Colors of Chaos

The Saga of Recluce #9

by L.E. Modesitt Jr.

The biggest fantasy from L. E. Modesitt, Jr. to date, Colors of Chaos is the story of the White Chaos wizard Cerryl: his education in life and love, and his rise to power in the magicians guild of Fairhaven. This is the direct sequel to The White Order, which told of Cerryl's boyhood and youth, and takes place at the same time as the events in Modesitt's earlier novel, The Magic Engineer. Yet it stands alone, the longest Recluce novel, a portrayal of the growth and change of character and of the strengths and weaknesses of an age-old civilization held together by the power of magic.

Ceryl, now a full mage in The White Order, must prove himself indispensible to Jeslek, the High Wizard. Whether through assassination, effective gorvernance of occupied territory or the fearless and clever direction of troops in battle, Ceryl faces many harrowing obstacles, not the least of which is Anya, the plotting seductress who's the real power behind the scenes of the white wizards. With his wits, his integrity, and the support of his love, the Black healer Leyladin, he must survive long enough to claim his rightful spot within the ruling heirarchy of the White Order.

This is a must-read for followers of the Saga of Recluce, offering a unique, sympathetic point of view of the White Chaos wizards-the forces that throughout history have opposed the magicians of Recluce.

Colors of Chaos is the ninth book in the saga of Recluce.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Epic Fantasy, Magic, Science Fiction Fantasy, Science Fiction, High Fantasy

798 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 28, 1998

About the author

L. E. (Leland Exton) Modesitt, Jr. is an author of science fiction and fantasy novels. He is best known for the fantasy series The Saga of Recluce. He graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts, lived in Washington, D.C. for 20 years, then moved to New Hampshire in 1989 where he met his wife. They relocated to Cedar City, Utah in 1993.

He has worked as a Navy pilot, lifeguard, delivery boy, unpaid radio disc jockey, real estate agent, market research analyst, director of research for a political campaign, legislative assistant for a Congressman, Director of Legislation and Congressional Relations for the United States Environmental Protection Agency, a consultant on environmental, regulatory, and communications issues, and a college lecturer and writer in residence.
In addition to his novels, Mr. Modesitt has published technical studies and articles, columns, poetry, and a number of science fiction stories. His first short story, "The Great American Economy", was published in 1973 in Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact.

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very solid book in the Saga of Recluce series. I found myself sympathizing more and more about Fairhaven and the White Wizards in general, and especially about the regular people on the wrong side of the Order/Chaos conflict.

Of course, when we're dealing with Chaos mages, the one thing we've learned over and over again is that there is ALWAYS a balance, and as we follow the young Ceryl on his rise in the ranks as his cohorts die horrible deaths or as he sees his nation decline through bad policies or reliance on a power that STILL needs to be balanced in the end, it is, in effect, a tragedy.

An old civilization overcome by greed and mismanagement, overtaken by a simple magical correction. Ceryl, of course, tries to mitigate the disaster, and I admit I enjoyed almost all of it.

Other than that, it was really fun to see one of the previous novels from an expansive and detailed opposite point of view. We've always been treated to the order side of things, sometimes mixed with a judicious amount of chaos. This time, we have chaos mixed with a judicious amount of order. Nothing could be more precious than this.

[Wanda Pedersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s rather perverse of me, but I am finding it much easier these days to read 3 star books rather than my usual four star fare. I've found myself becoming extra choosy as the pandemic progresses and have been setting aside books which I intellectually know are good books to be enjoyed when my patience and good humour have been restored. So now is the time to read the science fiction and fantasy that I like but don't love. It's like I can stick with them because my expectations are lower. Sorry, Mr. Modesitt. Nothing personal.

This novel covers the same ground as The Magic Engineer from the other side of the fence. That novel was written from Dorrin's POV, the engineer of the title. This one is from a white mage's POV, Cerryl, who we met in the last novel The White Order. Cerryl is a very typical fantasy hero: he's an orphan, he’s from a humble background, he has special talents that he doesn't broadcast to the world, he's stuck in a subordinate role, he aspires to be a good and fair person, he harbours doubts about those in charge, and he's a little thick about politics. Mind you, all of Modesitt's main characters are a bit dense, particularly regarding women and relationships. Cerryl is certainly not an exception to the rule.

I know that battle scenes are part of most fantasy books, but I did find my enthusiasm flagging as the battles stretched on and on. When that was finally finished and we got back to the regular plotting and planning, it was a relief. Cerryl is depicted as careful and cautious, but he would have been an excellent chess player.

Just as an aside, I was somewhat disappointed in the cover art. Darrell Sweet usually illustrates something with horses, which he obviously enjoys drawing. This cover is the White Tower, but I'd rather have more horses.

