The Magic Engineer

Saga of Recluce Series, Book 3

By: L. E. Modesitt Jr.

Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne

The chronicles of the magical island of Recluce continue as young Dorrin, fascinated by forbidden science, goes into exile in the lands of Chaos, where he unwillingly invents devices of war to save his land from the evil Chaos wizards.

©1994 L. E. Modesitt (P)2013 Tantor

Critic reviews

"L. E. Modesitt, Jr. is uncompromising when it comes to the effects of magic, both on the natural world and on the human heart." (Robin Hobb)

Blackness Indeed!

Similar story elements from the first two books - because of order? Good stuff, engaging.

I love the Reclue sagas!

L.E. Modesitt, Jr. is one of the best fantasy most skilled practitioners, & the Magic Engineer more than confirms that status! Enthralling epic fantasy from a great storytelling writer, just extraordinary!

Wrong Narrator

How could the performance have been better?

The Narrator wiffed it bad on this one. As I regret to say he's doing with the rest of the Recluse books. He doesn't seem to get the characters he's reading and just isn't very good in general.

Please, Please stop hiring Kirby Heyborne

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Kirby Heyborne?

Please use professional voice actors. William Dufris does a great job with other Modesitt books.

Heyborne seems to have no way of differentiating characters other than with accents that make no sense. You get a father with an American accent and a daughter with an Irish accent, even though both have lived in the same town their whole lives.

Great story, horrible performance.

Well woven world

This story is part of such a well woven world and the story itself is so finely crafted that one can do naught but savor it's beauty. Buy this, you'll love it.

Engaging, Energetic, a true Epic Fantasy.

A testament to Modesitt Jr. This is a great journey in fleshing out the steam punk magic system and tech that made The Majic Of Recluse so gripping.

loved it

this was a reread for me, but I lived these books as a teen and am really enjoying them a second time around. I like the magic system and world building though sometimes the time lines can be a bit confusing.

I disagree with a previous reviewer

Where does The Magic Engineer rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

it's in the upper 10%. I enjoyed that the author made sure that I understood what it meant to be a blacksmith, I learned a lot and appreciate it! It helped his story have good follow through. A previous reviewer got bored with it, but I certainly did not.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The main character of course - the author brought him out very well.

What three words best describe Kirby Heyborne’s performance?

Excellent, but stop making attempts at sound affects. In my opinion they are an interference with the reading. A horse does not whinny anywhere near what he insinuates and I bet that this sound affect is not a part of the true reading. Read, please, don't make up stuff along the way.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I would not do so. I don't like film - I like books.

Love these books.

I love these books. The attention to detail really creates the scene in your mind. The narration is wonderful and varied. Mr. Heyborne brings such unique voices to the characters that I felt like there was more than one person reading. The story is a bit slow going but I didn't mind that as I was so drawn into the characters and world around them. I am looking forward to listening to the rest of the books in this series.

Very strong entry

O.K., after reading many other reviews, I feel the need to defend this novel a bit. There are certainly similarities, between this novel and the previous two, but it's not fair to call them identical. I think that this series is the story of Recluse more than it is the story of any particular person. On that regard we get treated to some great developments in this novel. We finally see how the steam engines we saw in the first novel became a part of Recluse and learn where the book on order comes from. I am excited to read the next novel where I hope to read of the destruction of Fair Haven and learn more about Justin. This was a great entry in this excellent series.