Its been a little over 20 years since I last read a Magic of Recluce novel. I remember the series being a bit slow to start, nonlinear from book to book, with most of them being in pairs of chronological tales, and that they were nuanced and thoughtful. This book was definitely nuanced, but was not plot driven rather more of a character study. This book serves to illuminate some ancient history in the lore of this world, exploring the story of Lorn, a character who mixes order and chaos and is therefore an enemy of the traditional chaos-run society. He is maneuvered into positions where he is supposed to fail, but he succeeds by thinking outside of the box and bucking tradition, which just gets him promoted into an even more dangerous position. Through it all, he remains rational, finds love, and starts to build the foundations of power. I enjoyed this book, but it didn't grab me as much as the previous Magic of Recluce novels have. Perhaps it was the lack of a plot-driven story, or perhaps it was the dryness of the characters or the repetition of the story, or perhaps my tastes have changed over the past 20 years. I did enjoy the political plotting and the hints of science fiction in the origins of chaos in this world. I liked many of the world-building aspects. It was still enjoyable, but not one of my favorites of the series. I'm still interested enough to check out the next book though. ( )

deals with Cyador. Near the end of its reign. The white power that the magi'i use is definitely on a different level than what the future white wizards use. Lorn is a magi who doesn't quite cut it so is sent to become a Lancer. He is constantly the center of plots to get rid of him. He has his own plots to take over Cyador. Deals a LOT with the Forest, that is restrained. ( )

I have to give L. E. Modesitt a lot of credit, in this 10th book of the series, he still manages to keep things interesting. It helps that this book is entirely about Cyador and not Recluce, like many of the previous books. Cyador is the kingdom founded on the control of chaos - not in an orderly way, but the use of chaos to produce useful effects, like propelling trucks and cars and powering fire lances. Cyador is stuck in a rut though, which is strange for a kingdom founded on chaos. The mages, warriors and merchants subtly struggle for control while barbarians and the Forest try to tear the kingdom apart. As is usual for his books, while white Chaos is usually evil in previous books, that's not always the case as presented here. Good, unusual fantasy. ( )

The Cyador pair may be my favorite of the Recluce novels. They're cohesive, form a compelling arc, and have a number of engaging characters - not just the main character. They're fairly distant chronologically from all of the rest, even the Angels books, and that allows them some substantial freedom - they're also much more about maintaining an empire in the face of failing resources than about the order/chaos dichotomy that is the focus of all the rest.

They're not perfect. Lorn is a solid character in general, but his ruthlessness is offputting - he kills at least four people in this book in more-or-less cold blood without ever showing any indication of having considered alternatives. This is consistent with the extreme pragmatism of the society in general - it doesn't count the human cost - but it makes Lorn less sympathetic for sure.

And Modesitt develops a tic in this pair of books that I don't recall him using anywhere else - the overuse of "such." Characters are always saying such, or doing such, or using verbal constructions like "I would have, had I known such." It seems like Modesitt is trying to create an archaic feel by just making the dialog more stilted, and it might work better if he had more tools to do so.

I do enjoy the female characters - in a society that is aggressively patriarchal, there are a number of women who figure out ways to get exactly what they want, and Modesitt treats their choices as not only valid but obviously, inevitably so. I'm particularly curious what his concept of the woman who refuses to marry and spends her free time dressed up as a man was - was she intended to be gay, or trans, or just a free spirit? It's never really addressed, but also not treated as anything particularly deviant.

Magi'i is really half of a book, like many of his other pairs in this series, but it's a solid half to one of the better stories. ( )

Magi'i of Cyador is the story of Lorn, a child of privilege in the great empire of Cyador. Syador is presented as a complex political society where power is divided between three, generally hereditary, castes "Merage" (merchanters), "Altage" (lancers/military), and "Elthage" (mages). Lorn's father is one of the highest ranking mages, and Lorn himself is an able, if slightly disinterested, student of magic himself. Due to his lack of complete commitment to his lessons, Lorn is sent off to become a junior officer in the lancers.

Modesitt does a fantastic job painting the picture of a regimented, but nuanced, culture that existed hundreds if not thousands of years prior to the rest of the action in the Recluce series. The story moves along at a brisk clip for the number of years that it covers (a lot) and is always engaging.

Magi'i of Cyador does not do a great job standing on its own, it must be read with its sequel Scion of Cyador. It really is one book that was too big to fit in a single volume, not two that follow each other in sequence. This is not to detract from how much I enjoy it; these two books and the other pair Colors of Chaos and The White Order follow a similar structure that I like. Splitting the story into two volumes gives the author the time to fill his stories with rich detail and allow us to view the personal relationships that define his character's lives grow and shape them.

Although this novel comes later in the sequence of published Recluce novels, it is the first chronologically. It would be interesting for someone new to the series to start here and work forward in time rather than picking up The Magic of Recluce or one of the other earlier published, but later in time, works.

In sum, I love this pair of books, but I have to set aside a weekend whenever I pick it up, because even having read it many times, I have a hard time putting it or its sequel down until I've finished the whole story. ( )