Arms-Commander

[CodeBlower]

I was late ordering the book and just finished it before the weekend.

I loved all the Easter eggs!

Spoiler: show

I could easily go for another book in this time-period but that was a pretty clean wrap-up. I'd really prefer to move on to somebody new.

Saryn reminds me of a mixture of Anna (from the Spellsong series) .. plus a few others. I really enjoyed her.

[BlackBearForge]

Easter eggs?!?! I'm about two thirds of the way through this book and enjoying it immensely, but Easter eggs? lol (I did not read the spoilers thank you!)

BTW, while the cover is very nice as others have pointed out, shouldn't they all (or at least some) have rather short hair rather than the wind blown locks shown? lol

[CodeBlower]

Not sure what else to call them .. all those little tidbits and asides that fill in details from at least a half-dozen other Recluce books .. those are what I considered Easter eggs.

[BlackBearForge]

Ah! Those kinds of Easter Eggs, please forgive me, I can be rather literal at times. I am enjoying seeing how all the pieces are coming together. I've only got a short bit left so I suspect I will have a hard time putting it down tonight until it's finished.

[elen]

Hi, I'm new to this forum - I've only just thought to look and see if it existed!

Personally I love the Fantasy because it works so well as a complete universe. But I also like the SF, partly because the plots are very satisfying, partly because I love opera and there are plenty of references to this in these books, but also because I like tracking the character names down. Finding out who the originals were is a puzzle that I enjoy, and they are always relevant. I was startled to find Sumo wrestlers in one of them!

As a British fan I just wanted to comment on these statements

lmodesitt wrote:Most of the "foreign" sales of U.S.-printed books [sorry, if I didn't make this clear] are in Canada, the U.K., and Australia, and these are at the lower royalty rate. The reason for the U.K and Australia sales as foreign, rather than "British rights" is because no British firm wants to reprint my new books there, and hasn't for almost 10 years..


L. E. Modesitt., Jr.

and Lord Robertus' comment on how this was hard for UK fans.

I don't have any problems buying Mr Modesitt's books, even though they are not printed in this country. Large bookshop chains, like Waterstones, carry them and if they haven't got something it's always possible to get them quickly through Amazon.

I'm someone who much prefers holding a real book to using an E-reader. A book feels good in the hands and weighs "right", it has a distinct smell, the paper rustles as you turn the page, I can quickly turn back to the maps, the covers are bright and enticing on the bookcase, I can easily have several different books open at once without losing the page size. Most of all I don't get a headache reading as I do using an E-book. This is partly because I read quickly, so I'm forever scrolling the screen, which very quickly causes eye-strain! Maybe the new Ipad will help with the screen problem, but I have yet to be convinced.

I really hope it will still be possible to buy a physical book in future.

[rip8fan1]

Hi, I'm new to this forum - I've only just thought to look and see if it existed!

Welcome!!! I'm sure you will love this LEM forum!! (and hopefully others in this area!)

[CodeBlower]

I really hope it will still be possible to buy a physical book in future.

Don't worry, you'll be buying physical books for quite a while yet.

(We've argued this "to death" in the eBook reader threads so I'll try not to get us too side-tracked here.)

Welcome!

[Jumbotron]

Question about the ending.

Spoiler: show

So did Saryn even love the guy when she married him? Or did she just take him as the best possible candidate? I admit, I kinda sped read through this one, due to some outside influences, so I may have not picked up on it. She just seemed kind of...cold about the whole thing.

[lmodesitt]

In reply...

This is one time of those times where I'm going to let what I wrote speak for itself. The last chapters need to be read carefully...

L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

[Mythbhavd]

I'm curious if there will be a second novel. Ryba said that she foresaw Saryn fighting in the snow, but the book ends at harvest. I really enjoyed her as a character and am hoping with fingers crossed that there will be.

[Talquin]

I think i found a spelling/word mistake on a page. Can this be fixed for the softcover or is it too later?

[lmodesitt]

If you let me know in the next month or so, I can definitely get it fixed for the paperback.


L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

[Talquin]

I'll have to find the page again but i think the word used was "treat" when is was supposed to be "trade" .

[elenion]

Depending on the circumstances, that may not be a mistake... "to treat with someone"

Treat (v)

3. To engage in negotiations, as to reach a settlement or agree on terms

[kempd1]

I just completed Arms-Commander for the first time and enjoyed it very much. I have now read all the Recluce novels at least once and many multiple times, but I have not read any other books written by Mr. Modesitt. What would other reader's suggest that i read next? There are many things I enjoy about the Recluce saga, but i especially enjoy the hi-tech/low-tech blending found in the books involving Cyador and the Angels. Are there other series written by Mr. Modesitt that explore similar themes? Just curious what readers of his other works would recommend (sci-fi or fantasy). Thanks.

[DaveA]

The Corean Chronicles (7 books so far) would probably be a good next series.

However, some of LEM's standalone SF is very readable and an interesting contrast to his fantasy.
My personal recommendations would be Archform:Beauty, Adiamante and The Eternity Artifact.

One of the great things about Mr Modesitt's work is the sheer volume and the contrasting styles he is able to depict.

