The IBDoF LE Modesitt Jr FAQ

[wolfspirit]

The only question I had after reading death of chaos was "Did he ever finish that commisioned piece?" It bugs me every once and a while for over a year now....darn you and your ending of the books! :p

Steve

[lmodesitt]

Yes... Lerris will finish/finished all his commissioned pieces. It would be horribly chaotic not to do so, and that is not something that he could abide, even in the changed state of the world.


L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

[ChrisCalip]

Magic is indeed a huge part of the Recluce World in Lerris Timeline; But people care about Lerris, Krystal, Tamra , and the rest.. even more. Im sure people would not mind the diminished role of magic. I know the story is going to be a fantastic story set in a 'founding of America' mirror. The elements are all there.. groups of people learning from past mistakes wanting to be free from a terrible superpower (Hamor : British Empire). The feeling of a 'world turned upside down' ( reminds me of the Battle of Saratoga), the general feeling from both sides of the ocean is the world is indeed turned upside down.

Quote from LEM 'I know everyone wants to know "more" -- particularly after a great disaster. BUT... the problem is that for the foreseeable future in the world of Recluce -- after the time of Lerris, that is -- there isn't going to be much in the way of magic. Lerris took care of that, and then some. '

Great stories come from worlds under great change. The french revolution, american revolution, world war 2, romance of the 3 kingdoms(chinese), Lord of the Rings... all are set under a background of huge change.

On the American Revolution what brought my tears like a fountain well, not when the fighting was going on, it was after the fighting.. when George Washington and his officers pulled together at a cabin to talk. The officers were ready to rebel and take the newly borned usa by force. But Washington stopped that... he tried to speak on a prepared letter, but found he has gone blind and cannot read... because the war. Instead he just talked to them... while the rebellious men cried at the sight of their general.. and the military rebellion was gone. Without any single shot. A few words, a few moments of camaraderie.

My old friend storyteller tell us the tale of the rise of One Candar.

[lmodesitt]

I can only tell what I can tell... and time will have to be the judge of how well and what I do with that.


L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

[ChrisCalip]

well it was worth a try.

[Aunflin]

What I don't really understand is how Lerris totally destroyed Chaos and Order to the point that they'll NEVER return. To me, it made sense for a short term of a few hundred years...but not infinitely...

Also, it would be interesting (I think) to read about a character who used to have these great powers have to face a powerful foe (lets say Hamor manages to put their navy back in order in record time) and everyone expects him to take care of it because he did so before...and now he has no magic to rely on. It could be QUITE interesting....

Other than that (it's ChrisCalip's fault for me adding further! ), I rather read what you decide to write that what someone tries to coerce you into writing. Doing what you want is bound to be better than doing what someone else wants--it's proven true to me at work everyday: "The premade lasagna is just as good as from scratch" even though we sold four times as much homemade as scratch--my boss is an idiot! Ok, enough of that...

[ChrisCalip]

I can never express myself good at writing.. so many good intentions .. such a bad delivery.

Well thats why LEM is the great writer and Im not

Cheers for the next story!

[Kvetch]

What I don't really understand is how Lerris totally destroyed Chaos and Order to the point that they'll NEVER return. To me, it made sense for a short term of a few hundred years...but not infinitely...

That one is easy - he didn't. Try looking at the last couplet in the Book of Ryba (Here)

[gollum]

Demonsword314 wrote:

Question

I would like to know where you come up with the names for your charcters ...

lmodesitt

I developed or adapted names as I saw necessary, but I've always tried to follow the general rule that most names be no longer than two syllables and be easily pronounced.

Question

... and why did the highways become unused after the fall of Fairhaven (such as the one Lerris found)

lmodesitt

As for the roads... some are still used... as the one Justen followed to lead Lerris through Fairhaven[Frven]. Others were blocked by the cataclysm that accompanied the fall of Fairhaven, and others were abandoned because they didn't go where people wanted to go.

