Scan barcode
mary_soon_lee's review against another edition
3.0
This is the eighth book in "The Saga of Recluce." I found the young protagonist very likable and the book a pleasure to read. Yet the pacing was slow and the drama mostly understated. If I were recommending a fantasy author, then, depending on the other person's tastes, I might suggest Tolkien, Le Guin, Guy Gavriel Kay, Ellen Kushner, Patrick Rothfuss, Carol Berg, Scott Lynch, Daniel Abraham, or Lynn Flewelling. I would hesitate before recommending Modesitt's Recluce books, even though I am getting great pleasure from them, even though I will proceed straight to the next book in the series. I am drawn to the main characters and the immersiveness of the storytelling. At the same time, I can see that the books share commonalities that border on repetitiveness, that the prose style is rather flat, that the pacing is often slow. If I were rating this book just for myself, I would give it 4 out of 5 stars. In rating it for others, I am downgrading that to 3 out of 5 stars.
(I note that I prefer Modesitt's Imager series to the Recluce books.)
(I note that I prefer Modesitt's Imager series to the Recluce books.)
craftingrama's review against another edition
2.0
Besides the fact that I detest short chapters I'm not exactly sure why this was written. It was ok but was missing alot. The narrator was back to verbal sound effects too *sigh*
conprimo's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
katmarhan's review against another edition
3.0
7/10
This book in the Recluce series gives us the life of a young lad in Candor, Cerryn, who works in a sawmill and then as a scrivener's apprentice while trying to learn more about his heritage and the talent with chaos he seems to have. It provides a window into the world of the White Order of Fairhaven and presents a perspective that is obviously much different than that of the Black Order. Yet Cerryn's coming of age story is it all that different from the youths of Recluce.
Unfortunately, I read the previous books so long ago that I don't clearly recall the events involving Sterol, Anya, and Jeslek, the White mages most featured in this book. And there were so many books that told of the early events in the history of this world--the founding of Westwind as a haven for the Black Angels and the founding of Recluce as a haven for the Black mages, for example, took several books--that it is hard to place this book in the correct time period.
This book in the Recluce series gives us the life of a young lad in Candor, Cerryn, who works in a sawmill and then as a scrivener's apprentice while trying to learn more about his heritage and the talent with chaos he seems to have. It provides a window into the world of the White Order of Fairhaven and presents a perspective that is obviously much different than that of the Black Order. Yet Cerryn's coming of age story is it all that different from the youths of Recluce.
Unfortunately, I read the previous books so long ago that I don't clearly recall the events involving Sterol, Anya, and Jeslek, the White mages most featured in this book. And there were so many books that told of the early events in the history of this world--the founding of Westwind as a haven for the Black Angels and the founding of Recluce as a haven for the Black mages, for example, took several books--that it is hard to place this book in the correct time period.
vaderbird's review against another edition
3.0
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
More...