From Publishers Weekly
The battle between good, denoted by order, and evil, represented by chaos, underlies this promising coming-of-age fantasy. The youth Lerris, a skeptical misfit, is sent on a journey designed to determine whether he will ever be capable of serving his native land, Recluce, a haven of perfection surrounded by chaos. During training, Lerris is told he is a potential order-master, a possible high-level wizard, who must probe his inner self and discover his powers before he can return home. In war-torn Candar, he finds himself hunted as a rogue wizard and narrowly escapes destruction at the hands of the evil wizard Antonin. Apprenticed to a woodworking genius, Lerris comes to the aid of his ailing master, rebuilding his business and arranging the future of the family. Lerris's acceptance of responsibility and respect for order enable the development of his powers, and his use of order-magic against Antonin leads to a confrontation between the two. Modesitt ( The Ecolitan Matter ) creates a complex world based on a plausible system of magic and peopled with engaging and realistic characters. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
YA-- An allegorical fantasy whose central character is a 15-year-old misfit in an oddly isolated Utopian society. Lerris, constantly bored and perpetually questioning, is considered a threat to the order of Wandernaught. Despite his youth, he is asked to choose between exile or undergoing a dangergeld, a journey of discovery and exposure to all the world's wonders and threats. He opts for the latter and is instantly off on a high adventure where he easily recognizes that the real question is whether to choose good or evil, and then which is which. The quest leads Lerris to self-awareness and the beginnings of real wisdom. A good, meaningful read. --Joan L. Reynolds, West Potomac High School, Fairfax County, VACopyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Unable to conform to the rigid laws of perfection and order that govern the land of Recluce, a young carpenter's apprentice undertakes a perilous "dangergeld" journey at the command of the ruling Brotherhood as a test of his right to call Recluce his home. The eternal war between Law and Chaos finds a fresh treatment in Modesitt's latest novel, a fantasy featuring an enterprising hero and a new look at magic. For most fantasy collections.Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
Modesitt's first venture into fantasy (and hard-cover) is an interesting variation on some traditional fantasy themes, with a touch of his own science-fictional outlook. A boy's growth into manhood forms the center of the tale, and Modesitt's portrayal of that process is on the whole believable and insightful. The youthful Lerris, bored with the simple, orderly life of the island of Recluce, is forced by its rulers to undertake a temporary exile. (Young citizens who cannot accept the lifestyle of Recluce must spend time abroad to come to terms with themselves.) His journey carries him through his exile's training, on to the company of a mentoring gray wizard (who straddles the line between white Chaos and black Order), and finally into the path of the great chaos-master Antonin, who schemes to foster disorder and thus increase his own power. A slow start--Lerris's continual complaints of boredom grow tedious, and his dogged obtuseness in the face of evidence is frustrating--but the pace picks up once Lerris leaves Recluce, and the highly rationalized, scientific approach to magic is refreshing in a field full of pure mysticism. Modesitt also avoids the simple equation of order with good and chaos with evil--in Lerris's world, as in ours, a good balance is the best formula--and this more mature insight distinguishes his novel from the run-of-the-mill fantasies. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Review
"Fascinating! A big, exciting novel of the battle between good and evil, and the path between." --Gordon R. Dickson

"A complex world based on a plausible system of magic and peopled with engaging and realistic characters." --Publishers Weekly

"Entwining issues of magic with maturation, Modesitt's thoughtful coming-of-age tale is adorned with a finely drawn, down-to-earth yet dangerous world, and an intriguingly ambiguous view of how good and evil interact." --Carole Nelson Douglas, author of Probe

"Extremely interesting...unique...I would say that this is a refreshing use of the traditional fantasy elements. Thank you for the chance to read it." --Andre Norton, author of The Witch World series

"An intriguing fantasy in a fascinating world, with characters who catch you up. Modesitt presents and interesting study of Chaos versus Order, Good versus Evil...and the attractions each of them has for all of us." --Robert Jordan, author of The Eye of the World



Review
"Fascinating! A big, exciting novel of the battle between good and evil, and the path between." --Gordon R. Dickson

"A complex world based on a plausible system of magic and peopled with engaging and realistic characters." --Publishers Weekly

"Entwining issues of magic with maturation, Modesitt's thoughtful coming-of-age tale is adorned with a finely drawn, down-to-earth yet dangerous world, and an intriguingly ambiguous view of how good and evil interact." --Carole Nelson Douglas, author of Probe

"Extremely interesting...unique...I would say that this is a refreshing use of the traditional fantasy elements. Thank you for the chance to read it." --Andre Norton, author of The Witch World series

"An intriguing fantasy in a fascinating world, with characters who catch you up. Modesitt presents and interesting study of Chaos versus Order, Good versus Evil...and the attractions each of them has for all of us." --Robert Jordan, author of The Eye of the World



Book Description
With The Magic of Recluce, L.E. Modesitt made his impressive hardcover debut, breaking out in wide scope and grand scale with a novel in the great tradition of the war between good and evil in a wonderful fantasy world. Modesitt had been producing fast-paced, slickly-written novels of SF adventure, often compared to the work of Keith Laumer and Gordon R. Dickson. Then, in his biggest and best book yet, he broadened his canvas and turned to fantasy and magic, stepping immediately into the front rank of contemporary fantasy writers.

