The Magic of Recluce (Saga of Recluce Book 1)

I'm a fan of this author, have followed him for years,and am glad he's finally on Kindle. His characters are interesting. The world of Recluse is interesting and believable, and I fall in love with his characters every time. Modesitt is worth reading again and again.

This story reminds me of Alice of life fantasy before Alice of life fantasy was a thing. The writing style did get a little irking over time, but the overall story was decent enough to hold my attention. I look forward to seeing how the author expands upon the concepts he laid out in future books of the series.

This, the first one, must be the sixth or seventh Recluce book I've read, and it makes the others much clearer retrospectively. It has more energy than some of the later books, and less tiring repetition about meals. As other reviewers have noted, there are irritating mannerisms here, such as the ....middle of sentences.....,the weird onamatopeic noises, clunch, whee, thunk, and so on. Yet it is a very good read, good plot, and appealing hero. And the author's moral concern is always present, which is an appealing contrast to many other sci fi sagas. The world building is pretty good, too, and remains consistent throughout the series. The storyline seems at first similar to other magic powers oriented books, but it is always fascinating to read about someone coming to their full strength, learning by mistakes on the way. The Bildungsroman theme recurs again in the later books The White Order, and in Wellsprings of Chaos, but is always fresh and credible.

L. E. Modesitt is absolutely one of my favorite authors out there. Easily top 3. (He competes with Rothfuss and Sanderson.) What I love most about his writing is not his incredible world building skill, the way that you see his characters grow and develop, or the way in which he presents intricate political subterfuge so brilliantly. No, rather, it is that fact that, literally, over the course of each of his books, I find myself thinking.Always, I am wondering, "Wow. Is that what I would do? How would I react? Would I make the decision the character just did?" Granted, I am usually too caught up in the story the first time through to really think about much else, but it is the second, third, fourth, fifth... re-reads that find me asking these questions.As people defending the fantasy genre from the attack, "Well it's just not a story about 'real' things." like to say, "Fantasy is great because we can examine real-world problems within the framework of a fictional world. Modesitt is a master of this. Seriously. I have honest to goodness changed the way I think about the world and my place in it because of this man's writing. I was even in a situation at work one time where I realized that what was happening with my boss was a very close parallel to one of the situations in one of Modesitt's books. I remembered how the main character had handled himself and attempted to model my behavior on his. I was later complemented on how well I had handled myself.I seriously am not eloquent enough to express how insanely amazing these books are. I think everyone would benefit from reading these. I know I certainly do.I know that what I've written isn't so much a review of "The Magic of Recluse" 20th anniversary edition, so much as it is a wholehearted endorsement of Modesitt's work, but please forgive me. I'll endeavor to keep this short and sweet.I first read this book a few years ago and, honestly, identified very much with Lerris's attitude toward the beginning. It seemed idiotic the way people treated him. Granted, he seemed a little whiny, but I don't think he couldn't not be, based on his mindset. I think I used to be a little whiny, too. (Heh. I probably still am.) Anyway, having grown up a bit since the first time I read it, I have to say, it makes a little more sense now. I realize that, while his thought about how he was treated might be valid, his response to that treatment undersored any point he was trying to make. I know this because this book (and all his others) make me think about stuff like that. Seriously. Read his stuff.

This has been one of my favorite series when I was in college and I had the opportunity to reread this again and it did not disappoint. I love the fantasy system of order and chaos and how they play off one another. Modesitt does a very nice job of created a character in Lerris that we can become involved with an appreciate. It is a fun read and quick with a story that moves well. It does come to an end a little quickly for me but for a first book in a series it does not seem to do more or less than what I would expect.My one disappointment with the series is the lack of continuation with the characters as you move between the books but does not impact me too much to create a sour taste in my mouth.A fun read for fantasy enthusiasts. It does not create any major impacts in the fantasy landscape but is a solid entrance into the genre.

I've read this book five times. It establishes the world of Recluce in a way that is reminiscent of George R. R. Martin's epic novel series A Game of Thrones. Characters, politics, motivations, and morality come to life in this magical adventure. It's not your typical fantasy, as it's mostly human.... and lion and tigers and bears oh my. But the magic use is extremely developed and well thought. Totally worth a read.

great

After readying the second book first I looked high and low for a printed copy of this novel. So glad that Amazon had it. Great start to a long journey of reading ahead of me. Now for the third novel... Great journey so far and easy to read.

When I was in primary school I grabbed this book on a whim at a white elephant stall for a dollar. May not be the best book in the world but it was perfect to resonate with a teenager that was bored with everything. Bought this as a gift for my little sister who has started getting interested in reading.If you love this book the other positive thing is the author wrote functionally the same book like... 20 other times with variations on the setting in a way that explores the great world he created.

I have read the recluse and corean books over many years usually when I could get them in the library so not necessarily in order. These days I am a kindle reader so can catch up on the ones missed... Such as this one. It did not disappoint. I am sure I will read it again and again. Great plot, engaging with a proper ending but now I need to get the second book about Lerris which I think I have read before .... Can't wait.

Well written gentle fantasy