Kevin's Watch

I have just finished reading 'Of Tangible Ghosts' and i think i have misunderstood somehting critical in the book because the ending made absolutly no sence to me whatsoever! Can anyone explain to me what happens to Johan after he gets shot it's bugging me that i cant figure out whats happening there or why.

Anyone here fans of other works by Modesitt, personally i think that the saga of recluse is great and my favourite book so far out of all of them would peobably have to be 'shadowsinger'

isn´t he a writer of scifi as well?

Yes, he writes science fiction as well.

Gil--go ask him in the Modesitt thread at IBDoF. He'll explain it to you himself.

I haven't read that book, so I can't help you. Sorry.

Hi ChoChiyo That post was september last year, before i found ibdof

D'oh!

Well, that'll teach me not to look at the dates, won't it!

well why can´t one reply to a topic that was not active for several months!?!


i´ve seen a very nice looking edition of his Recluse series, great covers. but i don´t have the time to start another epic fantasy, and i don´t want to.

seven reds, seven blacks wrote:well why can´t one reply to a topic that was not active for several months!?!


i´ve seen a very nice looking edition of his Recluse series, great covers. but i don´t have the time to start another epic fantasy, and i don´t want to.

The Recluce series is a bit different from the usual epic fantasises, though. It's not one continuous story like Wheel of Time, for example. Instead, it jumps back and forth in history to focus on different protagonists and the various events that were going on during their time periods.

I would still recommend reading the books in order though, because Modesitt fills in a little more detail with each book about the nature of order and chaos and how they work with and against each other.

I'd second that and also reccomend that the books be read in the order published. When i first started reading the series i started with a book that happened to be at the start chronologically(magi and it took ages for me to understand.

Thanks for the hint, Gil. I intend to read that on Edge's recommendation, but I would probably have tried to go chronological.

Has anyone read Modesitt's other books, not of the Recluse saga but some of his space themed futuristic books? Very technical but i thought they were great.

Hi there!

I am pleased to announce that I have secured an interview with Mr. Modesitt. He was gracious enough to accept, so now it is up to all of us to make it happen!:-) As was the case with the Tad Williams interview, I will be accepting questions from everyone. As always, the most interesting will comprise the interview.

I will post a notice on all my regular message boards. Feel free to leave your questions here, on the blog, or on the message board of your choice!;-)

Hope to hear from you soon!!!

Patrick
www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com

Gil galad wrote:Anyone here fans of other works by Modesitt, personally i think that the saga of recluse is great and my favourite book so far out of all of them would peobably have to be 'shadowsinger'

Well, someone asked this a long time ago... right now I'm reading through Modisitt's Imager series after enjoying SO MUCH his Recluse Saga.

His stuff is fascinating and challenging.

Will write more later, but for now...
*BUMP* to a "worthy topic." (and by "worthy" I mean "I am dying to talk about this author but not quite enough to go join an actual L.E. Modesitt Forum.")

I sat down to read the first PAGE of the one I just got out of the library, "Scholar."
(prequel to the existing books in the "Imager" series, so no spoilers here.)
I only had 1 minute- time for 1 page.
Would I be able to get enjoyment out of it?
Yes.

L.E. Modesitt, Jr. wrote:“You’d think the Tilborans would have more sense,” snapped Bhayar. “Some of them, anyway.” His dark blue eyes appeared almost black in the dim light of the small study that adjoined his receiving chamber. In the mid-afternoon of summer, the air barely moved, even with the high arched ceilings, and when it did, it only brought the smells of the city up the hill to the palace overlooking the harbor of Solis. He walked to the map displayed on wooden stand, scowled, and then looked to the man in scholar’s brown.

“Why would you think that?” Quaeryt replied in the formal Bovarian in which he’d been addressed, as always. He smiled politely, his thin lips quirking up slightly at the corners. Despite the itching of his slightly-too-long nose, he did not scratch it.

“Don’t bait me, scholar.” The Lord of Telaryn added only a slight emphasis to the last word. “Tell me what you have in mind.”

“Only your best interests, my lord.” Quaeryt shifted his weight off his slightly shorter left leg. The higher heel of his left boot helped, but the leg ached when he stood for long periods.

“When you talk like that, you remind me of the sycophants who surrounded my sire in his last days.”

“Why might they have talked like that?”

“Answer my question!”

“Have you considered why I – or they – would avoid answering a demand delivered so forcefully?” Quaeryt grinned.

Abruptly, Bhayar laughed. “There are times… friend or no friend...”

“Every time anything went wrong in Tilbor immediately after your sire conquered it, his first solution was to issue an edict. If that didn’t work, he killed people.”