[gollum]

Question:

I'm almost finished rereading the White Order. I'm still not sure why Cerryl's Aunt and Uncle were killed. We're led to believe it was done by the whites. It would have made sense if a) they were still harboring Cerrly or b) they were magely themselves or c) they still lived in the town by the mine and were ratted out (small town talk)

Answer:

As in most of life, the decision by the Whites to kill Cerryl's aunt and uncle wan't based on a single reason. First, according to White policy and practice, they were supposed to turn Cerryl over to the Whites for training [or worse] when they became aware he was a mage. Second, his aunt and uncle violated this policy knowingly because they knew what had happened to Cerryl's father. Third, certain of the Whites would want to make sure Cerryl had no family ties left to bind him to the Whites and/or to destroy anyone who could tell the real story about Cerryl and his father. while others would want the same to turn him against Anya and Jeslek, assuming he did survive to become a white mage.

[ence]

gathering powers until, near the end of time, each shall awaken.

Forgive me if this appears to be beating a dead horse but...Would this prophecy not indicate that there is a "end of time" when both powers re-awaken? I would be interested in seeing a story from that "end". Somehow though the thought comes to me that it is the re-awakening that ends time itself...

[CodeBlower]

We have discussed topics in this area before but I don't know about that specific question. I did a search in IBDoF for the quote and didn't find anything so, if it was already asked, it's been archived or something.

I would suggest creating a new topic/thread and posing the question or discussion-item there.

This thread is for re-posting Mr. Modesitt's answers to various questions -- in order to serve as a "FAQ" -- for reducing repeated queries. Since this one appears to be relatively fresh, I think you're "kosher" for creating a new thread.

[KiltanneN]

Question:

What is the view on fanfic? Prefer not to see it? Indifferent? or Wouldn't mind, just none exists at this current time?

Answer:

I have to admit that I haven't thought much about fanfiction until you brought up the question.

My initial impression is to ask would-be writers not to write fanfiction about any "world" in which I'm still writing. I don't mind people adopting characters, or doing personal non-commercial role-playing, but, frankly, the writing world is tough and getting tougher, and I'd rather not have a potential conflict between the images created by personalities and issues that could be raised by fanfiction and those already created by what I've written and am still writing.


L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

My most favorite writers at the moment are Lois McMaster Bujold, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Hal Colebatch, Robert L. Forward, Edward M. Lerner (and several others whose names slip my mind).

Now I'm thinking of delving into Mr. Modesitt's books. They may keep me happily reading for the next few years.

Should I start with the first published book of one of his SF series or with the first published book of his Fantasy series, The Saga of Recluce?

Or would I (dis)enjoy either equally much?

[CodeBlower]

This thread is mostly for reposting the answers that Mr. Modesitt has given in response to questions that readers commonly have when reading his books.

It's generally acceptable to start a new thread for questions such as yours -- at least for us Modd'ites -- I can't answer for the other forums on here.


As for answering your question ..

Having never read anything from the authors you listed, I would basically suggest that -- if you enjoy fantasy more -- you should find "The Saga of Recluce" enjoyable (most folks do). If SF is your thing, I enjoyed the "Ghost" books .. but others, who have read more of his Sci-Fi writings, could answer this better.

[rpschmitz]

What I don't really understand is how Lerris totally destroyed Chaos and Order to the point that they'll NEVER return. To me, it made sense for a short term of a few hundred years...but not infinitely...

You've said it's never going to happen...

But I have this image in my mind of a future (more high-tech Recluce) where magic hasn't been available for a couple hundred--or more--years:

Suddenly: all these people with chaos power...and some orderly guy working as a cook/chef starts experiencing order-magery powers...

He's basically alone, but finds an ancient, worn volume of the Basis of Order...

There is all this talk of fan fiction--I would never write the story It would be unethical...and it's not my story. But I was just trying to figure out why Recluce could not go beyond The Death of Chaos...

