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    The Magic of Recluce
    The Magic of Recluce
    The Magic of Recluce
    Audiobook19 hours

    The Magic of Recluce

    Written by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

    Narrated by Kirby Heyborne

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Young Lerris is dissatisfied with his life and trade, and yearns to find a place in the world better suited to his skills and temperament. But in Recluce a change in circumstances means taking one of two options: permanent exile from Recluce or braving the dangergeld, a complex, rule-laden wanderjahr in the lands beyond Recluce, with the aim of learning how the world works and what his place in it might be. Many do not survive. Lerris chooses the dangergeld. When Lerris is sent into intensive training for his quest, it soon becomes clear that he has a natural talent for magic. And he will need magic in the lands beyond, where the power of the Chaos Wizards reigns unchecked. Though it goes against all of his instincts, Lerris must learn to use his powers in an orderly way before his wanderjahr, or fall prey to Chaos.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJul 1, 2013
    ISBN9781452684239
    The Magic of Recluce
    Author

    L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

    L. E. Modesitt, Jr., is the bestselling author of the fantasy series The Saga of Recluce, Corean Chronicles, and the Imager Portfolio. His science fiction includes Adiamante, the Ecolitan novels, the Forever Hero Trilogy, and Archform: Beauty. Besides a writer, Modesitt has been a U.S. Navy pilot, a director of research for a political campaign, legislative assistant and staff director for a U.S. Congressman, Director of Legislation and Congressional Relations for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a consultant on environmental, regulatory, and communications issues, and a college lecturer. He lives in Cedar City, Utah.

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    Reviews for The Magic of Recluce

    3.5/5

    545 ratings17 reviews

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    • 3/5
      This is a comfort read for me. Lerris is exiled from Recluse (home of magicians who work in Order) for asking too many questions and being too unreliable. During his time in the outside world, he slowly realizes why Recluse is the way it is--and why he can never go back. Probably the best of the Recluse series.
    • 1/5
      Cannot stand the narrator...sounds like a creepy android boy. Just can't get past it enough to even know what's going on in the story because I'm cringing at the disturbing, lifeless voice the whole time. It's ear poison I tell you!
    • 5/5
      This was a really good book and I plan on listening to the next one…but, the narrator’s sound effects in this book are really annoying.
    • 5/5
      It's not an action intense series. The idea of understanding oneself and accepting who you are and how your actions affect others is a central theme of the book. Great take on order versus chaos in a non standard way. An unconventional fantasy book that I absolutely loved.
    • 2/5
      Stopped reading after about 2 hours of listening to the Audible version (he was doing a great job--I could tell who the characters were from the voices), primarily because it wasn't holding my interest and I know there are other books out there.

      Right now Lerris is essentially at Dangergeld school, but instead of school being interesting, or mentioned as an aside to more exciting topics, or dealt with in a sentence (e.g. "and after five years had learned all they had to teach him"), no, we're getting lectures. Lots of specific lectures. Detailed lectures. And if Lerris dares breathe funny, the lecturers will say things like "No, you don't understand" and then repeat the lecture.

      If I have to learn something, I'd rather learn Japanese, or macrame, not the complicated ethics of a magic system in an imaginary place. This is still supposed to be entertainment! So I'm out.

      I also tend to have limited love for large, sprawling epics encompassing dozens of books and 20 times that many place names and 50 times that many characters, so I shall cut my losses quickly and move on. I love fantasy (The Last Unicorn, The Lies of Locke Lamora, Howl's Moving Castle), but not this kind, I guess (I'm similarly unenthralled by the works of Robert Jordan, George R.R. Martin, etc.).

      (Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!

    • 3/5
      I didn't get into this book at all. It took me a month to finish the audiobook because there were many days when I just didn't feel like listening to it, and that's a red flag for me. The story was a little weird, but not in a good, mysterious way, but in a way where I was constantly annoyed because things were not properly introduced.

      I did not understand the ending at all. That may be because it took me so long to get to it, but it just came out of nowhere and was, for me, never properly explained.