Happy reading

Dave

[kempd1]

The Corean Chronicles (7 books so far) would probably be a good next series.

However, some of LEM's standalone SF is very readable and an interesting contrast to his fantasy.
My personal recommendations would be Archform:Beauty, Adiamante and The Eternity Artifact.

One of the great things about Mr Modesitt's work is the sheer volume and the contrasting styles he is able to depict.

Happy reading

Dave

Dave, thank you for the recommendations. I spoke with my father who has read much of Mr. Modesitt's work (both Sci-Fi & Fantasy) and he too recommended The Corean Chronicles. So, I picked up a copy of Legacies and started reading today.

[Talquin]

Those are a great read. my favorite.

I would also reccomend "The Forever Hero " as well.

[CodeBlower]

I finally finished collecting the books in "The Corean Chronicles" last spring and read through them all in a few months. I enjoyed several of the characters in the series.

One more bit of good news: Mr. Modesitt stated, last fall, that he's working on another Mykella book (the main character in "The Lord-Protector's Daughter").

[kempd1]

I'm at the point in "legacies" where i'm still trying to assimilate all the new creatures, locations, plot lines, technology, etc. but have enjoyed what I have read thus far. the only thing i don't like is the feeling i get that i'm probably missing something that's important. Does this series follow the same pattern as the Recluce saga in that after the first book the second book takes place hundreds of years in the past?

[gollum]

Instead of 2 books centered around a particular recluce character, we are blessed with 3 in each of the Corean trlogies.

[CodeBlower]

I'm at the point in "legacies" where i'm still trying to assimilate all the new creatures, locations, plot lines, technology, etc. but have enjoyed what I have read thus far. the only thing i don't like is the feeling i get that i'm probably missing something that's important. Does this series follow the same pattern as the Recluce saga in that after the first book the second book takes place hundreds of years in the past?

As Gollum said, there seems to be three books on a character so far in the "Corean" series.

The 1st three books serve as your introduction to the world and the magic-system. The next group (I think) jumps back in time a bit (dang - I may need to re-read again) (oh well .. just pretend it's a spoiler-tag). Mykella's first book is all we have so far (of the most-recent group) and I think it takes place a generation or two after the second group.

Short answer: "yes and no".

p.s. Even though you're itching to get into the "meat" of the world, I find the "exploration" aspect of these books to be very fulfilling. We fall into these worlds as an outsider and tenatively venture into the unknown -- never really knowing if that next step is completely safe or not. It's a little more straightforward (aligning the reader with the protagonist) in "The Spellsong Cycle", but it's still the same in the "Corean" and "Recluce" books.

[kempd1]

I'm at the point in "legacies" where i'm still trying to assimilate all the new creatures, locations, plot lines, technology, etc. but have enjoyed what I have read thus far. the only thing i don't like is the feeling i get that i'm probably missing something that's important. Does this series follow the same pattern as the Recluce saga in that after the first book the second book takes place hundreds of years in the past?

As Gollum said, there seems to be three books on a character so far in the "Corean" series.

The 1st three books serve as your introduction to the world and the magic-system. The next group (I think) jumps back in time a bit (dang - I may need to re-read again) (oh well .. just pretend it's a spoiler-tag). Mykella's first book is all we have so far (of the most-recent group) and I think it takes place a generation or two after the second group.

Short answer: "yes and no".

p.s. Even though you're itching to get into the "meat" of the world, I find the "exploration" aspect of these books to be very fulfilling. We fall into these worlds as an outsider and tenatively venture into the unknown -- never really knowing if that next step is completely safe or not. It's a little more straightforward (aligning the reader with the protagonist) in "The Spellsong Cycle", but it's still the same in the "Corean" and "Recluce" books.

gollum/CodeBlower, Thanks for the insight and explanations. I like the 'three books per character' approach and wish Mr. Modesitt would go back and write additional books about a few Recluce characters.

[fortyseven]

Arms-Commander is a great book. The parallels between Lorn/Lornth and Saryn/Sarronyn are cool. Lorn and Saryn were both more armsmen than mages. They both become rulers. I'd love to read Saryn's thoughts on "magic" a la The Basis of Order.

[jmucchiello]

I just finished this and I want a followup book, call it Tyrant. (Lady-Tyrant? Son of a Tyrant?

Of course, being a fan I want Nylan, Arylyn and a certain silver-haired 10 year old boy to show up 9 months after this book ends to help with the difficult delivery of Saryn's first born. This of course is also a setup for the 3 2nd gen angels to visit Saryn and meet their half-brother for the first time. Or Son of a Tyrant and show how the Jerans were tamed in 2nd Gen Sarronyn. Maybe Relyn can return to the Groves older and with a daughter in tow.

This is all fresh because I read Fall of Angels and The Chaos Balance before starting Arms-Commander. Starting Towers of the Sunset after AC was just a shock. How did the matriarchy that seemed inevitable for Westwind also infected Sarronyn? It seemed during AC that Saryn would encourage both men and women to train at arms. But men in Sarronyn seem just as oppressed as Creslin in Westwind.