Customer Reviews

Fall of Angels

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

-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.

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.

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

This is the first book I have read in the Recluce series and it certainly will not be my last. Modesitt's Fall of Angels is a Science Fiction Fantasy that delivers a descriptive methodical account of a technologically advanced militaristic space force (Angels) that becomes marooned on a less advanced planet. The story is told from the perspective of Nylan; the engineer of the space ship Winterlance. His transition from using "the net" of the Winterlance to using "the local net" of the planet on which he and his comrades are marooned is a central theme within the story. Through his ability to harness this ability of "order", the Angels have a chance to survive a very hostile environment filled with local kingdoms ruled by lords and their white wizards of chaos. The story is filled with stories of heroism and survival and infused with statements of moral and social issues that can can certainly be applied to todays modern society. Though a bit slow in spots, Mr. Modesitt does not let the reader down when it counts. I walked away from Fall of Angels very satisified. Fall of Angels is a book that can stand on its own and I will always consider it a classic in my library.

The Fall of Angels chronicles the arrival of the Angels on the world of Recluce, the founding of Westwind, and the birth of the Legend. The book follows the same general theme as most of the previous books, with an Order-mage/engineer forging weapons with which to defend against the forces of Chaos. I really liked the characters in the book, and Modesitt brings out his best a far as dialogue and character interaction.
While the book was really fun to read and and the story line progressed smoothly and quickly, I thought that it was very predictable (thus the sub 5-star rating). I mean, considering the fact that the reader knows that Westwind survives and that the Legend lives on, there weren't really too many possible outcomes for this one. Also, with Ryba's foresight, she kept predicting occurances that would come later in the book. I'd really be interested in reading more about Heaven itself.

This book, along with "The Chaos Balance", are the only two books I would recommend to anyone who is interested in the Recluse Series. Although the same main character type is used once again in these two books (Fall of Angles and The Chaos Balance) as in the rest of the series, the background information and the supporting characters make these two books enjoyable. Especially when comparing the leader of the Angels (Ryba) against the leader of Lornth (Sillik).

The only major fault I have with series, is the lack of maps. The same map is provided to the reader in all of the hard-cover books of this series. Unfortunately, all the different books deals with different historical times of this imaginary world. Thus it is frustrating for the reader to keep track of the main character as he sojurns across the continent of Candar (Candar is where the majority of the stories takes place). If the publisher had read any of the books, he/she would have realized that the names of the countries and towns do not always match the names shown on the map. This is especially egregious in a series where each book represents a different historical period of time. Hint - Names of cities and countries changes as they are either destroyed or absorbed by other civilizations.

Another fine book in the Saga of Recluce series. It is the story of the Angels and how they carved a niche on the Roof of the World. Personally, I got hooked into the book by the origin of the Angels. I was truely interested in their war against the deamons and in the structure of how their two societies were set up. Unfortunately, that is the first chaper or three. From there it became a survival story on the planet. Which all in all isn't bad, but the ending left me wanting more. To me there are issues between many of the characters that need to be resolved. Especially the Men vs. Women in society. It needed to be resolved for better or worse. I know the next book is out already. I hope it answers the question I have. With the quirky references to some of the other stories, it was a fun read. The unresolved tensions kept me going through the book. It is also a good place to start if you are new to the series

This book is probably the riskiest read for sci-fi buffs that HATE fantasy, such as myself.

Don't ask, just read it.

Prepare to hunt down ALL copies of the series.

I have read this book 4 TIMES.

I have read EVERY book in the series 3 times.

In publication order, once.

In chronological order, twice.

THIS is the core book in the series, as it is constantly referred to in all the rest. These events, and characters, have turned into myths in the series, which spans nearly 2000 years.

You have been warned.

This story was good but strange at the same time. There is not that much to the story itself. It didn't add that much to the Recluce series. Yes it explained some things, but this book is mostly about work and building things. I don't know why, but I just kept reading and reading and reading....

I thought that I had read all of the Recluce novels when I recently bought the ARMS COMMANDER, but found that some of the pieces of the story line were missing. From another review on Amazon, I discovered that FALL OF ANGELS followed by THE CHOAS BALANCE are prequels to it. Read as a trilogy, these novels tell a good story. If I had never read any of the Recluce novels, I'm not sure if FALL OF ANGELS would have inspired me to read more. However, for fans of the series, or for someone who has picked up ARMS COMMANDER, these novels as a set are a necessary read, and combined, make a very enjoyable read. My only complaint is that FALL OF ANGELS is not available on the Kindle.