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The Magic of Recluce (Saga of Recluce) by L. E. Modesitt
 Cover Artist: Matt Stawicki
Review by Bill Lawhorn
Tor Books Trade Paperback  ISBN/ITEM#: 9780765331120
Date: 21 June 2011 List Price $15.99 Amazon US / Amazon UK / Show Official Info /

The Magic of Recluce is back, even though it never really went away. It follows the first person account of the dangergeld of Lerris, the son of a powerful mage who doesn't believe in magic. His forced naivetι leads him to make many mistakes as he tries to meet the strictures laid upon him. He learns about himself, that magic is real, and eventually a little about love.

Although constantly in print since its original release, this is the first time in years that The Magic of Recluce is available as a trade paperback. It includes a special introduction by Robin Hobb where she notes the groundbreaking nature of the series.

Although it doesn't have the sales of The Wheel of Time, any series that continues for 20 years and 16 novels must be doing something right. The books jump around in time and can be read in two ways, by chronology or in publication order. Modesitt recommends reading it in publication order. The series is listed in publication order below, with the approximate chronology in parentheses:

    • The Magic of Recluce (1850)
    • The Towers of Sunset (900)
    • The Magic Engineer (1200)
    • The Order War (1650)
    • The Death of Chaos (1855)
    • The Fall of Angels (401)
    • The Chaos Balance (403)
    • The White Order (1190)
    • Colors of Chaos (1205)
    • Magi'i of Cyador (1)
    • Scion of Cyador (8)
    • Wellspring of Chaos (1710)
    • Ordermaster (1712)
    • Natural Ordermage (1500)
    • Mage-Guard of Hamor (1503)
    • Arms-Commander (415)
Recluce isn't as dark as many current fantasy series, but the heroic and flawed nature of the main characters keeps a steady following happy and looking forward to the next novel in the series. I have been reading the Recluce series since around the time The Order War came out. I have enjoyed the each book and look forward to any other entrants into the series.

This is an opportunity for long time fans to add a nice clean trade paperback edition to their collection. For others it is a chance to step into one of Fantasy's top series.

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