L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
Book 3 of Corean Chronicles
Amazon Google Books ISBN
Epic Fantasy Fantasy fiction Fiction General Good and Evil Imaginary wars and battles
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: Jan 2, 2004
The concluding volume in Modesitt's Corean Chronicles trilogy (after Legacies and Darknesses), an intriguing blend of martial fantasy and SF, gets off to a slow start, then picks up steam once the vivid and inventive magic starts flying. The Lord-Protector of Lanachrona calls the supernaturally "Talented" but oh-so-reluctant hero, Alucius, back to duty as commander of the Northern and Southern Guard to quell rebels determined to reinstate the True Duarchy. Meanwhile, his beloved wife, Wendra, who's just given birth, is abducted by a mysterious Ancient One, an angelic soarer who teaches her about "the threads of life, and how they may be mended—and unravelled." Wendra also learns the importance of destroying the alien ifrits, who seek to reactivate all pre-Cataclysm "Tables" (which serve as conduits between vast distances) to invade the land of Corus. Romance clearly isn't Modesitt's forte (there's a one-sentence love scene), and Wendra is a little boring until she takes her baby along to fight the ifrits, but male readers age 15 and up should enjoy the ride after they get past some tedious dialogue and superfluous military detail. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
With this volume, Modesitt concludes, at least for the nonce, the story of Alucius the nightsheep herder and his battles on the world of Corus. Although released from the military for meritorious--indeed, world-saving--service at the end of Darknesses [BKL S 1 03], Alucius now becomes a commanding officer for a homeland facing enemies on all sides. Madrien has reconstructed some of its deadly weapons that Alucius destroyed in Legacies (2002), and a strange religious movement claims to have the power to restore the glories of a legendary golden age. Even worse, secret foes aim to drain the life from all Corus to benefit aliens from another world. In the trilogy, collectively entitled the Corean Chronicles, Modesitt has portrayed Alucius' development as both man and soldier and created a world original in its details but familiar in the cussedness of its inhabitants, human and nonhuman. It's a notable achievement, best read in sequence. Frieda MurrayCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Description:
From Publishers Weekly
The concluding volume in Modesitt's Corean Chronicles trilogy (after Legacies and Darknesses), an intriguing blend of martial fantasy and SF, gets off to a slow start, then picks up steam once the vivid and inventive magic starts flying. The Lord-Protector of Lanachrona calls the supernaturally "Talented" but oh-so-reluctant hero, Alucius, back to duty as commander of the Northern and Southern Guard to quell rebels determined to reinstate the True Duarchy. Meanwhile, his beloved wife, Wendra, who's just given birth, is abducted by a mysterious Ancient One, an angelic soarer who teaches her about "the threads of life, and how they may be mended—and unravelled." Wendra also learns the importance of destroying the alien ifrits, who seek to reactivate all pre-Cataclysm "Tables" (which serve as conduits between vast distances) to invade the land of Corus. Romance clearly isn't Modesitt's forte (there's a one-sentence love scene), and Wendra is a little boring until she takes her baby along to fight the ifrits, but male readers age 15 and up should enjoy the ride after they get past some tedious dialogue and superfluous military detail.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
With this volume, Modesitt concludes, at least for the nonce, the story of Alucius the nightsheep herder and his battles on the world of Corus. Although released from the military for meritorious--indeed, world-saving--service at the end of Darknesses [BKL S 1 03], Alucius now becomes a commanding officer for a homeland facing enemies on all sides. Madrien has reconstructed some of its deadly weapons that Alucius destroyed in Legacies (2002), and a strange religious movement claims to have the power to restore the glories of a legendary golden age. Even worse, secret foes aim to drain the life from all Corus to benefit aliens from another world. In the trilogy, collectively entitled the Corean Chronicles, Modesitt has portrayed Alucius' development as both man and soldier and created a world original in its details but familiar in the cussedness of its inhabitants, human and nonhuman. It's a notable achievement, best read in sequence. Frieda Murray
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved