A solid conclusion to Kharl's tale, showing him with the same reassuring solidity and sensibility despite his elevation to being a lord. Of more interest is his position as a mage, as he finds himself using his power more directly to shape the political landscape. I appreciated how he was able to revisit characters left behind in the previous book, Wellspring of Chaos, even though I'm not completely convinced by the courtship depicted here.Definitely not the flashiest of the Recluce books, but a comfortable read, with Modesitt's usual insight into the reality of government (rare, I think, in traditional fantasy). The "good" ruler here is not particularly wise or brave or noble, but he's practical enough to listen to proven advisors, and uses what resources he has (Kharl, of course, being one of them).
This author is the only one so far (other than Anne McCaffrey) that I enjoy reading a blend of fantasy and sci-fi. I have read quite a few of the Recluse books and was not aware that I was so behind in the series. I was also not aware that the author took an 10 year break writing other series, before returning to Recluse in 2011. Of course I always read these out of order but the author writes well enough that you can follow the story without being totally lost if you failed to read the previous books. I look forward to more of the Recluse books from the author. I enjoyed the first part of the book the most with the rebellion in his adopted homeland. It does seem that this poor guy cannot do anything correct, and suffers the consequences for his actions.
What do You think about Ordermaster (2005)?
I loved this book!! I happened across this book without ever reading the other book in the series but that didn't change how amazing this book was. It had a good plot that sort of changes your mindset a little. I usually thought of black magic as destruction magic and white magic as healing magic, but not in this book. It is flipped around and you learn to think about things differently. Definitely a book to be read. Since i never read the books prior to this one in the series, i cant give much info on how much this added on to the series but i can say that it didn't deter the pure geniousness of the characters, scenes, and story. 5 stars.
—Aslan Davault
