The Towers of the Sunset

Saga of Recluce, Book 2

By: L. E. Modesitt Jr.

Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne

Length: 18 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's Summary

L. E. Modesitt, Jr.'s latest novel in the Saga of Recluce series tells the story of Creslin, son of a powerful military matriarch, who chooses exile rather than an arranged marriage. Creslin sets out on a search for his true identity as a man, developing his magical talents through constant conflict with the enigmatic white wizards of Candar.

©1993 L.E. Modesitt (P)2013 Tantor

A solid novel but not as good as the first one.

Would you listen to The Towers of the Sunset again? Why?

I enjoyed it, but I'd have to go a long time before listening to it again. It was ok, but fairly formulaic and the romance angle gets pretty aggravating at times because it is so repetitive. Still this book is like a chef following a well-established recipie. it isn't ground-breaking but it's a standard dish done very well. A coming of age book like Heinlein and all the others, but is well crafted. I would have prefered to give the book 3.5 stars as it is a bit better than average but nowhere near as good as the first book in this series. Unfortunately, that isn't an option and I didn't honestly feel it rated a 4.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the depth of the world created.

Which character – as performed by Kirby Heyborne – was your favorite?

I didn't really have any particular character as a favorite. The narrartor has a very high natural voice so he is great at speaking as a female or young boy.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not really.

Any additional comments?

I had heard the narrarator do another book and hated it because his voice was too high and effeminate. However, as this book's main character is a young man it works and he does a very good job. He has good mature male voices at his disposal, it just isn't his natural speaking voice. So as a young adult or female he is great, but wouldn't want to hear him voice a main character who is an adult male. My only other complaint is that he audibly does the sound effects which can be reall annoying. For example the character rides his horse swings his sword as a fireball comes past would be neh, swish vroom thud, arg!. The scenes with crows are aggravating as hell. This book starts out a bit disjointed but after a few chapters the author hits his stride and it's a solid read. The romance angle is repetitious and gets to be pretty nerve racking for a large chunk of the book. That is why I rated the story a 3.5. The world and back ground are a solid 5.The story is more like a 4 and the rough start and annoying romance angle drop it a bit further. Still it is a good addition to the series and worth a listen.

A solid entry

This is a solid entry in the Recluse series. It is one if the harder reads, almost painful at times, but the payout us there and it provides a necessary background for so much else in the series that it should not be missed.

Overall enjoyable

What made the experience of listening to The Towers of the Sunset the most enjoyable?

Prior to The Towers of Sunset, I read Modesitt's Imager books, and was captivated and curious about the land of Recluce, and its magic system. The Towers of Sunset explains how Recluse came to be and why it came to be. The main character, Creslin, is a take action kind of guy who goes through extremely difficult trials, but comes out better and stronger for it. He becomes a very powerful wizard, and through his trials and growth, he learns to make the land he has chosen to inhabit a better place for his loved ones and followers. It did take many chapters for me to finally get interested in Creslin, but as the story unfolded, the plot, romance and magic system were very interesting.

OK The story is getting better

What three words best describe Kirby Heyborne’s voice?

He is mono tone but better then last book. Also he likes to yell louder then necessary to get the point across during action.

Was The Towers of the Sunset worth the listening time?

I do like the story

Any additional comments?

This book goes back to the past to the founding of Recluse with little in common with the first book if I had to go back i'd read this one first. I think I will follow the story in print versions of the books. If they put more on audio I will listen

Finally the recluse saga in audio

What did you love best about The Towers of the Sunset?

One of my favorite in the series

Any additional comments?

MORE.....need the whole series not now, but right now. :)

Enjoy the Saga of Recluse

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I have always considered the Saga of Recluse to be on par with J R R Tolkien, C S Lewis, and Terry Brooks great adventures. The many different adventures that Modesitt creates in the series have long been some of my favorites, and I hope that Tantor and Audible will include more of Saga of Recluse in audible format. Modesitt creates a world that anyone can jump into and enjoy the struggle between good and evil. Over the series of Saga of Recluse Modesitt creates a kind of historical map of the struggle from the moment the conflict begins to reshape the world to the last fight.

One of the other things that I have enjoyed about the series is the language and content of the adventure, I would have no problem recommending the books from this series to a younger reader.

As to the Narration, I have no major complaints with Hayborne. I just wish that he had not included so many sound effects. In some places/books the sound effects add to the story, but towards the end of the book there were too many very close together. In spite of this, this is still a great story and a great listen.

great, but for one gripe...

this was an enjoyable read. my only gripe(hence the less than 5-star performance), is that the narrator half the time doesn't have much variety by way of voicing the different characters making the lack of appropriate pause between some dialogue hard to know which character is speaking. otherwise loved the narrator's performance.

love the storyline, great narration,

naration & voices are excellent. the story is fantastic. it's different to kind of get a story backwards, but interesting. story moved at a decent pace. love Modessitt

Narration weak

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I like all of this authors books and have read them multipule times, but this work was his first in the series and has some rough edges.

What other book might you compare The Towers of the Sunset to and why?

This is like most of the authors other books but I have found very few of this type else where.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

No the narration was slow and plodding and raised very little emotion considering the story.

Best Modesitt Story

Son of Westwind develops into Greatest Blade Stormwizard Founder of Recluse. Basis for Recluse series

a great story

it was a very good story i couldn't stop listening to it. i just didn't like the way majiera had reacted to everything. her reactions are so selfish. she kept saying that cresslin couldn't understand. well what's there to understand? they were both victims of destiny.