Imager

The First Book of the Imager Portfolio

By: L. E. Modesitt Jr.

Narrated by: William Dufris

Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

Although Rhennthyl is the son of a leading wool merchant in L'Excelsis, the capital of Solidar, the most powerful nation on Terahnar, he has spent years becoming a journeyman artist and is skilled and diligent enough to be considered for the status of master artisan - in another two years.

Then, in a single moment, his entire life is transformed when his master patron is killed in a flash fire and Rhenn discovers he is an imager - one of the few in the entire world of Terahnar who can visualize things and make them real.

Rhenn is forced to leave his family and join the Collegium of Imagisle. Because of their abilities (they can do accidental magic even while asleep), and because they are both feared and vulnerable, imagers must live separately from the rest of society.

In this new life, Rhenn discovers that all too many of the "truths" he knew were nothing of the sort. Every day brings a new threat to his life. He makes a powerful enemy while righting a wrong, and he begins to learn to do magic in secret.

Imager is the innovative and enchanting opening of an involving new fantasy story.

©2009 L.E. Modesitt, Jr. (P)2009 Tantor

Superb

The first two book are good very good, i wish is the last book would be out soon!. William Dufris does a good job

Awesome Book

I loved the book, there is a great detail that really paints the picture for you. When you listen to William narrate the book you can grab some of the finner details that give some awesome depth to the complexity of the story.

Prepare for a slow ride

Modesitt's Imager books are essentially spy thrillers that replace the capabilities of a spy agency with magic. Focused around near omnipotent individuals we spend most of the time with them trying to figure out the evil plots around them. The progress is mostly by thinking not action and the resulting action scenes are brief thanks to the overwhelming powers involved.

The genius of the books is that they keep me glued despite not much happenening - and Imager is one of the fastest paced books in the series. This is due to the very likeable characters, brilliant performance by William Dufris and finally the excellent world building. Modesitt uses the youth of the main character to let us figure out how the world differs from ours with his personal growth which works surprisingly well. The main benefit is that the typical training sequence is both comparably short and intertwined with the story itself.

Speaking of downsides, the pacing can be off, especially in the fragmented beginning or the romantic relationship of the main character. Further some scenes feel like they have been added just for callbacks, to make future abilities more explainable but don't mesh well with the overall pace (e.g. the first and only time the main character checks his food for poison). Also some might be upset by the very explicit philosophical discussions which while not out of character are more overt and explicit than some may like.

All this would justify deducting a star but personally I found both the world as well as the implications brought by magic boiling down to 'if you can imagine it, you can make it' fascinating. How Modesitt limits of the series the in principal omnipotent magic of his characters is a conflict that drives the story and now all those books later it hasn't become boringm

Great book only hurt by narrator

The book is great; it's got good clean content, minimal (no?) swearing and sexual content. The only negative I can come up with is that the narrator is somewhat annoying and tends to ruin certain aspects of the book because of his unnatural and strange intonations.

Disappointed

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

It was a exercise in tedium. The ridiculous amount of 'lessons' made me want to stick my head in the oven. My actual school work was a lot more entertaining than this book.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

The narration was cheesy and his performance would be better in the recreation center community theater.

Any additional comments?

A far better book about a student of magic is: The name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

Headline

Enjoyable and thought-provoking, like sharing your favorite meal with your favorite philosopher-adventurer. Narration's spot-on.

Better than I thought....

What did you like best about this story?

The book was well laid out, thoughtful, intriguing and the story moved along well. It takes a new outlook on "magic" and capabilities of the possessor. Its a refreshing change in the fantasy genre.

Rhenn presents as a straightforward person, determined and ready to make the hard decisions. He can be a little too much of a goody two-shoes some times, but the story is so intriguing, I just hang on a bit and the feeling passes.

What about William Dufris’s performance did you like?

I felt William Dufris's voice at first seems a little "whiney" and lended to a "whiney" character even though I could tell Rhenn wasn't that type of person. After awhile of listening, I adapted. It was not annoying enough to stop listening. And Dufris does an excellent job of other voices.

excellent first title of an exciting new series

very much enjoyed the narration of William Dufris. He manages to get the arrogance of the ruling classes by tone of voice perfectly. will be buying more titles in this series.

Great story!

I was a little confused at first because it starts like a timeline but it does make a little sense as a progressing of the main character life. After that, the story was great and thoroughly enjoyed it!

New favorite found!

Would you listen to Imager again? Why?

So far I have listened to the Imager at least 3 times. The story has a good rhythm, and is interesting. Some of his other books describe his world a little better but the characters and settings are well rounded and enjoyable.

Have you listened to any of William Dufris’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was a first time listening to William Dufris as well as an introduction to Modesitt. Bought it on a trail to see how it would go, and found a new favorite author and narrator!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No I prefer longer listens giving me to ability to relax and not feel rushed or like there is something missing. Modesitts writing style needs the extra time to get all the descriptions in and immerse you into his world.