Colors of Chaos (Saga of Recluce, Book 9) (Saga of Recluce, 9)

This book is absolutely thrilling. It has great political and economical intrigue. It is made great by the qualities and the diversity of the main character, Cerryl. He is a young white mage in the city of Fairhaven. He was a Patrol Mage, an assassin, and a temporary governor of a recently captured city. The strengths and weaknesses of Cerryl made the book good but how money and economics influenced the course of action made this very realistic. The political backstabbing made the book very interesting. Also another book written by the same author blended into this story but was told by the good side. This book was written from the evil side. Coming to a conclusion this book is a great read. It is not very easy to follow but is still great.

This is an excellent book, particularly if you have read other books in the Recluce Saga. It allows the reader to begin to understand why the white mages are not universal "evil people". Modestitt evidently felt the depth of his societal commentary was being missed and went into true detail of contrasting Cerryl's perspective of the events to those of Dorin in "The Magic Engineer". Both are following their beliefs as best as they can and find themselves in conflict due to differences in methods for providing peace and prosperity, rather than good vs. evil. It should be read with at least "The Magic Engineer" and "The White Order" to fully appreciate the book.

This book is absolutely stunning. Finally, we see a White mage portrayed not as a ruthless tyrant, but as a human being with feelings and concerns for the good of Fairhaven. Cerryl's character is noble, and is the exact opposite of what we have seen the Whites as in previous books. The political intrigue and battles balance each other perfectly. Three cheers for Mr. Modesitt!

L.E. Modesitt's portrayals of the Guild in Fairhaven and the Black Order of Recluce from opposing viewpoints are probably my favorite feature of this series. This book tells an excellent story of a young White that is not out to destroy the blacks and his struggle to stay alive long enough to reach his potential. A great book that I would recommend to anyone!

I debated reading this book, as it essentially repeated (from another viewpoint, of course) many of the same incidents as described in "The Magic Engineer". However, there was a lot of careful thought put into this by Modesitt, and a much better realization of the similarities between Order and Chaos, rather than just the differences. A much more sympathetic view of the White Order, and an excellent story of Cerryl's growth and development of the skills needed to become an effective High Wizard.