Scholar (Imager Portfolio Series #4)

the fascinating complex (perhaps schizoid) protagonist makes this a delightful thrilling read

Lord Bhayar of Telaryn commissions his friend Quaeryt Rytersyn the scholar to travel to Tilbor Province conquered by the ruler's father a decade ago. Bhayar would like to bring home some of his occupying army so he wants Quaeryt to look closely at conditions on the ground that has the leader concerned.

The journey by sea proves perilous, but Quaeryt arrives in the remote land. As a precaution, the scholar conceals his imager skills to create mental images that turn solid. He looks closely at the plight of the people in the countryside before entering the garrison. As he interrogates the officers, Quaeryt uncovers a political conspiracy to shake Bhayar's rule and send Telaryn into a catastrophe. Not one to sit idly by, Quaeryt plans to prevent the disaster from occurring by any means necessary including assassination.

Occurring before the Imager Portfolio (see Imager, Imager's Challenge and Imager's Intrigue), the title character makes the political fantasy work as he is a serious Scholar and even more serious merciless killing machine. The power struggle has the various players including the newcomer rationalizing that the end justifies any means. The incredibly detailed realm of L.E. Modesitt Jr. is a two edged sword as the audience will believe the world exists but at a cost of slowing down the plot at times. Still the fascinating complex (perhaps schizoid) protagonist makes this a delightful thrilling read.

Harriet Klausner

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Excellence continued

L E Modesitt, Jr continues his Imager series in an unusual but very entertaining way. Scholar is essentially the backstory providing the history which led to the society portrayed in the first three Imager books. Scholar provides tantalizing hints of how the Imager world came about, while offering a rousing 'quest' story with all the character development I enjoy and expect from Mr. Modesitt. An excellent and entertaining read.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Highly recommended - a good read

Once again Modesitt delievers a solid tale with strong characters and lots of action. This book is best to be read as part of the series, but can certainly be read and enjoyed alone.

Awesome

This author has an amazing writing style in all of the books that i have read so far. The main characters in his books put James Bond to shame and make Mr. Bond look like some kind of man gigolo that has the urge to kill someone every once and a while.

I would like a movie but i am sure hollywood would just screw it up royally. so it would probably be best if hollywood stayed out of this one.

Excellent start to the next Imager storyline

If you haven't already been reading the Imager books, you can start here without really missing anything -- this is a completely new story with a new protagonist and lots of new people and places to discover.

I would still encourage you to read the other books (and I'm sure that reading this would make you want to see what else is out there -- while you're waiting for the next book in the series).

As usual with Mr. Modesitt's books, I couldn't put it down. I love his characters -- I find their personalities and realistic responses to others to be very satisfying. He places them in "real life" situations and they make their decisions the same way most of us do -- cautiously, after evaluating all the pros and cons.

Imager Series #4: Scholar

As ever, like the many entertainingly well writen novels i have had the pleasure to explore. "Scholar" is superb.

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