Customer Reviews

Scion of Cyador: The New Novel in the Saga of Recluce

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This follow up to Magi'i of Cyador is simply outstanding. The poetry and logic which coexist harmoniously throughout this book are a constant source of inspiration that offers the reader a chance for thoughtful meditation on larger issues which this story addresses. For me, this speaks to the superb quality of the author's skill and his intelligence that simply pours off the pages and into one's consciousness.

The stilted style of speaking by the characters is so necessary to the overall meaning of the cold, logical thinking by these descendents of the "rational stars" and the omnipresence of the magi'i who colonized this fictional world. Part of the chilling power of this tale is that which is exercised by the magi'i who control everyone through their occult chaos power and the threat of chaos screeing glasses that offer little if any freedom or privacy throughout Cyad and Candar. It gives a real clear picture of what a "big brother" looking over one's shoulder might be and it is scary.

The softer side of the hero Lorn is almost too good to be true, and yet, he is a cold blooded killer and defender of the land and its people. His trials and tribulations are immense and he is able to survive through his intellect and tactical cleverness as an officer of the Mirror Lancers. His consort Ryalth has a much more active presence in this book which is a welcome shift from the blood and gore battles although there are plenty of those too. The addition of an infant son adds a very nice human dimension that one can relate to even during the heat of the power struggles between the merchant factions, the Lancers on the make for promotion and the magi'i who seek even greater control as the chaos towers begin to fail one after another. After all he has been through as a Mirror Lancer, Lorn receives a well deserved reward, and I hope that Modesitt continues this series wherein he tells about Lorn's reign and the machinations of those who would challenge his power and I for one would like to see how he develops as a mage, man, husband, father and emperor. All in all for this reviewer it was a terrifically rewarding read.

The Scion of Cyador is another hit for Modesitt. I was unable to put it down. Modesitt continues the tale of Lorn in this sequel to Magi'i of Cyador. Modesitt fills in more of the history of Candor and deals again with the themes of power and action. I would strongly recommend this book to those following the Saga of Recluce or who have not. This pair of books even stands well by themselves for the 10th and 11th books in a series. All the elements of an excellent novel are present well rounded characters, solid descriptions, good dialog and a strong plot.

Book 11 of the Saga of Recluse

This eleventh Recluse novel is a direct sequel to Magi'i of Cyador and is more a continuation of that story than a sequel. The book continues to follow Lorn, an officer in Cyador's Mirror Lancers. Chronologically, this is the second book in the Recluse series and is still a good 400 years before the events in Fall of Angels. Lorn begins the story as Over-Captain of a port city. As with all of his postings, Lorn is assigned it so that he may fail and be killed. Lorn has been given the most difficult assignments that exist in Cyador. He was a student Magus, but his aptitude led him to be assigned to the Lancers. Those in power in Cyador find Lorn to be a potential threat, but Lorn keeps surviving by being smarter, luckier, and more ruthless than those who oppose him, and so he works his way up the chain of command of the Mirror Lancers.

If Magi'i was more of an action/adventure book with some intrigue, Scion is the opposite. Sure, there is action, and battles, but this book deals more with political intrigue and moral decisions (and ambivalence) and political infighting. Lorn has to play the game in order to survive, all the while he only wants to stay alive and be with his merchanter consort, Ryalth. As Lorn's fortunes rise in the Mirror Lancers, so does Ryalth's success with the Ryalor trading house. Because she is a lady trader, she is also not completely accepted by the current powers in Cyador. Lorn would, and does do everything he can protect himself, his family and especially Ryalth. This does not exclude murder...he views it more as pre-emptive self defense rather than cold blooded murder, but Lorn does what he feels he has to do. He isn't quite as much of a sympathetic protagonist as is Lerris or Creslin, but he is still in their mold.

As the novel progresses, the stakes keep raising as Lorn gains military rank and as the current emperor is closer to dying. His battles get tougher, larger, and carry much greater risk to his life, his career, and to Cyador. The novel follows the logical progression of Lorn's career and everything that happens feels like that is the logical next step. Part of the reason for that is probably because of the nature of the Recluse series. Each protagonist is put in very similar circumstances to other protagonists in the series. They do exactly what needs to be done to survive, are called Cold-Blooded because the do so, and end up doing similar actions in their quest to survive and have a quiet life. Lerris, Creslin, Justin, and Nylan are all very similar to Lorn in this way. Modesitt's novels are very formulaic in that manner. If you try to read them all in a row, they become very tiresome because you are really reading the same exact story being told over and over again. However, if you read a book or two and take a break for several months before continuing with the series, you may find Recluse easier to digest. Recluse remains one of my favorite series (Though not the best), but I have come to understand that it is best to read the books in small chunks rather than in one big piece.

I really enjoyed reading this book and its really on a 5-star caliber, but I just can't help being a little frustrated at how repeptitive Modesitt is, not only throughout the series, but also within this one book. I mean, how many times do you have to describe how much Lorn loves the Pearapple tarts and does he really need to read the same five poems over and over again?? Even still, I'd give this one 4.5 stars because this really is a great story that was a lot of fun to read. Lorn and the other characters are really great and the whole land of Cyador with all of its political factions, secrecy, and plotting makes up to a very believable and exciting world. I'd reccomend this one but remember to read the Magi'i of Cyador first (you don't need to read the rest of the series though and actually these two would be a pretty good place to begin).