      I am not sure if I will give the series another chance. For now, I will put it down and listen to something else for a while.
    • 4/5
      This is not the normal sort of book I’d read, as I’m not a huge fan of High Fantasy. But I read this as park of GroupRead on Instragram and I’m glad I did. Modesitt has a talented for character and world-building. When we start, the main character Lerris is a bored whiny directionless boy. You know, a teenager. But in Recluse, his home country, a world of Order, his attitude creates Chaos. So he is sent on away, to find out if he wants to live by the rules of Recluse (Order) or if he wants to live in the Chaos that the rest of the world resides in. Through this, Lerris learns and here is where Modesitt’s talent with character development because apparent. Lerris goes from a whiny child to an adult with courage and wisdom. It’s fantastic. As for the world building – the idea of Order and Chaos as magic, the history of the planet, the dark and light, it’s intriguing. In particular, the idea that Chaos magic can help people (food and warmth) but too much causes problems, while Order seems cold and heartless, but in the end, in can bring balance. I want to read more of this world, to learn more about the difference between the magic. If you enjoy well-developed characters, intriguing world-building, and epic fantasy stories, read this!
    • 4/5
      I rather liked this. I suspect it's a marmite book though. Hence this being more of an anti-review than a review. I also suspect I will come back to this once I've read further down the series.On the surface it's a typical fantasy saga starter - young boy of modest means, goes on a quest to save the world, kind of thing. Except it's made pretty clear that isn't what's happening at all. Lerris is not of modest means, he's not going on a quest by choice, it's exile, and his task is less to save the world, than to figure out how to not be a nitwit and ruin it all with the great power he might be able to wield, if he ever learns how. And so with a modicum of training (but not all that much, relatively) he is set adrift.Specifics then: Lots of the things that other reviewers complain about didn't bother me, or even were my favourite bits.The pace (or lack of, in places) was fine for me. I deeply appreciated the way Lerris figured out his own abilities, and how to finish his quest Lerris was very young - but smart. The idea that given time, enough clues, and left to his own devices, things would "click" did not at all surprise me, that's how my brain works, and how one of my daughters does too. She, in particular will ask all day long for answers to study questions - but I learnt long ago if I tell her the answer, and ask again tomorrow, she's forgotten. It makes her whine when I go all Socratic method on her, but then a half hour later when we're doing dishes or something else entirely, she'll suddenly say "Oh! I got it!" My other kids are not at all like this (despite which, they also got the Socratic treatment, because it's how *my* brain works, as mentioned.) I suspect she'd be very like Lerris, in the same situation, she would complain, be annoying as hell, procrastinate on reading the damn book - and then it would all go "click" for her one day and she'd see through it all.Initially the tendency to describe surroundings (particularly furniture) seemed to drag, but after a while, and once I came to understand the magic system in place here, it actually became not just useful, but enjoyable. It was like I was learning to see things through Lerris eyes, in some small way. The onomatopoeia - didn't bother me. I only even noticed it from Gairloch, who at several points in the story was my favourite character anyway, so it's only fitting he should get dialogue. Of a kind. The First/Third person switching (Lerris adventures are told in first person, anything he's not around for in omniscient third): I liked it! I am so tired of the multiple POV character style that seems trendy these days, and having to spend the first paragraph of every chapter trying to figure out who's telling me the story now. It was a tiny bit jarring the first instance, but only because I wasn't ready for it, by the second I knew what was happening.There's really not much more to say - this is book 1 of a series that has so far reached 18 books, yet it's actually the second to last, chronologically. That's a little disconcerting (I'm almost tempted to skip the next book, which is the last book chronologically, and start reading the history until I get back to here.)
    • 2/5
      Another big long book, and the start of one of those giant epic fantasy sagas.
      However, again, I'm not going to go get the sequels.
      I like fantasy because it has such potential to expand our concepts of what human society can be, in different and unusual, often dramatic situations.
      One can tell, reading this book, that the author is conservative, christian, and non-feminist. This only occasionally intrudes jarringly into the story, but there's absolutely nothing in here that would stretch the comfort zone of the most typical inhabitant of stereotypical middle-America.
      The main character is a bored young man who lives in a utopian society of peace and plenty (where women know their place). But he's bored.
      His family sends him to a center where the various disaffected (the bored, criminals, feminists) are trained and then sent out of the lovely, ordered kingdom of Recluce to make their way in the dangerous wide world, only possibly to ever return.
      Our protagonist goes questing and along the way discovers he has the potential to be a super-powerful wizard. MORE TO COME.... in the sequels, of course.
    • 5/5
      Excellent world building and superb magic system with an annoyingly dense but affable young adult protagonist on a quest. Lerris is 'the chosen one' but for all the wrong reasons or completely mysterious hidden reasons until he's painted himself into a corner with his fumbling choices. Lerris isn't burdened with a prophecy, but he resists the status quo of Recluce. Lerris is just your typical young adult with attention deficit disorder (i.e., he's bored and finds everything boring), but Recluce doesn't prescribe Ritalin. Somewhat like extreme Amish, Recluce peacefully forces their misfits to either exile permanently or go on dangergeld (similar to rumspringa but with a quest attached), during which they must decide if they can return to Recluce and succumb to its creed and worldview (seeking perfection in Order). This novel follows Lerris on his journey as a dangergelder until he understands all that Recluce embodies and effects, and reaches his decision.

      If you are looking for a story with character growth, Lerris' journey as an exile from Recluce will fit that bill. If you are looking for a new fantasy world with a detailed history, divergent societies, a logical robust magic system, with a different spin on the age-old struggle between angels and demons, good and evil, black and white, order and chaos, then you've come to the right story and series.

