Imager's Battalion

Imager Portfolio, Book 6

By: L. E. Modesitt Jr.

Narrated by: William Dufris

Length: 18 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

The sequel to The New York Times best-selling Princeps follows magical hero Quaeryt as he leads history's first Imager fighting force into war. Given the rank of subcommander by his wife's brother, Lord Bhayar, the ruler of Telaryn, Quaeryt joins an invading army into the hostile land of Bovaria, in retaliation for Bovaria's attempted annexation of Telaryn. But Quaeryt has his own agenda in doing Bhayar's bidding: to legitimize Imagers in the hearts and minds of all men, by demonstrating their value as heroes as he leads his battalion into one costly battle after another.

Making matters worse, court intrigues pursue Quaeryt even to the front lines of the conflict, as the Imager's enemies continue to plot against him.

©2012 L. E. Modesitt, Jr. (P)2013 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A wholly absorbing entry in this highly addictive series." ( Kirus Starred Review)

More of the same

L. E. Modesitt, Jr. offers up another volume in the Imager Portfolio that differs little from its predecessor. As Bhayar’s forces invade Bovaria Quaeryt is now a subcommander but little else has changed. Quaeryt still reads about Rholan and gives sermons to the troops, he still figures out new ways for imagers to safely use and grow their abilities, and he still exchanges letters with Vaelora.

So there really isn’t much new to review here. If you have been enjoying the Imager Portfolio since the switch to Quaeryt as the main character then you should dive right in because this is more of the same. If like me, you preferred Rhennthyl as the main character, then this book is another step in a storyline that remains just a little too bland. It continues to keep me interested but I never get excited about it.

Still Around? You Should Like This One Well Enough

In book 4, Scholar, we were introduced to Quaeryt, in the beginning of this prequel for the Imagers series, where he learns to become a master imager. In book 5, Princeps, we got to see Quaeryt function as a governor as he delved into the intricacies of politics and problems that arise from corrupt government. Now in book 6, Imager's Battalion, we get a continuation of adventures involving Quaeryt as he goes on a military march to Bovaria as a sub commander to destroy some evil ruler. We have established that our protagonist is a strong leader and the best imager around and now we get to see him training others. He commits to this military campaign in order to secure a need and better standing for imagers in his land. We explore what it might take for this to happen and can make connections to what creates the rules in which imagers must live by in the future.

What made this a 3 star instead of a higher rating for me was the constant second guessing, moaning, justification, and false modesty Quaeryt would go through in his campaign of carnage. We also get more preaching about naming. This isn't exactly something new and such themes repeat through the other two previous books. The narration isn't stellar either. I wish William Dufris would cut out his injured voice. The characters sound similar as well. I didn't think he was the best narrator for the first three books and I would have preferred for this new set of characters to have someone else.
Anyhow, we get a book 7, Antiagon Fire, which just came out recently. We have a decent conclusion to events in this book, but there are many things that still need to happen to secure a future for imagers. I'm a little sad because I hoped this would end as a trilogy so L. E. Modesitt might be able to focus on a future story line involving imagers instead of this prequel business. Should there be more prequels written than the main trilogy that started Imagers? On the other hand, I am impressed on the speed that L. E. Modesitt is releasing these books.

I may be a little critical here, but I do enjoy this series enough that I spend my credits on them.

Really good read

Great narrator and a good story. It is a must to start at the beginning of the portfolio.

Great Character, great World, great Story but the

Even after 5 books in the series, I read through book 6 in record time. very entertaining, very enjoyable and builds well on existing characters, story line and the general story world.

You are part of the lives of the main characters and you can relate to the decisions made and reason for courses of action; brilliant.

The only disappointment is the American Cliff Hanger Ending, where the hero... well let's not give it away. So far though the author has 'rounded off' their story with a final chapter after the highlight of the story which showed how our hero's went on from there and made me look forward to the next book. With this book there has been a departure from the rounding off and after the big final scene, the book kinda ends with a implied 'more to come next season'.