Book number 403 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.

Cross posted at my blog:

https://wanda-thenextfifty.blogspot.c...

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Drat. I'm not sure this is in the right place chronologically.
The White Order takes place in 1190 & follows Cerryl, a White wizard. (9C, 8P).
The Magic Engineer starts in 1200 & follows Dorrin, a Black mage (10C, 3P), but has Cerryl in it. It covers a number of years.
This book starts in 1205 & follows Cerryl from not long after The White Order's end, so it is before he winds up in Dorrin's area.

I finished the book & decided the reading order was correct. This book finishes about the same time as Dorrin's & both books contain major spoilers for the other, but reading The Magic Engineer, Dorrin's (a Black mage from Recluce) story in between Cerryl's (a White wizard from Fairhaven) really brings home the balance theme as well as some others dealing with war, politics, & just how powerless even the most powerful are.

In the first books published in this series, Black Order is GOOD. Later books show the White Chaos side of things, but these 3 books really put them head to head. It's wonderful seeing the same momentous events from both sides & realize how much difference the point of view makes. Both are doing the best they can in their circumstances. Neither believes their country/culture is perfect & neither really has many choices in what they do, but they are on opposite sides.

It's a shame because both are marvelous main characters that are so easy to root for. That makes this book a bit difficult at times & the reason I'm bumping it to 5 stars. This particular book isn't really a 5 star book, but the three 4 star books, read in order, make it so.

I'm becoming more convinced that reading these books in chronological order is the way to go. You can find the list in my review HERE

[Liviu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sequel to The White order has Cerryl now a young powerful white mage, looking to get by in the White Mages Guild, fend the attention of powerful unfriendly mages and use his guild supporters to survive and advance; better than the first but still not really on par with the best Recluce novels

[eyes.2c · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very exciting story of a young orphan who becomes a white mage. Not only that he becomes the High Wizard. The politics are deadly, the desires for a just society admirable, but our hero finds his way blocked at every turn.

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

l didn't enjoy this entry in the Recluse series as much as the previous books. Too many pages dedicated to drudgery and intrigues of the White Council.

Cerryl tries his best to be a relatively good person, as his conscience dictates. But those in power on the Council don't trust him because of his conscience.

Beltur is rolling in his grave over what Fairhaven has become under the control of the White Wizards. Their "bible" is full of false narrative of the evils of the Black order.

lt's interesting to see the war between Black and White from the opposite viewpoint of what l've previously read from the opposing side. lt just confirms that the powers that be on the White Council's views are extremely twisted, that everyone else should owe fealty to them despite their own beliefs.

[Bryan Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book concludes a sorta-trilogy of Recluse novels. The first one the White Order follows the story of Cerryl a white mage (turning grey) as he grows up and joins the White Order. The second, the Magic Engineer, follows the story of Dorrin a very black mage who is exiled from Recluse and goes through tribulations before returning to Recluse and being granted a small part of the island where he founds a new city. The Colors of Chaos, returns to follow the story of Cerryl and covers almost exactly the same time period as The Magic Engineer.

This is my major problem with the book. It felt like I had already read this book just from another point of view. If I had read this without the Magic Engineer in-between I would have likely rated it much higher than only two stars.

In addition to my emotional reaction to feeling like I'm rereading what I just read, I also think that the first two thirds of this book is just paced to slowly. We already know that Jesslic and Anya are bad guys. Having to spend so much more time reestablishing their bad credentials just bogged the story down.

The final third was enjoyable as it moved back into more action and less belly gazing as well as filled in some details that were never covered in the previous book. I was disappointed by two things, that this would have been a perfect book to wrap up from the pervious ones. 1) Did someone ever help Dorrins horse after he escaped on his new boat headed to Recluse. I don't even like horses but I felt bad for that one and wanted to know that someone helped it back to shore and didn't leave it to drown in the ocean. 2) What happened to the little amulet or badge that Cerryl hid inside his room when he was a scriveners apprentice. That was never retrieved or dealt with in any way, not even when Cerryl went back t o meet with the scrivener.

I did enjoy the foreshadowing of what happens in the future to Fairhaiven and to Recluse, and will continue to read the stories in internal chronological order. The next one takes place after about a 300 year gap so I expect I won't have similar complaints about that one.

[Kathi · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10
A bit heavy on the economics of trade and tariffs, but overall, a good read. It is interesting reading about some familiar events from another perspective, as this book continues to follow Cerryl, a White Chaos mage, while most of the Recluce series has followed the Black Order mages.

I do find that, even with the aid of the maps, I have trouble following the geography (and the various rulers) of different parts of Candar.

[Mayank Agarwal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too lengthy, repetitive, many plot holes, parts of it are a fun read.

