If I had to sum up my opinion of this book in one word, it would be this: terrible. I don't use that word lightly or flippanlty, but I mean it in this case.

I read somewhere in an interview with Modesitt that he has gone through 3 failed marriages and 6 "headstrong" daughters. I certainly think this has influenced his writing. The main character in the book, Creslin, starts out as a very weak male character in a matriarchal society. The problem I have with this is that Modesitt reverses traditional gender roles in this book. I suspect that he does this for political reasons, which is his right as the author, but I personally found it very unappealing.

The lead female character in the story, Megeaera, is bound to Creslin through magic. She can hear his thoughts. She's attractive, and he does have impure thoughts about her. She always reacts very negatively at this, and attacks him for his stray thoughts (I said impure, but some are merely noticing her beauty). When she makes unchaste comments about his appearance, it's okay. This one sided morality becomes not only frustrating but also rather annoying.

Modesitt's writing style is also hard to read. The book is seperated into three sections, with 536 pages. With 144 chapters (the last section is filled with chapters ranging in length from less than a page to under ten pages) the story becomes very choppy and highly fragmented. Many chapters offer little to further the over all plot, some with information that could simply be done away with. The last section details the efforts at building Recluce into a viable nation, but settles on the mundane details such as crops and masonry. It made for a very boring read. (One particularly aggravating obsession of Modesitt is the constant need of the characters to "wash up." Far too much space is taken througout the book describing "washing up" from various chores).

Over all, the book was far too long for the plot, and filled with hard to read and choppy information so detailed as to be completely irrelevant. Save $7.99 and buy something more worthy of your money.

One last note--as in his first book in the series "The Magic of Recluce", Modesitt offers a somewhat graphic description of female anatomy during one scene. Although not "pornographic" in nature, I would describe it as impure or unchaste.

I loved this book. I have read it cover to cover a few times and get something a little more of the book. Highly recommend this entire series, but if you just need a book to pick up this one is for you too!!