The setting is Cigoerne, a small country of decent people in the continent of Hamor. When their homeland of Cyador was destroyed, they fled to this location and were allowed to set up a small country, albeit surrounded by enemies, the sort of treacherous types who ill-treat their women. Fortunately, the leaders of Afrit, Merowey and Heldya don’t trust each other so it’s hard for them to coordinate an attack on Cigoerne. Does this situation remind anyone else of Israel?

Our teenage hero is Lerial, son of Cigoerne’s ruler Duke Kiedron but not the heir, which honour falls to his elder brother, Lephi, who is not especially nice. Like all wise young fantasy heroes, Lerial has a mentor. In this case, it’s Altyrn-Majer (stipended) – former commander of Mirror Lancers. A hard-nosed mentor who says, ‘…moral worth in itself does not win battles. What wins battles and wars is the ability to prevail and the willingness to do whatever is necessary, however distasteful that may be’ or the end justifies the means as they say in the CIA.

The war in question develops in the forest region of Verdyn which lies between Cigoerne and Merowey. Technically, it’s part of Merowey but they haven’t bothered with it much. Now they are planning to invade. When the forest people make it plain that they would like to join Cigoerne and place themselves under the protection of Duke Kiedron, he sends his son Lerial as an envoy, accompanied by a couple of squadrons of lancers. As you would expect from a world-builder of Modesitt’s talent, the ecology and economy of the forest people’s society are well realised. Anyway, the stage is set, the actors are in place, let battle commence! It does and the details of a hard-fought campaign are realistically conveyed as usual by this talented writer.

A recent discussion on BBC Radio 4 on Romanticism made me realise what makes Modesitt’s fantasy unusual. Fantasy grew out of the Romantic tradition which stretches from Arthurian legends to gothic novels but Modesitt’s fantasy is not Romantic. There is nothing dreamy, impractical, unrealistic or emotional about his heroes who all work hard and do the right thing, to borrow a catchphrase from our beloved Prime Minister. They are constantly learning new skills and have a positively Victorian approach to self-improvement. They view the world with eminent common-sense. Good stories ensue but I’m not sure if this makes for great fiction. The most interesting characters have some sort of flaw but not Modesitt’s. There are no doomed princes yearning for lost loves trapped in other dimensions and fits of melancholy, lassitude or ennui are not done. Nor do they fly into barbarian rages. His settings, too, are unique in fantasy. The trappings are mediaeval, certainly, but the ‘magic’ is really just a different set of physical laws which are followed with Newtonian rigour. Demons are not invoked, nor Gods, spirits, elves or Munchkins. The heroes are human beings coping with a different set of circumstances but their values are those of white Anglo-Saxon protestants in 1950s America. Hard work and clean living should see them through.

This may be a backhanded compliment but Modesitt’s fantasies are superb bedtime reading. When my brain is too tired to focus on something difficult, the short chapters, clear writing, steady progress, familiar characters and general lack of anything too complicated make them ideal. When your eyelids start to droop, it’s only a couple of pages to the end of the chapter and the whole story is so plainly etched in the grey matter that there’s no worry about losing track. The books are easy to pick up again. In fact, they’re quite addictive and I have read many of them, despite my reservations about some of the values therein. The good guys are good but there’s a certain self-righteous certainty about them that makes me uncomfortable.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed ‘Cyador’s Heirs’, as usual, and have the sequel to hand. Recommended for Modesitt fans, worth a look for anyone else. If you like Heinlein juveniles and John Wayne films, you will probably like the ‘Saga Of Recluce’.

