Scepters

A fabulous followup to the first two books in this series! The story deals with the ongoing adventures of Alucius in his struggles to save his homeland. This book follows the same pattern of the previous two, with short chapters, lots of action; all done with great storytelling skills. You just have to read one more chapter! I initially thought that this series was to be a trilogy*, but apparently there is a 4th and 5th book to come(according to the book legend in the front of this book). In my opinion, this book is the best of the three so far, and I'm looking forward to the next in the series. * P.S. The fourth book "Alector's Choice" uses a completely new set of characters and although taking place on Corus, occurs in a time far before Alucius's story.

I would just like to say this is a fast read. As always L. E. Modesitt puts all the pieces into place to make a plasible, yet out-there fantasy story. I would recomend this series to anyone who like fantasy with some logic.

With their own world disintegrating, the ifrit are desperate to complete the conquest of the Corean planet. Once they succeed, they will create a world of beauty, art, and glorious architecture. True, it's a world that will burn out fairly soon--that beauty can only be sustained at a cost to the planet's life force. Still, for the ifrit, it is a sacrifice they are willing to make--have, in fact made with their native world. Faced with an ifrit-inspired rebellion, the Lord Protector calls Alucius back into service. Alucius wants nothing but to be left to his herds and his pregnant wife, but the Lord Protector's request is compelling. If Alucius does nothing, the world will plunge into the chaos that the ifrit need to succeed in their invasion. But even military success only puts Alucius on a path for destruction. Putting down a rebellion means killing citizens, and eternal hatred. Alucius relies on his 'talent sense' (or magic) to face first the rebellion, then an invasion in the south fueled by terrible ancient weapons, and finally the ultimate threat in his own homeland where the ifrit have carved out a powerful base and are rapidly gaining control over the world's life-forces. Even assisted by a crack group of Northern Guard lancers, Alucius knows that he lacks the power to succeed on his own--but the ancient ones are dying and unable to offer him the assistance he needs. Author L. E. Modesitt, Jr. combines magic, military action, and a bit of moral ambiguity to provide a compelling adventure. SCEPTERS isn't the tale of good against evil, but rather a battle between different conceptions of good. Even if he is successful, Alucius cannot know that he has done the right thing, fought for the right cause. And the price to pay for a mistake is large, indeed. Modesitt is a strong writer with the power to draw the reader into a believable and fascinating world. Although SCEPTERS is part of a series, it can be read as stand-alone, although readers are likely to enjoy it even more if they read the earlier novels first.

Scepters is the third novel in the Corean Chronicles, following Darknesses. In the previous volume, Iron Valleys became a province of Lanachrona and the militia was transferred to Lanachronan control as the Northern Guard. Alucius led four companies of the Northern Guard into Deforya to defend against invading Illegean nomads. After defeating various human and nonhuman enemies -- including legendary yet real pteridons -- and barely surviving his experiences, Alucious was summoned to Tempre to meet the Lord Protector. Encountering an ifrit who had possessed the Recorder of Deeds, he was forced to flee through the Tables network and found his way to the hidden city of the Soarers. There Alucius was taught much more about his Talents and then returned to the Table network to defeat two of the ifrits. Afterwards, Alucius was finally allowed to return to Iron Valleys, was presented with his discharge papers, and, with only a small delay, set off for the family stead. However, on the way he encountered an ambush obviously intended for him and just barely managed to kill all the assassins before they quite finished killing him. After a minimal recovery time and with an escort of Northern Guard horse troopers, Alucius finally returned home to Wendra.In this novel, Alucius and Wendra have been enjoying their time together. However, the situation has gotten worse in the Iron Valleys and in Lanachrona; prices are still rising and the war against the Matrites is not going well. The Lord Protector has been forced to spread his forces too thinly in order to protect against a variety of threats while simultaneously prosecuting the Matrial war. At the request of the Lord Protector, Alucius returns to duty as a Majer and leads an expedition of Northern and Southern Guard companies to put down a duarchist revolt in Hyalt. After that mission, he is requested to lead a special operation against the Matrial crystal-spear throwers.The Lord Protector is careful not to offend Alucius; he appeals mostly to his sense of civic duties, but he also offers command of the Northern Guard to Alucius upon return from the mission, replacing Colonel Weslyn. This combination leaves Alucious without an acceptable alternative and he rides out once more in command of the Fifth Northern Guard company and the Eighth Southern Guard company and with Feran as his second in command. Later, he acquires another two companies of newly trained Southern Guards. In Hyalt, he finds that someone is using Talent to produce total fanatics, so more than military action is required. Afterwards, in Southgate, he spends more time defending himself against senior Lanachronan officers than fighting the Matrites.In this story, Alucius is repeatedly attacked by Talent-beasts sent by the ifrits, who are using the Tables against him. However, he begins to learn more about the ifrits themselves as well as the true history of Corus. He also begins to learns how to use more that his own lifefor

When his country needed him, Alucius joined the army with the rank of overcaptain and almost single handily won the battle facing overwhelming arms. As soon as he was no long needed, he left the army and returned to Iron Stem where he and his wife Wendra herded sheep and had a baby.The Ifriti, beings from another world who drains the life force of a planet and eventually destroys it, are back. They have stirred up enough unrest so that Lanchrona is besieged on all sides.The Lord Protector asks Alucius to lead Northern and Southern Guards to put down the revolt in Hyalt. He finds the prophet who is leading the revolt is Ifriti-possessed; Alucius cuts off its life force. H next goes to Stronghold to prevent the troops of the Regent from overpowering loyal troops and taking more Lanachrona land. Alucius and his troops are to destroy the deadly spear throwers while the regular army deals with the enemy force. Alucius is victorious and is rewarded by becoming the colonel of the Northern Guard but he learns that the Ifriti are setting up portals to drain and destroy his world's lifeforce. Alucius and his wife have the talent to stop them if they can find and destroy the scepters that enables travel between the two worlds.This is the third and final book of the Corean Chronicles and it is a powerful, enthralling and exciting fantasy epic. All the questions of the previous two books (LEGACIES and DARKNESS) are finally answered and all the loose ends are tied up. The protagonist is a hero for going into battle against an enemy that is more powerful than he is. His love for his wife adds a romantic dimension that humanizes the larger than life champion. Scepters is an outstanding fantasy. Harriet Klausner