Recluce Tales: Stories from the World of Recluce

by L. E. Modesitt Jr.

Overview

For over a thousand years, Order and Chaos have molded the island of Recluce. The Saga of Recluce chronicles the history of this world through eighteen books, L. E. Modesitt, Jr.'s most expansive and bestselling epic fantasy series. Brandon Sanderson, New York Times bestselling author of The Stormlight Archive, calls it "Essential reading for any fan of the increasingly impressive world that is Recluce."

*Kirkus' Best Fiction of 2017*

Recluce Tales: Stories from the World of Recluce collects seventeen new short stories and four popular reprints spanning the thousand-year history of Recluce. First-time readers will gain a glimpse of the fascinating world and its complex magic system, while longtime readers of the series will be treated to glimpses into the history of the world.

Modesitt's essay “Behind the ‘Magic’ of Recluce” gives insight into his thoughts on developing the magical system that rules the Island of Recluce and its surrounding lands, while “The Vice Marshal's Trial” takes the reader back to the first colonists on Recluce. Old favorites “Black Ordermage” and “The Stranger” stand side-by-side with thrilling new stories.

Saga of Recluce

#1 The Magic of Recluce / #2 The Towers of Sunset / #3 The Magic Engineer / #4 The Order War / #5 The Death of Chaos / #6 Fall of Angels / #7 The Chaos Balance / #8 The White Order / #9 Colors of Chaos / #10 Magi’i of Cyador / #11 Scion of Cyador / #12 Wellspring of Chaos / #13 Ordermaster / #14 Natural Order Mage / #15 Mage-Guard of Hamor / #16 Arms-Commander / #17 Cyador’s Heirs / #18 Heritage of Cyador /#19 The Mongrel Mage / #20 Outcasts of Order / #21 The Mage-Fire War (forthcoming)

Story Collection: Recluce Tales

Other Series by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

The Imager Portfolio

The Corean Chronicles

The Spellsong Cycle

The Ghost Books

The Ecolitan Matter

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780765386205
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/20/2018
Series:	Recluce Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	480
Sales rank:	230,617
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

L. E. Modesitt, Jr., is the bestselling author of the fantasy series The Saga of Recluce, Corean Chronicles, and the Imager Portfolio. His science fiction includes Adiamante, the Ecolitan novels, the Forever Hero Trilogy, and Archform: Beauty. Besides a writer, Modesitt has been a U.S. Navy pilot, a director of research for a political campaign, legislative assistant and staff director for a U.S. Congressman, Director of Legislation and Congressional Relations for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a consultant on environmental, regulatory, and communications issues, and a college lecturer. He lives in Cedar City, Utah.

Table of Contents

Behind the “Magic” of Recluce

The Vice Marshal’s Trial

Madness?

The Forest Girl

The Choice

The Most Successful Merchant

Heritage

The Stranger

Songs Past, Songs for Those to Come

Sisters of Sarronnyn; Sisters of Westwind

Artisan—Four Portraits and a Miniature

Armsman’s Odds

Brass and Lacquer

Ice and Fire

A Game of Capture

The Assistant Envoy’s Problem

The Price of Perfect Order

Black Ordermage

Burning Duty

Worth

Fame

Editorial Reviews

Kirkus Best Fiction of 2017

“This collection of tales set in the world of Modesitt’s beloved Saga of Recluce series will be most readily and deeply appreciated by fans who are eager to revisit old friends and explore Recluce anew. However, Modesitt’s imagination and storytelling power will easily attract newcomers, and the easy exposition and rich descriptions will most likely provide a marvelous gateway into the Saga, as well. ”—RT Book Reviews

“A nostalgic walk through a well appreciated series.”—SF Revu

“Freed from the length of the novel, the beauty of the world that Modesitt creates becomes even more apparent.”—Booklist

From the Publisher

12/01/2016
In his 18-volume "Saga of Recluce" novels, Modesitt chronicled the 1,000-year history of the Island of Recluce. This new collection features 21 short stories (four are reprints) that span the history of the series. It opens with an essay on how the author developed the complex magic system used on Recluce; the following pieces offer a time line of both familiar and new highlights. A young mage faces a choice between saving the lives of his people or their wealth, but will his dilemma be enough to warrant "Madness?" When readers want to know what happens to a favorite character after they wander off the page, Modesitt shows that the answer is not always what it is "Worth." VERDICT Fans of Modesitt's best-selling saga will find this collection enhances their enjoyment of that series. New stories offered here serve as a foil to the main series, with the same rich detail and exciting lands to explore.—KC

Library Journal

2016-10-19
A collection of 17 new and three reprinted stories plus an essay, weaving among the prolific Modesitt's impressive 18-book (and counting) fantasy Saga of Recluse (Heritage of Cyador, 2014, etc.).Briefly, the series describes the fate of a spaceship from an advanced starfaring civilization suddenly hurled into another universe where science and engineering work only intermittently; instead, the structure of spacetime gives rise to highly specific types of magic, to the bewilderment of the humans who now must make new lives there. Helpfully, the stories present in the internal chronological order in which they occur in the world of Recluce. Since neither a timeline nor maps are included, however, familiarity with both is assumed. First, and most significant (although fiction purists may disagree), the essay describes how Modesitt developed the ideas and logic behind the opposing (black) order and (white) chaos magics that characterize the series, how the magics gave rise to the planet's distinctive social systems, how the social systems conflict and combine, and why the series' most powerful characters arise almost organically out of this complex and satisfying backdrop. Laconic introductions to each story inform us that Modesitt wrote them to fill gaps in the saga, in response to readers' questions or pleas, to view landmark events from unfamiliar perspectives, or sometimes "just because." A sampler: in "Heritage," clairvoyant Empress Mairena must persuade skeptical soldiers and citizens to flee the coming destruction of Cyador; "Black Ordermage" details how the mage Cassius came to Recluce (and no, he wasn't born there); in "The Forest Girl" we encounter the future emperor Alyiakal and his dealings with the Accursed Forest; and in "Worth," Wrynn, a fearsome and multitalented warrior, seeks the serenity that eludes her. Don't expect great significance everywhere—some of the pieces are no more than vignettes—but Modesitt is excellent company, and the more familiar you are with the series, the richer these stories will seem.

Kirkus Reviews