This is the fifth book in the series I picked up, but the ninth according to the publishing order. As such, It claims to be a standalone book and is, but in reality, it’s a direct continuation of book eight The White Order having the same protagonist and continuing the storytelling. Also, the story covers the same arc/timeline as the book three The Magic Engineer just from a different point of view. I would highly recommend others to read at least the first three books in the series and book eight before jumping into this one to really enjoy all the intrigues.

This is the first book of L. E. Modesitt's Recluce Sage having the same characters as a previous one. This continuing of the story had its hits and misses, while I loved the fact that we are back to an already established character, one on whom we the readers have already invested our time in, but the author in wanting to make it a standalone book gave the evil characters a different feel and approach, it didn’t feel like its a continuation of the same story, this kind of put me off. Initially, I was enjoying the storytelling covering fresh events but whenever it covered the same events from book three, the flow seemed forced and the dialogues were the same as the ones from book three, this revisiting of the same events without adding fresh spin or perspective was very boring and just increased the length of this book. From enjoying it, I had to put an effort to finish it by the end.

I did enjoy the trademark part of L. E. Modesitt's storytelling, the protagonist taking up a skill-based profession, this time it’s as an army commander and later as a governor.

[Aleixie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing killed it for me-the story is long and intriguing and the plot is so involved it's wonderful. But the writing. . . like reading a bad fanfiction with "the [insert profession] said." in a totally unrelated setting.

How many times was I supposed to hear that Layladin is raven haired and green eyed and a healer? oh man. . .

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Next to "The Magic Engineer", these two books from the Chaos (white) perspective are some of my favorites from the Saga of Recluce. Be sure to read "The White Order" first before this one. I didn't do that on my first read-through and I still enjoyed the book, but I missed all the backstory. For even more fun, read these two immediately after "The Magic Engineer".

[Tom Dillon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who spends any time talking to me about books has probably heard me say how much I like Modesitt's books, but this one probably has to be my favorite to date (although the Imager series has been fantastic as well). So what makes it stand out?

This book is the follow-up to the White Order, and it takes place at roughly the same time as The Magic Engineer, but from the other side. Seeing things from the perspective of Fairhaven, the "evil empire", was quite interesting but where this book really shines is in how it relates to the next book (chronologically) in the series, The Order War (which was actually published earlier). We know how things are going to work out, and some of the characters know it, too. The book was ultimately about how people deal with their own mortality, and the mortality of the institutions through which they are trying to effect change. Although all of Modesitt's books are full of ideas and philosophical dilemmas, this one seems to me to be the most profound so far.

All that being said, unlike the other books in the series, I probably wouldn't recommend this to someone who hasn't read at least some of the rest of the series (and you should, it's great). It would still be good, I think, but a lot of the subtlety would be lost, and for me much of the dramatic tension resulted from knowing what else was happening at around the same time.

[Jeremy Preacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Colors of Chaos only marginally less than The White Order (although I do like it less.) It's much broader in scope, as the coming-of-age story turns into a more traditional clawing-up-the-heirarchy story. Modesitt does politics and intrigue tolerably well, although his villains are always a little nihilistic for me, and this is one of his better efforts in that direction.

The real interest in this book is that it's a direct companion to The Magic Engineer - same timeframe, same events, told from the perspective of the villains, more or less. While it doesn't exactly flip any of the main moral assumptions - the horrible acts are still horrible, even when their motivations are clearer, and the earlier book made just as much of the ends-or-means quandary the "good guys" are in - it does provide a much broader perspective than the earlier book, which was told from a person with basically a household-level view. Cerryl, the main character of this one, is at a senior officer/regional governor level, and his broader perspective adds quite a bit.

I'm not entirely satisfied, in the end, with the degree of moral relativism - I think making Cerryl "grey" sort of undercut the whole theory that the two sides are pretty equal - and I am always a little disturbed by the rather casual attitude towards human life a lot of the Recluce lead characters have, but this is a strong finish to an interesting exercise.

[Jerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

The retelling of a prior story, but from the side of Chaos...great story that gives a better understanding of the white wizards and that puts to bed many of the assumptions I have had regarding their "wants." Lets you see their side of the story and you find out that many of them are nothing more than pawns in the political structure of the white wizards.

