White Order (Saga of Recluce 08) [Paperback]

L E Modesitt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 6, 1999 | Series: Saga of Recluce 08

L.E.Modesitt's bestselling fantasy novels set in the magical world of Recluce are among the most popular in contemporary fantasy. THE WHITE ORDER is the story of Cerryl, a boy orphaned when the powerful white mages killed his amateur-magician father. Cerryl, raised by his aunt and uncle, is a curious boy, attracted to mirrors and books. The miller's daughter teaches Cerryl to read his father's books, and it seems that the talent for magic has been passed from father to son. When Cerryl and the miller witness a white mage destroy a renegade magician, the miller realises that he can no longer keep the boy safe. So Cerryl is sent to the city of Fairhaven to finds his destiny: To become one of the great magicians of his age.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In this author's popular Recluce fantasies--beginning with The Magic of Recluce--the classic theme of youngsters growing to adult power and responsibility is repeatedly retold in terms of magic skill. Past books focused on the apparent good guys--"black" magicians who use order-magic (cooling, healing, strengthening) and constantly oppose the White Order of chaos wizards whose talent is fire and dissolution. Young hero Cerryl has a natural bent for chaos, and for him the Whites offer the only game in town. Painfully, he learns about balance: order-magic can be deviously used for destruction, chaos can cleanse and anyway requires order-control if it's not to destroy the user. This moves interestingly away from simplistic "black is good, white is bad" magical color-coding ... but although Cerryl is a decent, ethical white wizard, the Order remains unpleasantly tyrannical--for example, an instant life sentence of slave labor for the equivalent of expired license plates. The magic training is interesting if repetitive (apprentices practice firebolts by zapping blockages in the public sewers), but Modesitt's real story lies in waiting for Cerryl to become a full mage of the Order and perhaps confront its injustices in the massive sequel, Colors of Chaos. --David Langford, Amazon.co.uk --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly

The prolific and popular fantasy author adds to his Recluce series (The Chaos Balance, etc.), with this entry tracing the rise of an orphan, Cerryl, to powerful magicianship. That's a venerable concept, but Modesitt keeps it fresh with crisp characters and a consistent, well-detailed setting. The magical system employed here features white chaos magic, somehow connected to the colors of light, and the magic of order, which is black and associated with cold iron. The background is medieval EuropeanAlargely preliterate, with guilds and apprenticeshipsAbut Modesitt uses historical details to create a vivid, realistic culture instead of a stereotyped fantasy world. Cerryl's apprenticeships in a wood mill and, later, to a scrivener lend depth to his ensuing, more magical, adventures. Like many fantasy heroes, Cerryl is virtuous but has unusual magical potential, leading to opportunities but also to problems, especially from jealous apprentices or mages of the White Order. The theme of power, including its uses and misuses, and its various forms, magical, political and sexual, runs throughout the book. As the novel widens its focus from Cerryl's education to his involvement with war, intrigue and assassination, it becomes more colorful but less original. Still, Modesitt provides the requisite adventure and wizardry, plus people and places that are as true as they are magical. Author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 566 pages
• Publisher: Orbit (May 6, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857238435
• ISBN-13: 978-1857238433
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,597,822 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

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars kind of a rambling review, July 7, 1999

By 

cleverjake (Vallejo, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The White Order (Saga of Recluce/L. E. Modesitt) (Hardcover)

An interesting departure from the earlier Saga of Recluce stories, as Cerryl is the first White to be a protagonist in the series. It might have been more of a departure, however, had Modesitt chosen to write about, say, Jeslek (the ending of such a story would necessarily be abrupt). Cerryl is really little different from Modesitt's Black heroes of earlier books. If the point is to show that Order and Chaos are basically the same, I think it might be better to have a Black villain in one of the stories. The Blacks of Recluce may be harsh and unfair, shortsighted, and perhaps even corrupt, but never evil. Enough on my first point. There are a lost of loose ends in this story, but so far Modesitt has tied up every loose end or hint of a story in a future book (and since this book has a sequel, I don't imagine that will change). All in all, one of the better installments in the Saga of Recluce (considering The White Order, Fall of Angels, etc., perhaps the series needs to be renamed).

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The White Order, February 13, 2000

By 

Mat Deem - See all my reviews

This review is from: The White Order (Saga of Recluce) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was great. I loved the emphasis on the White side of the story. It makes you think that the 'bad guys' are not all bad. It let you understand both sides to the story and more fully enjoy the series.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent reading, January 12, 2000

By 

"bshue" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The White Order (Saga of Recluce) (Mass Market Paperback)

A nice change of direction. Instead of being from the Black Mage's point of view,(the 'good guys'), it is written from the perspective of an('evil') White Wizard. An apparently normal guy with powers that align with the White Wizards. A nice little twist that puts to rest the on-going trend that 'all' things White are evil, & all things Black are good. For those of you who have not read this series, the Whites(or Chaos Wizards) are aligned with destruction & short term answers to long term problems. The Black Mages are aligned with healing, adding order, & of course, long term solutions. A very enjoyable series. Don't let the fact that each book is about a different character put you off or confuse you(did me!). It comes together nicely as you read more books, & picks up where it leaves off in later books...BS