The Magic of Recluce

Saga of Recluce, Book 1

By: L. E. Modesitt Jr.

Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne

Length: 19 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Young Lerris is dissatisfied with his life and trade, and yearns to find a place in the world better suited to his skills and temperament. But in Recluce a change in circumstances means taking one of two options: permanent exile from Recluce or braving 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. Lerris chooses the dangergeld.

When Lerris is sent into intensive training for his quest, it soon becomes clear that he has a natural talent for magic. And he will need magic in the lands beyond, where the power of the Chaos Wizards reigns unchecked. Though it goes against all of his instincts, Lerris must learn to use his powers in an orderly way before his wanderjahr, or fall prey to Chaos.

©1992 L. E. Modesitt (P)2013 Tantor

Awesome

Unbelievably excellent in every way, save the romance. Epic storyline, and a fascinating journey of character, maturity, pain, and wisdom. Beautiful.

Love Modesitt, but this was average

So, I have read other books that I enjoyed more then this one. The main character really drove me nuts with his boredom and whining. The narrator's sound effects became grating as the story progressed. Luckily I have read some of his other novels that showed how well he can bring a character to life.

A Different Slant on Magic

Modesitt appears to be exploring a different perspective on good v evil in this series. The idea that there might be a required balance is interesting. The switch up of 'black' and 'white' magic is also intriguing. Worth investing time in this fantasy universe.

Love this story... One of my favorites.

What did you love best about The Magic of Recluce?

I really liked the reading... I am glad they got such a good reader... he is also an actor and I have loved Kirby Heyborne in a lot of his other roles, and was really glad to hear him on this.

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

When you are no longer wanted at home... how do you go out into the world... AND SURVIVE!!!

very average

not very exciting, I finished because I had to.
may be it was the narration. and what was with all the sounds ( the sound of the wind, the sound of the door, etc)being written into the book. that bugged me.

twisty

Great book with plenty of twists and turns. Will keep you reading (listening) long past bedtime.

A great start!

The greatest enjoyment I got from this audiobook was the narrator's soft voice telling of the story. I had been listening to LiTRPG audiobooks with harsh, fast paced tellings and exclamations. This audio greatly eased my head. haha

Distracting sound effects

Would you consider the audio edition of The Magic of Recluce to be better than the print version?

I don't have the print version, but I would imagine that not having to hear the sound effects would be a vast improvement.

If you’ve listened to books by L. E. Modesitt Jr. before, how does this one compare?

Modesitt had apparently outgrown the tendency to insert written sound effects by the time he wrote the Imager Portfolio series. The constant "clop clop," "splat," "pow"... in this reminded me of childhood comic books. While I would recommend the Imager series to anyone I will probably not be finishing this series, unfortunately I've already bought two more of the series on a sale. I'll give one of the later ones a listen to see if he quit including the gratuitous sound effects.

Any additional comments?

While the story was basically enjoyable the sound effects I mentioned earlier in my review cut my rating from 4 stars to 3.

Good story, okay narration

The story was interesting but the logic of the order/disorder was difficult to resolve.

The narration had a couple of problems. One was that the original recording speed was way too slow and even at double speed it was still a bit slow. Going to triple speed was slightly too fast but acceptable. The other problem was that the sound effects were poor, but I got used to them over time.

Marked unabridged, but is abridged.

Marked unabridged, but is abridged. Missing the whole story arc where Lerris is making and selling children's furniture.