As a child of the 60's, I love rock and roll music. But, as much as I love the old songs, I cringe when I see the old rock bands, still touring, singing exactly the songs, note for note, word for word, and gesture for gesture. And as much as I like the saga of Recluce, and the depth of the world that Modessit has created, there's a sense of seeing the same old band, singing the same old song. Through 12 novels now.

The book is interesting, the characters are interesting - Ryalth, the consort of Lorn, the protagonist, is a compelling female - but the plot is _Colors of Chaos_ all over again, set about 200 years after the arrival of colonists from the Rational Stars, the bad guys in _The Chaos Balance_. Folks who have read _The White Order_ and _The Colors of Chaos_ will be able to predict exactly what happens.

Recluce is well-conceived world. Modessit has important things to say about good and evil, power and responsibility, and duty. But he needs to develop some new plots.

When you consider that all of the stories so far have only involved one continent and one large island (with a brief interlude in Hamor in one book), well, either Modessit will find a new plot line or his audience will get thinner. One new plot might explain why, seemingly, the casualties of both sides in an interstellar war in a different (?) universe keep getting stranded on the same backwater world.

Read this book for the additional insights on the history of Candar and Recluce, but don't expect much else new.

Modesitt has clearly got a bee in his bonnet about ideas of government and judicious use of power. In both this newest installment of the Recluse books and in the newest Spellsong Cycle book the plot seems to get lost in all the illustration of political ideology.

To wit-- a good man is forced to use power even in unpleasant ways in order to prevent more bloodshed later. People who cannot see this are either corrupt, too weak, or somehow dependant on the social order remaining as it is.

I like Modesitt's writing. I really really really do. But if there isn't some sea change soon, then I will stop buying them new no matter how good the craft behind them.

This is the sequel to Magi'i of Cyador.

I gave that book 5 stars, and award this one the same score because it fulfilled the promise of the first without a drop in quality, and winds the story up in a satisfying manner. Please see my review of the first book for basic plot details.

I agree with many of the other reviewers that the author has a recipe and certain themes that he repeats. It just happens that I like this recipe, and there are enough differences to keep my interest. I found these two books to be among the stongest of the Recluce series because, in part, they contain the theme of trying to delay "The Fall of Empire, Civilization and the World as We Know It".

Thus, the protagonist is far less interested in doing what is right or moral or good, than he is in doing whatever is necessary to achieve his objective.

That makes for more action, less angsting, and better reading.

According to the title page of this book, it was edited by David G. Hartwell. Hartwell should be ashamed of himself. In the edition I have of this novel, I found more spelling, grammar and wording errors than I have EVER found in any other mass market paperback novel! I encountered sentences where common words were misspelled. I encountered sentences where the wording made no sense, or words were just flat out missing!

It wasn't bad enough to hinder my enjoyment of the story, and in all fairness I doubt very many people caught most of the errors. But the job of the editor is supposed to be to catch these types of writing flaws, hopefully BEFORE the novel goes to print! What is really shocking is that these errors are still in print in the mass market paperback edition of this novel. I might be able to forgive this if I had encountered these errors in a first printing hard back edition -- but I mean come on! The copy I have is dated December 2001 -- so it is possible that later printings of this novel may have fixed these problems.

Be all that as it may, I still greatly enjoy the Magic of Recluse series. A lot of reviewers here are griping about a tired plot line or formulaic writing, and I can see their point of view. But I still think these novels are an interesting read -- and what is even more impressive is that Modesitt doesn't write his novels at an 8th grade level -- he writes them on a level akin to a high school senior, or even a freshman in college.

The writing is intricate, the vocabulary is verbose and the plot lines are tangled and sneaky. Unlike some other authors I could name, Modesitt doesn't spell out plot developments for the reader, he hints at them and expects the reader to piece everything together. His writing is definitely not passive entertainment.

The only major gripe I have about this series (and this is really just a matter of preference) is that I wish the books had been published in chronological order. It is sometimes neat to start in the "present" then work one's way back in time, but in this case -- with so many books in the series -- I think it would have worked better in chronological order, but that is just me.

The Recluce series is a great read. This book is midway in the series. I'd recommend that you start with book 1 The Magic of Recluce. If you like Scifi Fantasy, you'll enjoy this series.

What can I say, I am a HUGE Recluse Saga fan. I think the books in the series are excellent and I love the flowing writing style. These are those books that you read and can't put down. I have often come to the end of a chapter and needed to go to bed or go do something else, and been so "into" the story that I had to start the next chapter. This Saga will capture you.

The books can be read out of order but some books in the series are sequential - the first book starts a story about a given character, the next book in the sequence finishes off that story. Be sure to read the first of these to start. Other books in the series are stand alone and can be read solo. But trust me, it would be VERY tough to read only one book in this series.

Some series have great "re-read" value and I hold this Recluse Saga as one of my most "re-read" ever. Some of these I have read 4 or 5 times and still enjoy them and have trouble putting them down. From Karl the cooper to Rahl and his issues, the characters in these books come alive and we get real buy-in to what happens to them.

Do yourself a favor and pick up a couple of the Recluse Saga books. You won't be disappointed.