet. After discussing their options, Ryba decides to land on a northern continent amid mountains. At least the weather will be properly chilly, unlike the hot lowlands.

On the world below, a white wizard screes the coming of the frigate crew. His master spurns his findings as nonsense. The wizard smiles at the thought of what is coming.

Nylan pilots the first lander. It ships off the atmosphere twice and then starts down. Turbulence starts shaking the wings, so Nylan tries to imagine the flow smoothing out. The chattering stops.

Nylan drops his lander into a short alpine meadow. It skids a long way before finally stopping. The other landers follow the beacon that he raises.

A third white wizard comes to scree the encampment. The master doesn't understand why they think the strangers flew down to the world. The other two just shrug and continue their observations.

Nylan is doing the prep work for a tower when the locals show up in force. The Angel marines are digging a ditch to divert water from the stream. But their squad leader sets up crossfire sniper positions.

The locals appear to be human. They are lead by a man clad in purple. A white wizard rides with them.

After a brief noncommunication, the locals charge and the marines shoot them out of their saddles. Then the white wizard throws a firebolt. Only a handful of the locals -- including the wizard -- gets away.

Ryba orders the marines to gather the horses and to collect any worthwhile goods from the bodies. She has them save some of the dead horses for food. Then she has her women bury the dead.

This tale lands the Winterlance crew on an involuntary colony of Demons. The Demons have been onplanet for a couple of centuries. Now these heredity enemies are trapped on the same world.

The Demons are highly patriarchal. They also don't believe women can be warriors. The locals keep losing battles, but never really learn the lesson that such women are deadly.

This story sets the stage for the Recluce series. The next installment is The Chaos Balance, which continues the story of Nylan and Ayrlyn. Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Modesitt fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of magical powers, armed conflict and determined women. If anyone is not familiar with this series, the initial volume is The Magic of Recluce.

-Arthur W. Jordin