I personally really dislike this. Eventually, every series has to end and finishing a book without a proper finish and an implication what may be next leaves me cold and not really looking forward to the next book.

I will get the next book but .....

Still, all said and done, the Imager Series is brilliant and worth reading and re-listening. Maybe, it will be made into a Movie some time, it would be worth while!

Seeming Endless Battle

This is the 3rd about Quaeryt; It picks up directly where Princeps left him. Being familiar with the Modesitt habit of this I re-read Scholar and Princeps before hearing Battalion. I would suggest this to anyone working on this books.

While I enjoy the Battalion I found it rather dragged on. The theme and the settings seemed all so similar and Quaeryt himself seemed to move very little. Modesitt ability to write a battle scene seem to lack energy after a while; despite William Dufris attempts to inject energy. It almost felt like Dufris himself was rushing and tripping over many of the descriptions in an attempt to get past them to get to the meat of the battle.

The new side characters seem very thin and more bit players rather than the important I felt they should have developed. While they don't do much one feels that as a Quaeryt direct command that there should been more too them. They also seemling have so little impact on Quaeryt that they are just a liability and not an assent.

Then there is Vaelora. Or rather she too seems to be more a cameo than a regular even in letter. I wishes most the book that Moddesit would give us a flash side ways to Vaelora.

In many way I would this book to be more preachy with less cause then the other Imager books. It does for the die-hard fan given some valuable background to the Unnamer. In many ways I felt Moddesitt could improve the book markedly by a more heavely parallel between Rollon and Quaeryt.

I think personally this is the weakest of the Imager books and possible would have make a better short novel then a full book. Given that, though it's much better then many many other books you might buy.

Anticlimax

I liked this book as I've liked all the books and imager series. it just seems like the ending was a bit of an anti-climax after all the buildup.

Great another wonderful story

I love the characters and the store line. The world created is so intriguing and alive. I also like the narrater and the way he reads and does the voices giving true feelings to each character. Thank you for giving us this set of book to enjoy.

Very much a "middle" book in a series.

A fast-paced, military campaign procedural. The story opens about a year after book 1, as the protagonist is embarking on an invasion of Bovaria and ends abrubtly after the last battle. Along the way, Quaeryt does a lot of thinking about the future of Imagers in Lydar, while mastering the art of a battle tactician.

well done

wow a. that was amazing. a little more explanation as to what happened to the enemy at the end, but other than that it was perfection. loved it!!!

The imagers are kicking ass.

The imagers are finally coming into thier own. Great story, from a great author. Can't wait for the next installment.

A great listen

A great book. A brilliant narrative. He created a atmospheric world with a strong set of rules, and relgion in his imager portfolio series. With it's own time units day names and numbers. This book is set in a time of war. Responding to an invasion attempt in the previous book. Ower main carractors lead a counter invasion in response. To end the threat of the Rex.

Slow but ok

It's an enjoyable listen, but sadly not to the standard of his usual work, a lot of the time I spent hoping something would happen and when we finally get to a climactic battle it's over in a few pages leaving you very disappointed. I feel like this was a novel to set the stage for what's to come, but falls flat on its own merits, hopefully the pay off will come with the next book

Not to the standard of Princeps unfortunately.

Likely falls somewhere closer to 3.5 however rounding up to four stars would have a misleading impression IMO. Vaelora's involvement was similar to that in Scholar which was disappointing. The interaction between her and Quaeryt previously seen in Princeps was absent, its role in bringing some diversity to the plot removed. It was symptomatic of a more constrained nature to the story and carried a sense one hopes that Imager's Battalion was building to something more dynamic in Antiagon Fire. The internal politics of the military and intrigue centred around Quaeryt was too one-way, in the past our warrior imager would at least have done some digging [perhaps explored other aspects to his abilities at the same time]. And as for the ending, well it was a bit abrupt, i'd ditch a few chapters in the middle in favour of making that less so. IB is a long march to battle with periodic interludes and skirmishes along the way, its importance to be felt when reading the next novel in the series i suspect.