The Magic of Recluce is a carefully-plotted fantasy novel of character about the growth and education of a young magician. In it, Modesitt confronts real moral issues with gripping force, builds atmosphere slowly and convincingly and gives his central character, Lerris, real intellectual challenges. This is the kind of highly-rationalized fantasy that Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson write when they write fantasy, colorful and detailed.

He is given the standard two options: permanent exile from Recluce or the dangergeld, a complex, rule-laden wanderjahr in the lands beyond Recluce with the aim of learning how the world works and what his place in it might be. Many do not survive. He chooses dangergeld.

Though magic is rarely discussed openly in Recluce, it becomes clear, when Lerris is sent into intensive training for his quest, that he has a natural talent for it during his weapons lessons. And he will need magic in the lands beyond, where the power of the Chaos Wizards reigns unchecked. He must learn to use his powers in an orderly way or fall prey to Chaos.

Lerris may resent order, but he has no difficulty choosing good over evil. As he begins his lonely journey, he falls into the company of a gray magician, once of Recluce, who tutors him in the use of magic and shows him some of the devastation caused by the Chaos Wizards in the great wars between Chaos and Order of past times.

Lerris pursues a quest for knowledge and power that leads him across strange lands, through the ghostly ruins of the old capitol of Chaos, down the white roads of the Chaos Wizards to a final battle with the archenemy of Order, discovering in the end true control of magic, true love, and the beginning of true wisdom. An epic adventure, The Magic of Recluce, is a triumph of fantasy.

The Magic of Recluce is the first book of the saga of Recluce.



About the Author
L. E. Modesitt, Jr., is the author of the popular fantasies of the Recluce, Spellsinger and Corean series as well as numerous science fiction novels. He lives with his wife, a lyric soprano, in Cedar City, Utah.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The word "epic" truly describes L. E. Modesitt Jr.'s massive Recluce cycle. A series that continues to captivate readers with new installments each year, Recluce began in 1990 with The Magic of Recluce; the series has come to span thousands of years and involve hundreds of well-developed and engrossing characters. Recluce is for lovers of complex, highly detailed, and intelligent fantasy; unlike most modern-fantasy scribes, Modesitt not only offers his ardent following gripping action and intriguing magic, he also provides readers with a colorful, thoughtful, and fascinating three-dimensional setting that rivals the greatest of our time.

--Andrew LeCount

FROM THE PUBLISHER

With The Magic of Recluce, L.E. Modesitt made his impressive hardcover debut, breaking out in wide scope and grand scale with a novel in the great tradition of the war between good and evil in a wonderful fantasy world. Modesitt had been producing fast-paced, slickly-written novels of SF adventure, often compared to the work of Keith Laumer and Gordon R. Dickson. Then, in his biggest and best book yet, he broadened his canvas and turned to fantasy and magic, stepping immediately into the front rank of contemporary fantasy writers.

The Magic of Recluce is a carefully-plotted fantasy novel of character about the growth and education of a young magician. In it, Modesitt confronts real moral issues with gripping force, builds atmosphere slowly and convincingly and gives his central character, Lerris, real intellectual challenges. This is the kind of highly-rationalized fantasy that Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson write when they write fantasy, colorful and detailed.

He is given the standard two options: permanent exile from Recluce or the dangergeld, a complex, rule-laden wanderjahr in the lands beyond Recluce with the aim of learning how the world works and what his place in it might be. Many do not survive. He chooses dangergeld.

Though magic is rarely discussed openly in Recluce, it becomes clear, when Lerris is sent into intensive training for his quest, that he has a natural talent for it during his weapons lessons. And he will need magic in the lands beyond, where the power of the Chaos Wizards reigns unchecked. He must learn to use his powers in an orderly way or fall prey to Chaos.

Lerris may resent order, but he has no difficultychoosing good over evil. As he begins his lonely journey, he falls into the company of a gray magician, once of Recluce, who tutors him in the use of magic and shows him some of the devastation caused by the Chaos Wizards in the great wars between Chaos and Order of past times.

Lerris pursues a quest for knowledge and power that leads him across strange lands, through the ghostly ruins of the old capitol of Chaos, down the white roads of the Chaos Wizards to a final battle with the archenemy of Order, discovering in the end true control of magic, true love, and the beginning of true wisdom. An epic adventure, The Magic of Recluce, is a triumph of fantasy.

The Magic of Recluce is the first book of the saga of Recluce.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

"Extremely interesting...unique...I would say that this is a refreshing use of hte traditional fantasy elements. Thank you for the chance to read it." -- Author of The Witch World Series — Andre Norton

"An intriguing fantasy in a fascinating world, with characters who catch you up. Modesty presents an intersting study of Chaos versus Order, Good versus Evil...and the attractopms each of them has for all of us." -- Author of The Eye of the World — Robert Jordan