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

Unimaginitive and poorly read

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

Was ok, narrator poor, espessially voice acting.

Would you be willing to try another book from L. E. Modesitt Jr? Why or why not?

I'd buy more books, yes. The author is somewhat inconsistent in quality though (for sci-fi and fantasy)

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of William Dufris?

Don't know about names, buit someone who doesn't read too much into the characters and situations they are in. The narration frankly irritated me with this book.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

NO.

Great start!

This is my first book by L. E. Modesitt Jr. And I highly enjoyed it! I was not a big fan of the romance, but I live the story overall, and I can’t wait to see where the plot goes.

Interesting concepts

Modesitt comes up with some interesting worlds. This is no exception. I'm not thrilled with the narrator. He reads the main character as petulant and many of the older men as pompous. I can certainly see how he'd get that from the writing but it is a bit hard to identify with a pouty protagonist.
I've come to expect a bit of preaching in Modesitt's books and this is no different. It's good enough but not great.

Different

I really liked the concept of the magic system, but in this book it seems like the only two thing you really see are shields and how to kill with it. I would have like to seen it go even farther, because it is such a powerful tool. The story opens very slowly, the first three hours talks about Rhenn's painting journeymanship. I almost gave up the book it was so boring. The pace never really picks, but the story does get a bit more intriguing after Rhenn learns that he is an Imager. Rhenn is modest about his ability or at least how little he understands how powerful he really is. Along the way he taught more than just his imager skills and learns to use his mind and body. Rhenn is also very good a piecing together clues using logic and deduction. The world is set in a period where steam power and guns are used. The narrator is good, but not great. While I don't enjoy this style of fantasy it was good enough I did pick up the second book. If you like this book you might enjoy "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss.

Worth the slow start.

Don't give up after the what seems like too long an introduction. You will be rewarded for having a better understanding of the characters and the interesting world of Terahnar. An interesting treatise on human nature - no matter from what world they originate.

Great Start!

This is a wonderful, well written book that provides a portrait into a clearly defined world of intrigue and magic. It was interesting and fun to listen to. I said great start because the Imager defines a character and environment that can, and hopefully will be used by Modesitt to bring to life further adventures of the young Master Imager Rhennthyl.

Good Beginning

This is a good beginning to an excellent series. It gets the full Modesitt treatment complete with unique world building, action, and a bit of romance. A solid read.

Overall very enjoyable and a good listen.

This is a good series that deals with a new idea in the realm of fantasy, in the fact that what you can think of is what you can create. The story is good, Modesitt has always been able to keep my attention with his books in the past. The narrator is good as well with several different inflections in tone and moderation to give life to the characters in the story.

Overall I well keep this one on my ipad for a another listen in the future.

A little slow to start but worth the read.

I have always enjoyed the lines of L.E. Modesty. Loved the character development. Looking forward to the next book

Loved it!

I loved reading Imager but I enjoyed hearing it as well. It's a great story well written.