      Modesitt's Recluce series reminds me of Asimov's robot stories. He sets up a scenario with some basic, seemingly simple rules (for example, Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics and Modesitt's Order/Chaos balance system as glimpsed through snippets of The Basis of Order) and proceeds to challenge those rules with his world and its characters. While each novel adds a piece of the broader puzzle, for the most part, like this first one, the books stand alone quite well.
    • 3/5
      I've read this book, and most of the series, many, many times in the past fifteen or so years. This first book is really not great - the writing is kind of clunky, the main character (whose major motivation is that he's bored) is predictably boring a lot of the time, and the real beauty of the series - the relentlessly logical system of magic and its impact on real-world politics and war - is undeveloped and inconsistent.

      It's probably the volume I reread the least (except maybe the immediate followup, which is inexplicably written in the present tense) but it has its moments. I am a sucker for the series's focus on simple craftsmanship - this character is a woodworker, something the author knows rather a lot about, and I find the interlude with Lerris reestablishing a failing furniture shop somewhat inexplicably charming. And his pony is adorable, even though I find Modesitt's use of onomatopoeia rather excessive.

      I had to struggle through the book the first time, but it does set up the world effectively, and while I might at this point suggest someone start the series with Magi of Cyador (the earliest in the internal chronology, and a much stronger book on its own) it's worth looking at this one as the seed of the ideas that later turn into such a remarkable accomplishment.
    • 2/5
      Modesitt's world-building is intriguing, and his fresh take on the potentially cliche-ridden genre of high fantasy would be worth more than a look, if the writing itself were more effective. This book has the distinction of containing one of the worst single sentences I've read: "The hand of summer pressed down upon Fenard like an open stove." Ugh. (Fenard is a city, but knowing that does not help.)
    • 3/5
      Probably better than 3 stars, but having read it out of order, the story looks too familiar to other of his books.
    • 4/5
      It's the first one he wrote, but is currently next to the last or so in the chronology. He recommends his books be read in the order he wrote them & I have to agree for the first read, at least. After reading them once, a second round in chronological order is better, though. I've read it several times, at least. Very enjoyable.He posits an interesting world where Order (Black) & Chaos (White) are separate forces that can be manipulated by humans. Those who wield each, don't generally play well with those who use the opposing force. There is a balance, so both forces gain more play in the world as the other side becomes stronger. Some people are focuses of one or the other, too. It leads to interesting situations.In this book, he tells the story from the Order side. He continues this for the next 6 books, until book 8, "The White Order" finally gives us the Chaos side of the story.
    • 4/5
      At times this book can be a little slow. However, the philisophical underpinnings of the book are actually pretty interesting. This book looks at the world in a different way. In the recluse series Modesitt asks his readers to immerse themselves in a world that is not balanced between good and evil, but rather chaos and order. Although this might seem to be only slightly different from the more common good vs evil struggle, it is not the same at all. The chaos/order struggle infuses everything every character does. Simple acts, like the carving of wood, that have no impact upon the good/evil struggle can dramatically alter a world based upon this new balance. A skilled craftsman can help to order the world in way that enables a greater building of chaos. In this world characters must come to accept that almost every good (and usually orderly) act will be countered by creating the potential for greater chaos (which is usually evil). I would warn readers that although the first book is worth reading, the later books are somewhat redundant. Every following tale follows pretty much the same format of a lone orderly individual establishing an orderly society only to be threatened by a chaotic one (this is an oversimplification but it is essentially accurate). There are some minor deviations and a slight twist upon the philopsophy about midway through the eleven book series, but in the end this is the basic format. Summation: This first book could potentially change the way you look at the world, but don't buy the whole series at once.
    • 4/5
      The first of a long series of books about the world of recluce. Weirdly enough, recluce is a tiny part (an island) of the world this takes place in.Modesitt has a very interesting look at the whole good vs. evil business. In his world everything needs to balance. Modesitt doesn't define good or evil but rather "order" and "chaos" . Neither is necessarily bad and neither can exist without the other. This really reminded me of Zelazny's Amber series.It is nice though, has the author went to lengths to define a very strict way to practice magic, unlike other fantasy works where magic is very vague and anything can happen if it helps with plot. As far as the narrative goes Modesitt exploits the boy that becomes hero template. The Boy is expelled from Recluce for questioning the principles of order. Recluce has a policy where if you don't fit the frame exactly you're being trained and shipped off. In this book's case, the hero is shipped off to Candar which is the home of White Magic. We quickly learn that the candarian are not "evil" and the hero does in fact settle down in Candar.The book is in first person, which I loved, and unlike the rest of the series which is third person.
    • 3/5
      This is an interesting novel about law vs. chaos, and how they both can be good and evil, but in Modesitt's world, law is generally good. A young wizard of law must learn about law and himself while forced to confront chaos. Not quite your usual 'boy meets self while wandering the world', but close. A good, interesting novel.