The world changes--so WHAT!!

There are still stories.

LEM: You became one of my favorite authors by being different: so why no think about it? Who cares...

But I don't know why you think fans wouldn't like it...

It's okay to have people faling from Space going into a (logical) "fantasy" world... but notyhing beyond that--WHY NOT??? Don't understand....


edited by gollum, fixed closing quote

[lmodesitt]

The existing Recluce Saga covers a bit less than 2,000 years... and over that time -- until the end of The Death of Chaos

Spoiler: show

there's essentially no change in the fundamental structure of order/chaos, nor in the amount of free order and free chaos. That means, as in our world, things change slowly, if at all. That's why I wouldn't write another book about Lerris. It would be far different. As for what you postulated... a book in the far future of the world of Recluce, when the structure imposed by Lerris begins to fray... that's indeed possible... but whether it's a book I will write... that's another question.

L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

[MidasKnight]

If Mr. Modesitt ever writes a book we ask him to write, it would probably not be very good.

He'll write what he wants and feels, and it will be good, like it always is.

[gollum]

Question:

<snip>... what is the calendar of the Imager series? In what order do the days of the week flow, how many days are in a week? How many days in a month (it seems that every month is identical...?)? How many months are there, and in what order are they?

Also, time - I noticed that noon and midnight are at 10th glass; but it seems the glass is an hour, so I'd expect it to have been 12? I easily infer a quint of a glass is 1/5, but is that 12 minutes (1/5 hour), or is it more akin to 14.4 minutes (1/5 of 1/10 of 12 hours)?
...<snip>Thanks!

Answer:

The days of the week are, in order: Solayi, Lundi, Mardi, Meredi, Jeudi, Vendrei, Samedi. Samedi is usally a half day for work, and Solayi is the equivalent of Sunday.

Each month is 35 days, and the first day of every month is Solayi.

There are ten five-week months to the year, grouped into five seasons, each of two months: Winter, Spring. Summer, Harvest, and Fall. The year begins with the first month of winter, and ends with the last day of fall. The months are: Ianus (W), Fevier(W), Maris(Sp), Avryl (Sp), Mayas (S), Juyn(S), Agostos (H), Erntyn (H), Feuillyt(F), Finitas (F).

L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

Question:

Thank you, L.E.!

Based on the info from the other thread, and from my own observations, the length of a day seems to be shorter than an earth day, unless a glass is actually longer than an hour - but you had stated in the other thread you didn't consider it to be so (at least, not 40% longer)... is that accurate?

Also, what is the equivalent of a minute? A quint seems most often used, but if I am right in believing that to be a fifth of a glass, that is much longer than a minute would be, whether a glass is an hour or more!

Answer:

A glass is longer than our hour, somewhere around 75 of our minutes,but measured in 100 units of Terahnar time, so the length of the day is roughly comparable, but Terahnar units are shorter than our minutes.

A quint is a fifth of a glass, or 20 units.

L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

[rpschmitz]

The existing Recluce Saga covers a bit less than 2,000 years... and over that time -- until the end of The Death of Chaos

Spoiler: show

there's essentially no change in the fundamental structure of order/chaos, nor in the amount of free order and free chaos. That means, as in our world, things change slowly, if at all. That's why I wouldn't write another book about Lerris. It would be far different. As for what you postulated... a book in the far future of the world of Recluce, when the structure imposed by Lerris begins to fray... that's indeed possible... but whether it's a book I will write... that's another question.

L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

Sorry, guess I missed reading this post--I was rather busy at the time with my new job.

I never wanted a new Lerris book...but the other thing you said, "that's indeed possible" is what I was looking for. If you never write it--that's fine by me. It just seemed illogical--somehow--that there could never be a tale with chaos/order magery beyond the time of Lerris.

Enough said.

You're still my favorite author.

Write what you write: and I'll read it.