[Marsha Valance · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book in Modesitt's Recluce saga to be told from Chaos's viewpoint, in the person of the White Wizard Cerryl. In "The White Order" Cerryl recounted his childhood, his recruitment to the White Order, and his progress within it, while the reader's understanding of Chaos society grew with each phase of Cerryl's development. Here, Cerryl is a full wizard but still learning about his society-its economic underpinnings and its social contract. The reader learns as well, because Modesitt layers his story with the fast-paced adventure of Cerryl's rise in the Wizard order as the Chaos-Order War continues; Cerryl's self-education in how his society works, which displays a clear view of Recluce's economic underpinnings; and Cerryl's survival in the political atmosphere of the White Order's inner workings, posing the question, "what is a viable society?" As in all of his books, the deeper one reads, the more Modesitt forces the reader to think. The book opens with Cerryl, now a full mage, acting as a customs agent at the gates of Fairhaven, the White's city. From that duty, he is rotated to work in various posts in which he maneuvers to escape the political machinations of his power-hungry colleagues--striving to do his duty fairly, ensuring that the guilty receive the exact punishment due, but no more. As Cerryl studies to learn how to do his job better, both he and the reader learn about how a society works. The vivid accounts of Cerryl's work as a law enforcement officer, assassin military commander, and administrator of a hostile city carry the interest of the reader seeking only fast-paced adventure, while the thoughtful reader gains much, much more. "The Colors of Chaos" cannot be recommend highly enough-it belongs in every YA collection.

[Clay Kallam · Rating 4 out of 5]

L.E. Modesitt, Jr., has turned a familiar fantasy trope -- magic-ridden pre-industrial world -- into an interesting exploration of the struggle between opposing forces. Of course it might be simpler to say "good" and "evil," as Modesitt originally had the force of chaos (White) cast as the villain.

But as the series has continued, Modesitt has focused on the necessity of balance, and how an increase in order causes an equal increase in chaos and vice versa. And while the force of order (Black) has supplied most of the protagonists so far, "Colors of Chaos" not only has a White mage as the hero but also retells the narrative of a previous book from the opposite side.

On the one hand, it does remove doubt as to how the big picture will turn out, which means there are times the reader is simply waiting for what she knows is coming, but on the other, it shows that the White side had reasons for its actions. Now perhaps the actions chosen weren't the best, but it's not as if chaos simply wanted chaos -- it was more that the Guild of White mages had to do something in order to survive.

"Colors of Chaos," then, is both the second book in the story of Cerryl, a White mage from a humble background, but also a deeper look into the balance that exists between opposite sides of any argument. And seldom, Modesitt points out, is either side truly black or white.

[Loren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love Saga of Recluce series, and this book was a pleasant surprise. Modesitt has me starting each book in anticipation of where he has 'jumped' along the timeline. It quickly became apparent during the initial chapters that I was reading a story I already vaguely knew, but from the completely opposite viewpoint from a previous book in the series. He did a masterful job of switching the roles of protagonist/antagonist and broadened my outlook on the challenges I face in my daily interactions where I'm fairly convinced of right/wrong.

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe the best book from the series, it's a great sequel to the last book and another look at the universe of Recluce. This time we finished up Ceryl's story from the White side and we learn to sympathize with their position as what I would have considered up to this point the bad guys. The thing with all these books is there is always another perspective and I am truly learning to appreciate this author for this series. Great read!

[Donna Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Colors of Chaos because Cerryl's journey it is opposite of The Magic Engineer (which happened to be my favorite book in the series). Both of these men want what's best for the people. In the end, we actually get to see balance and its the two great men who figure out how to create that for everyone.

[Dean Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a Modesitt fan, it might be worth reading The Magic Engineer before this one because it tells the same story but from the perspective of Dorrin. That way you're clear about how things look from both sides. It does a good job of presenting characters you can like from both sides. The two books were published years apart.

[Elorin Achiad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A continuation of The White Order and the story of Cerryl. I enjoyed the story and the influences on Cerryl in his journey. I felt the tale was rushed, and would have liked more detail towards the end. Some of Cerryl's actions seemed uncharacteristic to me, but perhaps I am applying my own moral code inappropriately. Seeing the story through to the logical conclusion was quite satisfying.

[Sam Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the Saga of Recluse continues the characters seem to become more realistic. The lines between black and white or right and wrong seem to fade into grey, where the real world is. I liked this book. I liked how Cerryl deals with the politics of the day and his own internal belief system.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not thrilled with all the verbal sound effects and the super short chapters but it was a good book although I would have preferred it set up differently. Feels like an outline sometimes, will be glad when I reach the end of this series

[Aaron Anderson]

I've read 15 or 16 straight Recluce novels. It's time for a break. Some science fiction instead of fantasy seems about right. After I do some of that, I'll probably come back and finish the rest of the Recluce novels.

[Ron Souliere · Rating 4 out of 5]

And straight on to book 10.
I want to know what happens next.

[Helen Fleischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit slower than others in the series but still interesting to see the world from the other point of view, especially when it intersected previous stories.

[James Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bit too long, too much detail

[Josephine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting view of Chaos.

[Natty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best installment so far!

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading about the same war as the Magic Engineer from the other side. It was a clever take on a book series that I've rarely seen.