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Legacies (Corean Chronicles, Book 1) |
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Author:
L. E. Modesitt
By Tor Books
Average Customer Rating:  
List Price: $7.99
Our Price: $1.71
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Product Description
A New Age Begins
The First Book of the Corean Chronicles
Millennia ago, a magical disaster caused the fall of a great civilization that spanned a continent, and ended a golden age. Corus today is a world of contending countries, of struggling humans, strange animals and elusive supernatural creatures. Though much has been forgotten, it is still a place of magical powers, and of a few people who are Talented enough to use them.
Even as a child, Alucius showed very strong Talent. He was warned never to reveal it, lest others seek to exploit it. But as he grows to young manhood, Alucius must serve in the Militia like his father before him. When his country is invaded by the slave armies of the Matrial, immortal ruler of a nearby land, Alucius is captured and magically enslaved.
A time of changes has come upon all of the world of Corus. If the evil surrounding the Matrial is not ended, those changes will not be happy ones. Alucius and his Talent have a central role to play.
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Not impressed but still read it , 2008-12-28
I'd suggest trying it out for yourself. Some parts of the story held my attention, but I thought there was way too much detail and repetitiveness that went into the descriptions of battle scenes. I hope the second book in the series is better.
Slow start, fantastic ending, 2008-09-22
Bottom Line: Try before you buy
Having never read any Modesitt before, I had no idea what I was in store for, and was pleasantly surprised, despite the very slow start to get to the real action of the story.
Once the action started, the story really moves along..which is when the main character joins with the army, after having spent the summer being trained (beaten daily) by his grandfather. The main character, is yet another in a series of characters from all kinds of authors, that if done correctly make great heroes...despite their never changing reluctance to being chosen or tasked for the job (or just being in the wrong place at the right time).
There's a little bit of a love story, which is nice, and a lot about families sticking together. A little bit of magic too weaved into the story.
Overall, nicely done, not the strongest story I've ever read, but really nice all the same...and the ending definitely had me wanting to pick up the rest of the series.
Moderately unremarkable fantasy start from a stalwart author., 2008-07-13
Stop me if you have heard this story before.
Moderately capable young man from humble beginnings in an agrarian society slowly grows into strange and unusual abilities. Circumstances force him away from his pastoral home, forcing him to grow up. His benevolent land is under threat from lands both greedy and outright evil, and our hero is instrumental in dealing with these large threats to his small society.
Yeah, it sounds like, for those who have read it, a lot like Modesitt's Recluce novels. The magic system here is different, and this is a post-apocalypse world, where there are few people who can wield "Talent" for good or evil, and the technology is higher, but its very similar to Recluce. The writing is better than the early novels in that series, but the basic ur-text of the story is the same.
That said, we get some strange creatures, decently interesting politics, and hints of what this world lost when its fell. The battle scenes are all right, there is a fair amount in this novel devoted to battle tactics, since the hero is first conscripted, and then turned into a janissary.
Relationships...well, Modesitt still doesn't write romance. I guess he is better living a happy marriage and relationship than actually writing one. So Alucius, our hero, has a girl promising to wait for him, but the relationship's development really doesn't happen with any complexity.
Still, if you have read him before, and are tempted to read him again, you know what you are reading for, virtue wise. Complex worlds, competent heroes who might have doubt--but don't spend half the book doing nothing or moping about it. They get on, they progress, they are catalysts and protagonists.
If you wanted to try his fantasy for the first time, this is probably a good example of a book to do it, so you can get a feel for his writing style, his proclivities and peculiarities (Modesitt loves to write about food, for example...).
I am of the opinion that his SF is much better than his fantasy, even if, especially given our economic times, he writes much more fantasy. So while I am not especially interested in continuing to read this series, it didn't offend me and I don't regret the time I took to do so. I mostly read it on my trip to and from The Black Road, and to kill time in an airport and an airplane, it served its purpose very well. I don't especially recommend it.
a strong sense of Recluse, 2006-05-01
Having read every Recluse novel which L.E. Modesitt, Jr has written I can say with complete confidence that after two or three novels it becomes quickly apparent that Modesitt tells the same story over and over again. That's fine. I happen to enjoy the story that Modesitt tells. He tells the story of a young man from humble beginnings. This young man typically has a hidden "Talent" or magical skill which would set him apart from the rest of the world. His family tells him to not reveal this talent because he will never be safe when people know. The young man is moral. He always chooses to do the right thing, the proper thing, and the difficult thing if the difficult and dangerous thing will lead to a greater good. Eventually the young man becomes a target but rises to a level of power and authority because he is highly skilled.
I just described The Magic of Recluse, The Towers of the Sunset, a variation of Ordermaster, and pretty much every other Recluse novel.
This is also a very accurate description of Legacies, the first novel in Modesitt's Corean Chronicles.
Alucius is from a herder family. Herders typically have some measure of Talent. Alucius has Talent in full measure. Where do we think his story is going to go from here? What sort of novel is this? Who is the author?
Ah, yes. It is a fantasy novel written by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. The basic outline of the plot fits the outline given above. Add in the matriarchy vs patriarchy which also fills out Recluse and it makes me wonder if there isn't some way that the Corean Chronicles isn't set thousands of years after The Death of Chaos. Likely, it isn't. But there is a fit.
The book is workmanlike and decently crafted. Modesitt knows how to tell his story and if you space out his novels enough there isn't the full sense of retread.
-Joe Sherry
For those frustrated with Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time), 2006-03-27
I'm fairly new to fantasy books, but I found this book wonderfully paced and read the book in 5 days -- it kept me hooked. I started the Robert Jordan, Wheel of Time series and got 4 books into and gave up as people told me the books after that were really hit and miss and nothing was really happening with the plot anyway (several books could be skipped without losing the plot line). I don't mean to harp on Robert Jordan, but being new to fantasy, I was quite disillusioned by the fact that it never really ended and the characters went flat. This book doesn't suffer from those problems.
I originally started with Modesitt's sci-fi book Archform: Beauty. It was a good book that I enjoyed, but this was a book I really got into and am now eager to read Darkness.
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780765345134
ISBN: 0765345137
Label: Tor Books
Manufacturer: Tor Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 608
Publication Date: 2003-07-13
Publisher: Tor Books
Studio: Tor Books |
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