In this second book of the prequel trilogy, we continue to follow the dual stories of Dainyl, the alector near the top of the military command, and Mykel, now in command of a battalion of mounted rifles. As in the earlier book, both are admonished by the mysterious "ancients" to develop their own "talent" and become more connected to the land. In Mykel's case, he must do this without being discovered by other alectors, since the nation's laws forbid talented "landers" like Mykel: he will be killed outright. Dainyl suspects Mykel's talent, but has his own reasons for not killing him or turning him in. At least, not yet.In this book, we finally learn more of what is going on, and who is aligned with whom in the political power games among the high alectors running the nation. Well, some of what is going on. In any case, the motivations for most of these players remain unknown. Dainyl must do his best to quell unrest and prevent further bloodshed that some (for reasons not yet known) seem to want to encourage. One of his most useful tools is Mykel and his battalion.At the end of this book, Dainyl joins with Mykel's battalion to put down a revolt of alectors. That they do so successfully makes Mykel and his men especially dangerous to the powers that be, since they have learned firsthand how to kill alectors (who have spent centuries building up an impression of invulnerability to lander attacks). However, since it is not clear that this is the last alector revolt, Mykel's command is ordered directly to the next hotspot and not eliminated out of hand. Meanwhile, Dainyl's success has interfered with the Machiavellian plans of other alectors high in government. Since personal attacks seem to be permitted between government alectors, provided the survivor can present a palatable explanation (no matter how flimsy) for the death of their opponent, Dainyl must quickly learn to use his talent to survive these attacks.
I liked this book the best of the 1st five in the series. The dynamic between the Cadmian major and the Alectors was very interesting to me. You definitely should read the 1st books in the series before this one. I started with the last of the 3 trilogies in this series (far in the future) because Book 7 was available in the library, but have enjoyed going back and filling in the blanks about this world. I still have a few books to go in the Recluce series, but I have liked this Corus series at least as well, perhaps better. The Imager series is great too.
What do You think about Cadmian's Choice (2007)?
Cadmian’s Choice is the fifth book in L.E. Modesitt Jr’s COREAN CHRONICLES and the second in the trilogy about Mykel and Dainyl. You don’t need to read the first trilogy in the COREAN CHRONICLES (Legacies, Darknesses, Scepters) before reading this one. In fact, I think it makes more sense to read this trilogy first since it focuses on events that occur generations before Legacies. However, you do need to read Alector’s Choice before starting Cadmian’s Choice.In Alector’s Choice we met Mykel, a “lander” who lives on the planet Corus. He, like most of Modesitt’s protagonists, is ultra-honorable and ultra-competent, and he has risen remark... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
—Fantasy Literature
