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Bookseller Reviews
This bestselling. and long-running (eleven book) fantasy series continues full throttle. In this sequel to Magi'i of Cyador, lancer officer Lorn finds himself victimized by his own youthful prowess. Only the death of the Emperor sets him and all of Cyad back on a healthy path. Intricate, realistic and consistently plotted, Modesitt's cycle continues to attract new fans.
B&N.com Editor
Our Review
The Tale of Lorn Continues
L. E. Modesitt's Recluce series, begun in 1991, has spanned millennia on the fascinating planet where chaos is always attempting to break through into the world of order. In Scion of Cyador, the highly anticipated 11th novel in the Recluce saga, Modesitt offers readers a continuation of the story thread begun in Magi'i of Cyador, which tracks back to the beginning of the world of Recluce. Along with Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind, Modesitt continues to establish himself as one of the truly notable authors of the extended fantasy mega-series, turning out popular, immense, and sweeping sword and sorcery novels.
The Magi'i guard the Towers that harness the wild energies of chaos, fueling all fireships, war wagons, and weapons. All of Cyador depends on the Magi'i and their chaos glasses, which detect storms and warring forces from afar. Chaos thrives on the other side of the barrier that exists within the towers, and no one knows what will happen if the towers ever fail. Lorn, the son of Magus Kien, was a proficient student who wielded a great sorcerous skill, although he lacked the proper passion to ever become one of the truly great Magi'i. His father eventually chose to make Lorn a lancer officer and sent him off to the frontier to battle the barbarian hordes and the Accursed Forest. Though he was forced to leave behind his love, the merchanter Ryalth, and despite the dangers, he enjoyed his freedom.
The chaos towers, which are actually engine cells of the ancient starship that brought the original "firstborn" to the planet of Cyador, are beginning to fail. Chaos power, which fuels all technology, is running out, threatening to throw civilization into turmoil. The great Emperor Toziel'elth'alt'mer is also nearing the end of his life, and hasn't yet chosen a successor to govern Cyador after his demise. Lorn, because of his skills as both a wizard and a soldier, has made a great many enemies for himself, including several of his own lancer comrades who fear he may have ambitions to the throne. When he is transferred to a distant port town and begins to work with the Emperor's accountants and taxmen to get Cyador financially stable again, he learns of even greater evils awaiting him and the land itself.
Modesitt manages to provide the reader with yet another action-packed and yet ultimately thoughtful novel of wizards and warriors, with a greater focus on social travails than might be expected in this type of high fantasy fiction. He masterfully continues to weave a complex story line filled with the mysterious star-spanning "firstborn," the warring powers of order and chaos, and the evocative elements of clashing cultures and bitter class structures. Scion of Cyador is another vibrant volume in the engaging and often profound Recluce saga.
--Tom Piccirilli
Kirkus Reviews
The 11th in Modesitt's Saga of Recluce fantasy series, this one conceptually and chronologically hard on the heels of Magi'i of Cyador (p. 344). What else do you need to know? Still, the question nags: why do authors indulge themselves in such inordinately huge, never-ending series? Aside from publishers, who have their own agenda, and fans, who like what they like, let's speculate: (1) because modern speech-recognition software has made it all too easy; (2) today's editors would commit hara-kiri rather than actually edit something; (3) like a golfer's yips, once you've had Doorstopper Syndrome, you've got it; (4) the million-word barrier proves an irresistible challenge; etc.. . .
From the Publisher
"Military buffs should enjoy the stupidity of the army's decisions, while marveling at the fantastic swath one heroic man armed with a magic mirror can cut through politics." —-Publishers Weekly