Eamonn Murphy
This review first appeared at https://www.sfcrowsnest.info/ ( )

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer Title: Cyador's Heirs Series: The Saga of Recluce Author: L.E. Modesitt Jr. Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Genre: SFF Pages: 629 Synopsis: Cyador is gone and its survivors are in Hamor, trying to carve out a kingdom amongst hostile dukes of surrounding kingdoms. The younger son is sent off to be trained and ends up fighting a war in defense of a new ally. My Thoughts: The fact that I am still reading this series should say something. However, I am not sure what, as I do nothing but complain about each book as I read them. Modesitt has a certain voice when writing the Recluce books and it is one that can stupify, grate and generally annoy. Even while telling a rather fantastic story. And that is what keeps me coming back. The stories. The stories are formulaic to the extreme, nothing is original and you'll be sick and tired of people eating by the time the novel is done. But you'll read it to the end and read 17 books worth and read the next book when it comes out. What can I say? I still enjoy these but it is with the knowledge of the flaws, deliberate I believe sometimes, of these books. " ( )

The first of a duology set in the Recluce series, this is a good one.

As usual with Recluce we are taken on the journey of a young person that grows into the shoes of an adult, and we see the world, more through the eyes as an adult would. Not that Modesitt is trying to achieve that but he does not have Eddinggs mastery of writing how a young person sees the world. All heroes that Modesitt gives us can think through problems like a wise old man, and then come up with a great solution to a problem.

Not that it detracts from the series, and this duology will certainly see problems that an older person can solve better than our hero at his age. Yet out on campaign in a war, our hero learns and adapts and we watch his progression with fascination. Later we see in the scheme of the entire work a very much political, socio and economic underpinnings that pave the way for the development of further depth to the characters as well as the plot. All adds to make a convincing story that may well be worth a reread. ( )

This is another excellent addition to the Recluce series, the 17th book published, but it's currently the 6th chronologically & has different characters & setting than any others. It's a coming of age & learning to use The Force story. Very enjoyable & a different way of looking at & handling the magic than others.

There is a subtle conspiracy that must be handled as well as the complicated duties & the obvious conflict. As usual, all are handled very well. I highly recommend it if you've read others in the series. If not, I'd suggest reading them in published order the first time. I've read most several times & like to reread them in chronological order. The first grows the world & magical system better, but the second works the history better for me.

I do have a couple of complaints. First, what's happened to Rahl's story? It begins in [b:Natural Ordermage|437649|Natural Ordermage (The Saga of Recluce, #14)|L.E. Modesitt Jr.|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388338699s/437649.jpg|2223166], continues in [b:Mage-Guard of Hamor|2292175|Mage-Guard of Hamor (Saga of Recluce, #15)|L.E. Modesitt Jr.|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388363394s/2292175.jpg|2298481], & ... I'm hanging here. What happens?!!! Well, we know, but I'd like to read it happening. He's done 2 & 2/3 trilogies in the Corean Chronicals, too. The last (middle chronologically) trilogy still needs a book, doesn't it?
No, apparently I'm wrong on the above. I asked the question on his website, http://www.lemodesittjr.com, & he replied
L. E. Modesitt, Jr. says:
June 3, 2014 at 12:58 pm
Any additional book about either Mykella or Rahl would have to be either totally unrealistic or a definite anti-climax, since they’ve both destroyed all credible opposition. I’d prefer not to write either toally unrealistic or anticlimactic books.
I'm totally OK with that. Actually, I'm ecstatic. Modesitt is an author that doesn't want to milk a series!!! Wow. It's obvious I need to reread those books.

Secondly, on page 432, Juist follows Altyrn to meet Lerial. A few paragraphs later, on the same page, Lerial asks what happened to Juist & Altyrn tells him there has been no word. Dammit, he's standing right there. No, actually he's not. Someone else is. Grrr...

Tor, why should I buy books from you, one of the Big Six publishers, if you can't provide proper editorial support to one of your better authors? If I want crappy editing, I can get some otherwise great self-published books for free or a lot cheaper than this pre-ordered hardback. (If it's not obvious, I don't blame an author too much for such gaffs. It's a big, complicated book & the author needs other sets of eyes to find such things.)

Anyway, if you haven't read this series, you should & you should continue through this book. A follow up to it is coming in August 2014, I think. ( )