Mage-Guard of Hamor (Saga of Recluce, 15)

For those that have enjoyed the Saga of Recluce series of books, this will be another welcome addition. For those that have not, let me urge you to give these books a shot. The characters are developed in a believable way. The plots are interesting and well thought out. All in all, they are a good read. Specific to this book and the previous entry which dealt with the same characters (Natural Ordermage (Saga of Recluce)), I do have to say that I did not like the protagonist at the beginning. But he grew on me in a big way before Natural Ordermage had ended and I was very much looking forward to Mage-Guard of Hamor. Modesitt delivered. As usual for this series, the specific magical abilities of the main character are unique. I believe that is one of the reasons that the Recluce series stays fresh and brings us back. We also get a deeper immersion into Hamor's culture and see a different piece of this world's history (another reason the series stays fresh). The story is very entertaining and the writing quality is high. I would recommend this book.

I used to read L.E. Modesitt's books and my favorite series is still the "Spellsinger Cycle", but I got tired of Recluse after the seventh or eighth book. Now I have come full circle and I loved NATURAL ORDERMAGE and MAGE-GUARD OF HAMOR. His ability to draw you into a story and keep you reading page after page is wonderful. I did not get bored. I was always looking for what happens next. This is a wonderful read and I am going to order a few of the one's I missed. My biggest peeve is long series, but he seems to have been able to solve this problem by telling the stories of numerous characters from different ages of Recluse. Rahl is still in Hamor, but his heart is in Recluse with Deybri, although he knows he will never fit in Nylan again. He and Taryl, a former Triad, are in the middle of the fighting between the Emperor and his brother. There are traitors in their midst and Rahl is still trying to learn to use his powers as a natural Ordermage. The story moves quickly and gives you a sense of the horror of war. The building relationships that Rahl has with Taryl and Drakeyt, the Captain of the third company, are wonderful and the growth of Rahl from a youngster with potential, but no experience, is great to watch. Modesitt is one of the few writers who can keep you interested and entertained for 600 pages. I really enjoyed this book, it can stand alone, but I encourage you to read NATURAL ORDERMAGE first. This is one of the reasons I like his books so much, they are stand alone good. I really hate a book that leaves you hanging out there for another year. Do not miss this one.

Did you ever want to know what it is like to be packed off and sent to a far off land to fight? Will this book will give you a flavor of that. It covers a whole range of issues that are commonly found in such a situation: - The loneliness of being in a strange culture - The sepration from a loved one and the difficulty of communication - Corrupt officialdom - Uncaring superior officers who are more concerned about CYA than anything else. - The sacrifice and heroics that are never praised, never rewarded - Always being found lacking your in performace no matter how good you are - Local villagers who never know anythiong about the enemy or where they are located - The constant casualties of minor ambushes and traps by an elusive enemy - Constant political machinations by the executive branch of government who may have other motives than winning the war - Facing an uber draft board that will make a life changing decision for you regardless of what you have to say about it Does any of this sound familiar? Well it should because the author flew a a US Navy H2 helicopter during the Vietnam war. http://wapedia.mobi/en/SH-2_Seasprite What makes it good is the fantasy setting where you can suspend your disbelief and go with the flow for the entertainment of a good story instead of having to deal with politically correct (or incorrect per your viewpoint as the case may be) views of Vietnam, Iraq or even Afghanistan. I also appreciate the author's outlook on craftsmanship, something I find sadly lacking in the real word. Anyway, it's fantasy, enjoy!

L. E. Modesitt just gets better with every book he writes. Great action scenes, and likable characters make for great reading. Read it in one sitting, because I could not put it down.

Mage-Guard of Hamor is one of Modesitt's best works to date. He continues Rahl's story in a believable and enthralling fashion & his supporting characters have great depth and their own enticing backstories and intriguing motivations. The exact nature of the final conflict and its resolution were reasonably difficult to predict until just before the events. Even then, the resolution had a few interesting surprises and the epilogue offers its own little twist. The main character Rahl is believably flawed and slowly matures over the course of the book. Rahl's maturation is done in a great variety of ways that are gradual enough to feel realistic yet quick enough to keep pacing steady and lend urgency to the plot. While there are certainly surface similarities between Rahl and Lorn from Modesitt's Cyador duology, I found that the vastly different political structure, Rahl's status as an immigrant, the nature of the campaign and the presence of a guiding mentor lead to a completely different story. Rahl's mentor Taryl is one of my favorite supporting characters in any Recluse book. I found his backstory to be fascinating and the way he keeps Rahl (and the reader) somewhat in the dark will make you want to keep turning pages very late into the night! Partially because of the greater attention and detail on a mentor than other Recluce books, Mage-Guard is longer than typical of Modesitt, but I found that the pages were well filled. Modesitt also reveals much about Hamorian customs, food, and general life in the book. He depicts a variety of cities and rural areas within Hamor as well as the seat of government itself. He blends this quite well with the military campaign, never stopping the flow of things to gush Hamorian history but doling out enough to give a lush backdrop to the events of Mage-Guard.