Scion of Cyador: The New Novel in the Saga of Recluce 
asked by goonball on November 28, 2006 12:52 PM
L. E. Modesitt, Jr. is one of the standard setters in fantasy today and his most famous series is the Saga of Recluce. Each novel fills in pieces of the history of this land where Chaos and Order strive to maintain a magical balance.Scion of Cyador continues the story begun in Magi'i of Cyador. Exploring the rich depths of the history of Recluce, Magi'i of Cyador introduced Lorn, a talented boy born into a family of Magi'i. A diligent student mage who lacked blind devotion, Lorn was made a lancer officer and shipped off to the frontier--a career that comes with a 50% mortality rate.Having survived his extended stint fighting both barbarian raiders and the giant beasts of the Accursed Forest, Lorn has proven himself to be a fine officer . . . perhaps too fine an officer. As his prowess has grown, so has his number of enemies and rivals. Too much success has made him a marked man. When he returns to his home, both he and his young family become targets while all of Cyad is in upheaval over deadly political infighting. But Lorn is now hardened, a deadly fighter himself, especially when the Empire is at stake.Scion of Cyador is the completion of another grand story in the Recluce saga.Scion of Cyador is the eleventh book in the saga of Recluce.
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At last, the true beginning is made clear. The character development used in this series is second to none. My hat's off to L. E. Modesitt in his continuing development of this world view. Both the Black Magicians and the White Wizards are given fair due in the plot development throughout the series. Recommended highly to anyone who appreciates good fantasy, and excellent plot development.
reviewed by jrivera on November 29, 2006 5:26 AM
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The first thing you need to know is that I have not finished this book. I only read the first five or so chapters. I haven't picked it up in awhile. I CAN'T STAND the use of the present tense.
Lorn walks down the road with Ryalth, while he thinks about how power-hungry Bluoyal's regime is. He looks upon the city of light, as it shines glamorously, the palatial gables and grand entry collumns glistening with a pure, genuine brilliance...
I just made that up, but that's basically the kind of stuff you'll see in this book, at least to the point I've read. It's very annoying to slog through the present tense, maybe because I'm just so used to reading books in the past tense like everybodye lse on the planet. That's how books are writen. maybe he's ahead of his time, but this is just too great of a leap, too drastic an innovation for me to feel comfortable with.
The other problem I have with this series and other fantasy series is the characters' names. Now i understand that naming characers John, Bill, Scott, Chris, David, Mark, and such is very bland and realistic, not fantastic at all. But AT LEAST MAKE THEM PRONONCEABLE! Please, I beg you, L.E.Modessit, if you're goin to give your characters fantastic names, don't make me have a fantastic time solving your linguistic riddles. This is a big pet peeve that I have with fantasy novels. Robert Jordan does this in the Wheel of Time, but at least he gives a glosary in the back which explains how the names should be pronounced. See, when I read fantasy books like this, I try to make it as interesting as possile by visualizing the characters actually doin the actions they take in the book, and it's REALLY HARD when I don't know how names are pronounced, just as it would be hard not knowing what a character looks like or sounds like, which is often enough.
If you want to read a good fantasy novel, read A Wizard of Earthsea. This is probably the best fantasy novel I have ever read, it's not as stereotyped as the Wheel of Time series, it's not as insanely complicated, and mere words anddescription don't do it justice. Like many series, the Earthsea cycle tails off at the end, as I have learned from reading Amazon reviews, but the first book is FANTASTIC. It blows this book into one of the shimmering gables of Cyador, city of light, award-winning fantasy land that never was, or never should have been, I don't know and I don't care, but I'm done with this series unless there's abslutely no other good fantasy books, which will probably never happen.
Lorn walks down the road with Ryalth, while he thinks about how power-hungry Bluoyal's regime is. He looks upon the city of light, as it shines glamorously, the palatial gables and grand entry collumns glistening with a pure, genuine brilliance...
I just made that up, but that's basically the kind of stuff you'll see in this book, at least to the point I've read. It's very annoying to slog through the present tense, maybe because I'm just so used to reading books in the past tense like everybodye lse on the planet. That's how books are writen. maybe he's ahead of his time, but this is just too great of a leap, too drastic an innovation for me to feel comfortable with.
The other problem I have with this series and other fantasy series is the characters' names. Now i understand that naming characers John, Bill, Scott, Chris, David, Mark, and such is very bland and realistic, not fantastic at all. But AT LEAST MAKE THEM PRONONCEABLE! Please, I beg you, L.E.Modessit, if you're goin to give your characters fantastic names, don't make me have a fantastic time solving your linguistic riddles. This is a big pet peeve that I have with fantasy novels. Robert Jordan does this in the Wheel of Time, but at least he gives a glosary in the back which explains how the names should be pronounced. See, when I read fantasy books like this, I try to make it as interesting as possile by visualizing the characters actually doin the actions they take in the book, and it's REALLY HARD when I don't know how names are pronounced, just as it would be hard not knowing what a character looks like or sounds like, which is often enough.
If you want to read a good fantasy novel, read A Wizard of Earthsea. This is probably the best fantasy novel I have ever read, it's not as stereotyped as the Wheel of Time series, it's not as insanely complicated, and mere words anddescription don't do it justice. Like many series, the Earthsea cycle tails off at the end, as I have learned from reading Amazon reviews, but the first book is FANTASTIC. It blows this book into one of the shimmering gables of Cyador, city of light, award-winning fantasy land that never was, or never should have been, I don't know and I don't care, but I'm done with this series unless there's abslutely no other good fantasy books, which will probably never happen.
reviewed by squeege on November 29, 2006 6:20 AM