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Has anyone read any of this author? I am reading The Soprano Sorceress, and NOT loving it.
A student gave me book 2, and so I went out and bought book one.
Will it get better?
Because, if it does not, I just happened to buy the whole "Dark is Rising" series tonight. You know, just in case someone here says I should go ahead and jump right into that, what with the movie coming out and all.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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Boon
unregistered
posted
I read it some time ago...
I remember it as being an alright read, though nothing spectacular. I don't remember too many details, though.
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I read The Octagonal Raven. That's by him, right? It was not bad. Not great, but not bad. It had a surprisingly deep study of privilege in society for an action novel.
I specifically picked it up because he is not one of my usual authors. Every once in a while, I just like to grab something random off of the sci-fi shelf, to see what I discover and to keep my horizons (somewhat )broad.
I wouldn't go out of my way to seek him out, I don't think, but I didn't hate the book I read either. (Actually, while I had completely forgotten about it, thinking about it now is bringing a lot back to me that I appreciated.)
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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I always preferred the Recluce novels to any of his others, although there's few that I actually went back to: The Magic of Recluce and The Magic Engineer.
I never got into the Spellsong Cycle or any of his others.
EDIT: But I would recommend The Dark Is Rising over all of them.
Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I have never heard of L.E. Modesitt, Jr., so I can't help you there, but I will second Teshi's vouch for Susan Cooper. If you're not thrilled with the first one though, don't give up until you've read #2 as well. I found they got a lot better after the first one, though others I know disagree and love them all equally.
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Well, I read number 2 many years ago, thinking it was number 1. I never got back to the series, but always wanted to.
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I read several of those books. They were enjoyable light reading, although a little hit-or-miss.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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I enjoyed the Recluse books, I thought the Spellsong cycle was decent...but I got tired of it after a few books.
Posts: 1901 | Registered: May 2004
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I will go back and finish it after Susan Cooper. It just wasn;t pulling me in at all. The main character was pretty uninteresting to me.
Also, every other chapter he uses the pov I cannot stand. Not sure what it is called. I think of it like the scene description of a play: "There is a hush over the crowd. The man looks to his right. He drops his stick. Ew. I really hate that.
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If people find Robert Jordan's over-descriptions annoying, they may not appreciate Modesitt's overuse of ellipsis and the many descriptions of what Leris's mountain pony is doing "whuff" to be a bit much.
I do read Modesitt, but sometimes find it hard to get through.
Posts: 2034 | Registered: Apr 2004
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One of the things I liked about Modesitt's recluse books annoyed people. Many times his main characters are craftsmen. Either, wood workers, blacksmiths, or some such thing along those lines. He goes into a lot of detail about the mechanics of their job. I personally find it interesting, but I know many people thought it was to much detail.
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The Recluse series was so hot and cold, the only one I con whole heartedly reccommend is The Towers of Sunset. But mostly, I consider it kids fantasy.
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It's not written for children though, not by a long shot. I mean, they are largely suitable, but they're not targetted at children!
Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I like him, but I don't have great literary taste either. Modesitt has a nasty habit of drawing out the setup throughout the book. Don't give up on the book until you've read the last 5 chapters, cause that's where it suddenly all makes sense. But he doesn't leave you dangling like Robert Jordan, he does get stuff tied up, and making sense in the end.
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The Towers of Sunset was the worst of the recluce books. The best were the either the pairings of Magi'i of Cyador/Scion or The White Order/Colors of Chaos.
By the way, it's the Recluce series, not Recluse.
Posts: 413 | Registered: Apr 2003
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When I read Modessit, he seemed to be trying to be the "Anti-Jordan", making sure that each story was *completely* contained within one book. I thought he went a litte too far. There were things that would have been great to expand on with an additional book with the same character.
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