Modesitt's sequel involving Kharl the cooper, turns ship's carpenter, turned mage, turned Lord of Austra is as equally brilliant as the opener. But that's not unexpected from Modesitt who has proven time and time again with his Saga of Recluce that, not only has he the ability to weave an astonishingly complete world picking his stories through the ages to create a vibrant history, but that his talents for spinning a simple yet utterly captivating story mean he is in the very top class of fantasy authors. Luckily he shows no sign of putting down his pen.
The sequel flows immediately from the end of the first, Kharl taking a couple of eightdays out at his new Cantyl estate to meet his steward and set an easy homestead in motion before he is called upon by Lord Ghrant to help head of an inevitable revolt by the other Austran Lords who see the chance to gain control of the island. Unfortunately, Kharl's ability to use order to discern lies and truths means the revolt kicks off far earlier and he is forced to hunt down several white mages whilst improving his order magery to reflect chaos back at those casting it at him. The results are inevitably spectacular as he moves around the countryside picking off the rebel lords and their white mages with his air hardening technique. The climax is reached as he defeats an extremely powerful white sorceress when he discovers he can turn chaos back to the sender amongst the chaos links generated and get through their shields.
Having earned Lord Ghrant a kingdom and being guided by Chancellor Hagan, Kharl returns to Cantyl for several months, taking time to build his cooperage before he is called on one more time to return to Brysta to head off Lord West and his evil son Egen who are seeking to gain control of Brysta and then threaten Austra. This gives him the chance to settle old scores from the first novel. It is tinged with sadness as he learns of the death of his youngest son. However, he is able to find Jeka in the midst of the new rebellion and develop their relationship whilst fighting off more white mages as Lord West is killed and his sons struggle for power. Eventually he puts the least terrible of the sons on the throne, destroys yet again Hamorian interests in causing trouble and returns peaceful to Cantyl with Jeka as his consort. An ending of sorts, but there is so much more scope for this unassuming cooper to become a mage as great as Creslin.
There is not much more to say. Modesitt's brilliance shines from each page as brightly as any of his other novels. There are several authors out there who have produced great fantasy series but with longevity comes mediocrity. Not so with Modesitt. He just gets better and better.

Ordermaster (2005) is the thirteenth Fantasy novel in the Recluce Saga series, following Wellspring of Chaos. In the previous volume, Kharl ended the insurrection against Lord Ghrant by killing the two White Wizards and Lord Ilteron, Ghrant's older brother. He also rescued Lord Ghrant from the battlefield and brought him back to the Seastag. Lord Ghrant rewarded Kharl for his services with a landgrant, a stipend and the title of minor lord.

In this novel, Kharl has spent two eightdays getting to know the personnel and grounds of his new estate. He has made plans to build a cooperage where he can contribute something tangible to its upkeep. Then the Seafox docks at his private pier and Lord-Chancellor Hagen asks him for a favor.

Kharl returns to Valmurl with Lord Hagen to attend formal audiences as Lord Ghrant's Mage. After a good night's sleep, Kharl wakes when a servant delivers a breakfast tray to his room . . . laden with poison. After reporting the problem to Lord Hagen, he returns to his room with Undercaptain Charsal and a sergeant. The sergeant takes the breakfast tray away to be tested for poison and the Undercaptain takes Kharl to the kitchen for a better breakfast. On the way back to his room, Kharl is ambushed on the staircase by three men with crossbows.

At the audience of Guillam of Desfor, chief factor of Austra, Lord Ghrant questions the man about his actions and loyalty during the recently completed conflict. Guillam lies about everything. Then Kharl is allowed to question him and Guillam continues to lie. Since he refuses to tell the truth, Kharl suggests that he start telling the truth or choke on his lies. When he continues to lie, Kharl solidifies the air around him until he suffocates.

After this starling session, Lord Hagen calls in the top three military commanders and questions them about their prior actions and current loyalty. Commander Vatoran equivocates and then fakes a coughing spell. Commander Norgen states that he fears Lord Ghrant may not prove to be the ruler that his father was without continued good counsel, but he is loyal to the man despite his flaws. Commander Casolan does not think highly of Lord Ghrant's abilities either, but is still loyal to him.

Lord Vatoran is questioned further and Kharl judges him to be disloyal to Lord Ghrant. Vatoran is taken away by guards to the deep cell. The rebellion starts shortly thereafter.

This novel is about truth and actuality and the difference between the two. Kharl can tell whether someone is lying about his actions and intentions, but not necessarily about differences in viewpoints and beliefs. Kharl can only detect the lie when the speaker knows that his words are incorrect. Since the whole of actuality is unknown to anyone, a wrong belief is indistinguishable from a correct belief, except when Kharl is personally aware of the facts.

Kharl also becomes intimately aware of the extent of his own responsibilities. Since he does not know everything, he has to work with the information that he has available. Furthermore, he learns to ignore critics who are not knowledgeable about the situations that he faces; the man on the spot has to make his own decisions based on his current knowledge and go on from there. Of course, he must be as patient and cautious as possible, but sometimes actions are more important than correctness. If he makes mistakes, he can modify his further actions accordingly.

Neither is he responsible for the actions of others. Although he must protect those in his charge, if they die despite his best attempts, the killers are responsible for these deaths, not him. No matter how powerful he may be, Kharl cannot be everywhere at once. Nor is he responsible for the death of others who deliberately ignore his good advice.