“It worked, didn’t it?”

Well, this Quaeryt... I know someone like him. Made me laugh so hard! It made me so happy I've been itching to share it here.

And I'm very much obliged to pat5150, whose site / fantasy blog (www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com) contained the text of the beginning of Scholar, so I didn't even have to type it in myself...

I went to look this guy up, due to recent comments....
HOLY CRAP! Unless I'm counting wrong, he's writing almost 3 books a year since 1990!
Gonna have to make a library trip....

Oooh, ooh! You were one of my primary suspects, for people who I think would like this guy.
AWESOME!!!

If you pick a Recluse saga book then, I second (or third) Gil-Galad's comment:

I'd second that and also reccomend that the books be read in the order published. When i first started reading the series i started with a book that happened to be at the start chronologically (magi) and it took ages for me to understand.

Modesitt will define terminology or illustrate a whole plot-critical CONCEPT in one book, and then write a prequel, and just use that info without "reviewing" for you.

I'm a bit of a Modesitt fan and I'm always surprised that he's not regarded more highly. I came across his Saga of Recluce first and enjoyed the early books but for some reason I've never read them all. I know that I have problems with universes where good balances bad so there may be some of that to it (ditto the Wheel of Time and Star Wars. It seems that disturbances in the Force give me a pain )

I've enjoyed some of the other series, especially the early Corean books. They're good but suffer from what might be called 'stretch', when I recall the first three books I actually think of them as one book. I've got stuck twice on the fourth book 'Scepters'.

Spoiler

There is some crossover stuff in this series and when the technology begins to really intrude it put me off.

Still I think any book or series that brings you back for a re-read has something going for it.

I read the first of the Imager books. It was good but again I had a very strong sense of 'stretch' so I haven't followed up on it.

I really like some of his stand-alone sci-fi novels, especially 'The Ethos Effect' and 'Adiamante' both of which are quite cinematic and, I think could easily be made into good films. I've re-read both of these a number of times and they've stood up well. I tried reading 'The Parafaith War' (set in the same universe as The Ethos Effect. It was published first but I think of it as a prequel ) but I couldn't get into the characters' perspective. I enjoyed 'The Ethos Effect' so much that I think that I would recommend reading it first because there is a nice feeling of mystery and suspense about some of the characters that might be lost by learning too much about them from 'The Parafaith War', but that's just me.

I can see why you might like him, Linna, he's interested in morals, ethics and religion and his main characters are often forced to make moral decisions rather than choosing to use the power they have for selfish purposes. That's one of the reasons I enjoy him as well

u.

I bought SCHOLAR last week. IMAGER'S CHALLENGE is my current audio book. Edge nudged me for years to read Modesitt before I tried one, and I've been collecting them steadily ever since I first tried one (IMAGER) two years ago, and followed it right up with THE PARAFAITH WAR. In addition to his storytelling and world-building, I like all the different parts of life that he makes you think about.

ussusimiel- yay, another Modesitt fan who's active on the Watch. Interesting, some of the ones you've read I haven't tackled yet.

u wrote:I can see why you might like him, Linna, he's interested in morals, ethics and religion and his main characters are often forced to make moral decisions rather than choosing to use the power they have for selfish purposes. That's one of the reasons I enjoy him as well

Ahh, thank you. Though when you say this, you put me to shame.
That's exactly the sort of reason I would give for liking his work.
But when it comes down to it, I think that it's the characters I love - not the fascinating study of the binds they get stuck in - though there's complexity in that.
His main characters are cost-bearers.
I love those characters and the character of such people.

Dragonlily- she speaks!

Dragonlily wrote:In addition to his storytelling and world-building, I like all the different parts of life that he makes you think about.

Oh goodness, I love that so much... I love the way how most of his (Recluse) main characters have a mundane (sometimes boring) skill they train in, and it ends up being invaluable. (such inspiration!)

I love how in "The Death of Chaos," Lerris...

Spoiler

...ends up having to deal with the responsibilities of being "someone important" and the expenses of caring for the people he takes in.

And I love how he (Modesitt) shows you scenes from many parts of the socio-economic spectrum.

What are some of your favorite examples, if ya have the time?

Dragonlily wrote:I bought SCHOLAR last week. IMAGER'S CHALLENGE is my current audio book. Edge nudged me for years to read Modesitt before I tried one, and I've been collecting them steadily ever since I first tried one (IMAGER) two years ago, and followed it right up with THE PARAFAITH WAR. In addition to his storytelling and world-building, I like all the different parts of life that he makes you think about.

No posts for 5 months and suddenly pretending you've been here all along?

Sheesh, welcome back DragonLily.

--A