The Magic Engineer ( A novel in The saga of Recluce)

The Magic Engineer is the third book (in order of publication) in L. E. Modesitt, Jr.'s Saga of Recluse. This book takes place some two hundred years after the events chronicled in The Towers of the Sunset. In many ways this book is similar to the first in the series, The Magic of Recluse. Young, Black (Order-based) mage gets sent out into the world to (seemingly) figure out his role in the constant struggle between Order and Chaos. In this book, the role of young cats-off is filled by Dorrin, a descendant of Creslin from the prior book. One word of warning here, for the first part of the book, Dorrin is an extremely annoying character. Once he settles in as an apprentice blacksmith in part two, his character starts to mature and he becomes much more likable. Like the first two books in the series, Modesitt enjoys showing us virtually every detail of everyday life. It is through these details that Modesitt pulls you into this world he's created, and this is what makes it real. Although you wouldn't think it would be interesting to read about all of the mundane things like black smithing, cooking, or gardening, these details make the characters come to life. Overall I rank this as one of the better fantasy novels I've read in awhile. Modesitt's system of magic (Order vs. Chaos) is one of the more well-developed and original out there. This book also is a great study in character development as Dorrin starts out a whiny, naive character and ends up as, well you'll have to read the book to find out! Also, this book does a good job of standing on it's own. There are some references to characters and events in the second book, but nothing necessary to know before starting this one. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys rich, well-crafted fantasy!

By reading Modesitt's books in sequential order, the improvement from one book to the next has been obvious to me. *Note that I have only read the first three books so far, and I know that it would be hard to keep improving throughout the series* In The Magic Engineer, Modesitt has produced a remarkable book which turned out to be completely unique in many ways. While it began almost the exact same way as The Magic of Recluce, with a young man being exiled for doubting the perfection of Order to go out into Candar and become a man, the book took on a much more mature tone once Dorrin got settled in as an apprentice blacksmith in Spidlar. The imagery in this book was much better than in the past two, and the limited use of sound effects was also an improvement. With such wonderful characters as Brede, Kadara, and Leidral (who are much easier to picture and to keep track of than the secondary characters in the other novels) Modesitt brings you in to a marvelous world in which you can feel close to those you are reading about. (Don't tell me that you didn't get upset when Dorrin had to leave behind Meriwhen, who was only a horse!) Also, with the wonderful inventions of Dorrin, which were very well described so as to be easily pictured by the reader, Modesitt almost has the reader feel proud of some accomplishment. I especially liked the weapons Dorrin forged for Brede. Completely slaughtered the stinking Whites! It was awesome.I would definetly rank this book as Modesitt's best work so far and look forward to reading some more of his novels.

Like "Armor", this book combines two of my interests. I enjoy fantasy works, and I am interested in engineering of many types.Admittedly the cover art drew me in as well. I was pleased to find that judging this book by its cover was worth the risk.Dealing with common themes, such as coming of age, and rebelling against the established society, this epic moves the reader with compelling characters and excellent description of everyday events. After finishing this installment, which can be read as a stand-alone novel, I began purchasing the rest of the series. As far as I'm concerned voting with my wallet outweighs anything else I can say.

this book is really interesting, although the storyline may be familiar to those who have read 'the magic of recluce'. it is a book for 'thinkers' rather than for 'action lovers' since the main protagonist (Dorrin) is an intellectual rather than a fighter (but of course, this novel has its share of action). mr modesitt also overwhelms us with lots of details, but this does not mean that it's boring. on the contrary, i find his slow development of characters and plot fascinating and interesting. i liked this book a lot and would recommend it to any one who admires the power of thought more than physical power.

This being the 5th book of my Recluse voyage, I must say that I consider myself a veteran of the series. I have read Fall of Angels and The Chaos Balance, The Magic of Recluse and The Towers of the Sunset. Readers new to the series may wonder where to start. A good site that has the order the books were written in is has the chronological list if you choose to read them that way, suggest reading the books in the order that they were written. In my opinion the Magic Engineer is the best of the 5 that I have read to date and its main character Dorrin, is my favorite.The Magic Engineer centers around a young healer named Dorrin. Dorrin is more than a healer. He is an inventor, a blacksmith, an engineer, a military engineer, a lover and a wizard of order. The themes of order versus chaos are prevalent as it is in all the Recluce books. Modesitt's Reluse series is after all based on his clever order - chaos (good and evil) paradigm and the effects of the world when the order - chaos balance is disturbed. The primary theme throughout the story is young Dorrin's desire to create machines, which by their nature use chaos. Dorrin, being an order wizard, is promptly exiled until he puts more thought into how his machines will play upon his worlds delicate balance between order and chaos. I cannot do this theme justice in trying to describe it, but Modesitt is brilliant in weaving order and chaos and their underlying principles throughout the story. The story is more than a seminar on order and chaos though. There is a major and extremely bloody war which Dorrin plays a prominent part in. Dorrin as a healer touched me a lot. There is a love story which has major issues. Through all of my Recluse readings, Modesitt wraps his characters in real world issues experienced by many of us. Yes, the book is fantasy, but Modesitt makes us think about why his characters do what they do. How they feel when they do something. How others perceive their actions and the consequences or benefits derived. Modesitt is not an author that makes things up as he writes. There is a tremendous amount of thought and creativity put into the Recluse books. Because it is a series and because the books are not written chronologically, Modesitt ensures that everything comes together and his world remains consistent and true. There are no holes. In The Magic of Recluse, we read of young Lerris in the city of Nylan and reading The Basis of Order. In the Magic Engineer, you get to see how Nylan was founded and how The Basis of Order was authored. It is great when an author cares about his readers and that is plainly evident.The Magic Engineer, like Fall Of Angels, has a blacksmith. Modesitt has substantial knowledge of this and other trades which is demonstrated by his writings. It is fresh to read not just that a character created something, but how it was created. The materials that were needed, the design. The recognition