One of the interesting moments in the novel concerns Kharl's speculations on the ordered nature of light. Is he on the verge of developing something like a laser? From the cover illustration on the hardback edition, one could assume that he was already using one, even though the author wrote that scene very differently; artistic license or a foretaste of the next installment? Read the following volume for an answer to this question!

Highly recommended for Modesitt fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of high adventure, philosophical ruminations and a touch of romance.

-Arthur W. Jordin

A potboiler is defined as an inferior work done purely for money. Both this novel and its predecessor, "Wellspring of Chaos", fall clearly into this category. These are the first Recluce novels which are simply poor. One senses that Modesitt is bored.

The novels are not too bad, but they are pedestrian.

Modesitt delivers what his readers expect in this new eddition to the Recluce Saga. While following the same basic story outline as his past books, of a humble man discovering his talent for magery and then being forced to use it to influence world events in huge ways, L.E. is also able to continue adding much detail to his rich world of Recluce.

In this sequel to The Wellspring of Chaos, Kharl the cooper/beggar/sailor/carpenter/mage/lord continues his adventures on the island nations of Nordla and Austra. Fighting (and killing) mage after mage throughout the book makes for an exciting read and having the story take place in another part of the world besides Candar and Recluce helps in expanding the reader's understanding of the lands and their people. By some accounts, Kharl could be the most powerful order mage we've encountered up till now, able to withstand the effects of death and chaos better than other powerful mages. He surely faced and defeated more white wizards in one on one combat than any yet written about. Even if he isn't the most powerful per se, he has undoubtably discovered one of the most powerful uses of order in unlinking bound order and thus creating a chaos explosion. Regardless, Kharl is one of my favorite characters of the entire series. Powerful and imposing, he stands up to every challenge boldly (no matter how uncomfortable or unfamiliar) and prevails.

If you've become tired of Modesitt's world of Recluce, stop reading these books for a while. I find that if I space them out by a couple of months or more I am not turned off by the seemingly repetitive story lines. Each character and story is different in large and small ways and all are enjoyable.

I'm a big fan of Modesitt's science fiction, which I find to be most imaginative. I loved the first books in the Recluse saga for the same reason--they presented an interesting magical system set in a fanstasy world that went far beyond the realms of the LOTR clones that populate the field.

Still, I can no longer recommend reading any new Recluse books. I won't belabor the point that Modesitt keeps writing the same book over and over. Other reviewers have discussed that, and I won't do to you what Modesitt has done to all of us by repeating a tired old story. So I'll just make a few observations:

(1) The Recluse saga mages seem to grow less intelligent with each new book in the series. Consider this: Say you are a mage who just saved a kingdom--and your own life--from the designs of a rapacious invader who was supported by several wizards. You did this only by thinking of a new way to use magic at the very last minute of the battle. Assume further that you expect further invasions. What would you do?

If you said "I'd practice my magic," you would not make a good Recluse saga character. Kharl, the protagonist of Ordermaster, spends most of his time his time making barrels, running an estate that seems to run perfectly well without his interference, and going to law school. Really. I'm half expecting the next novel in the series (not that I really care, since I won't be reading it) to have a title like "Bootmaker of Hamor."

Here's another example of Modesitt's moronic mages: Kharl makes a habit of dragging people into his battles. Invariably his companions serve no function other than to increase the body count. If you can find ONE useful thing that an armsman accomplishes by accompanying Kharl into combat, other than dying, I'll print this review and eat it. I won't even bother asking why he drags his would-be girlfriend into the fray. Twice.

Luckily for our hero, the chaos wizards are just as ill prepared for battle as is Kharl. Maybe nobody told them that he's killed before. Oh, yeah--if anyone can explain to me why the white wizards sometimes can sense where Kharl is, and sometimes cannot, please don't. I haven't figured it out, but I no longer care.

(2) If, despite this review, you nevertheless decide to read "Ordermaster," here are some guidelines for cutting the time that you will spend by 60% while still getting 95% of the story:

(a) Read only paragraphs that either contain quoted dialog or are followed by the following italicized words: "Whssssst.... CRUMMMMPT!" or "Eeeeeeeee..." Nothing interesting ever happens without a "Whssssst... CRUMMMMMPT!" or an "Eeeeeeeeee..."

(b) If, in any chapter, you see a reference to food or drink, skip immediately to the end of the chapter. L.E., NOBODY cares whether the cheese on the fried pearapples was spicy. The same advice applies to discussions of the relative merits of different kinds of wood for barrelmaking.

There is one exception to this rule: If you like to drink alone, chugging a brewski every time Kharl agonizes over a food or beverage choice isn't a half bad drinking game. From my own experience, I can guarantee that you won't enjoy the novel any less.

(c) If one character compliments another, then the second returns the compliment, skip the rest of the chapter. "Lord Hagen, you're so much cleverer than the usual Lord Chancellor... If it appears that way Kharl, it's only because you're so much more astute than the typical cooper/carpenter/mariner/lord/ambassador/mage." Sheesh.

If you want to know what happens in the parts you skip, just pretend that they make goo-goo eyes at each other and then get a room someplace. Whatever you might imagine has got to be far more entertaining than reading the twelve additional self-righteous platitudes that Modesitt would have you wade through.

If you aren't familiar with the Recluse saga, I recommend that you begin with "The Magic of Recluse"--it's quite good--then keep reading until you start to find the series tiresome. If you already know the series, then "Ordermaster" offers up no surprises. It's more of the same, just not as well written.

Postscript: If you can guess who will become Lord West in the sequel to "Ordermaster," you get 10 extra credit points.