L. E. Modesitt, Jr.'s Madness in Solidar was published by Tor Books (UK website/US website) in March 2015.
Information about L. E. Modesitt, Jr.:
L. E. Modesitt, Jr. is the bestselling author of over sixty novels encompassing two science fiction series and four fantasy series, as well as several other novels in the science fiction genre.
Mr. Modesitt has been a delivery boy; a lifeguard; an unpaid radio disc jockey; a U.S. Navy pilot; a market research analyst; a real estate agent; a director of research for a political campaign; legislative assistant and staff director for a U.S. Congressman; Director of Legislation and Congressional Relations for the U.S. 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 story was published in 1973. He lives in Cedar City, Utah.
Click here to visit the author's official website.
Information about Madness in Solidar:
Four centuries after its founding, Solidar's Collegium of Imagers is in decline, the exploits of its founder, the legendary Quaeryt, largely forgotten. The Collegium is so lacking in leadership that the dying Maitre must summon Alastar - an obscure but talented senior imager from Westisle far to the south who has little knowledge of politics in the capital - as his successor.
When Alastar arrives in L'Excelsis and becomes the new Maitre, he finds disarray and lack of discipline within the Collegium, and the ruler of Solidar so hated by the High Holders that they openly refer to him as being mad. To make matters worse, neither Rex Ryen, ridiculed as Rex Dafou, nor the High Holders have any respect for the Collegium, and Alastar finds himself in the middle of a power struggle, with Ryen demanding that the Collegium remove the strongest High Holders and the military leadership in turn plotting to topple Ryen and destroy the Collegium.
At the same time, Ryen is demanding the High Holders pay a massive increase in taxes while he initiates a grandiose building project. And all that, Alastar discovers, is only a fraction of the problems he and the Collegium face. If Alastar is to preserve the Collegium, he must find a way to navigate through the difficult political landscape of L'Excelsis and outmaneuver his many rivals.
This is the beginning of a revealing new chapter of the Imager Portfolio.
A REVIEW OF L. E. MODESITT, JR.'S MADNESS IN SOLIDAR
L. E. Modesitt, Jr.'s Madness in Solidar is the 9th novel in the excellent Imager Portfolio series. It begins a whole new chapter in the series and thus it's an excellent entry point to new readers who haven't read any previous novels. Madness in Solidar is an intriguing addition to the Imager Portfolio (in my opinion it's one of the author's most entertaining novels to date).
I've mentioned a couple of times that L. E. Modesitt, Jr.'s Saga of Recluce novels are almost like a guilty pleasure of mine. The same applies to Imager Portfolio series, because it's one of the best and most entertaining fantasy series available for adult readers. I'm a fan of this series, because who else but L. E. Modesitt, Jr. could write a detailed fantasy series like this one?
L. E. Modesitt, Jr. has his own unique writing style and he has honed it to perfection. Although he has written many fantasy novels, his novels are always well written and interesting. Madness in Solidar is a perfect example of his ability to write fascinating stories to readers who want depth, style and details from their fantasy novels.
Madness in Solidar is - without a doubt - one of the most entertaining fantasy novels published this year. I was pleased with it, because it was everything I expected it to be. It was a satisfyingly complex yet entertaining fantasy novel with intriguing power struggle, fascinating magic and excellent characterization.
If there are readers out there who haven't read any Imager Portfolio novels, I think it's good to say a few words about the world and the imagers before I write anything about the story and the contents of Madness in Solidar. The happenings take place in the world of Terahnar, where a small number of people are imagers. Imagers are people who have the power to create objects through visualization. The world in this series is close to our own world, but there are differences.
Here's a bit of information about the story:
- Alastar, the new maitre of the Collegium, meets Rex Ryen who wants him to help him with a building project and make certain that the High Council doesn't vote to oppose increase in tariffs on High Holders and factors that he intends to impose next year. The treasury is almost empty and a tariff increase is necessary.
- The position of the Collegium has deteriorated over the years and the imagers must toughen themselves in order to survive. The ancient imagers were powerful, but now the powers of the imagers have decreased, because they've pampered themselves and haven't pushed themselves hard enough to develop their powers.
- Soon Alastar finds himself in a difficult situation, because he's in the middle of a power struggle...
The characterization works well in this novel. In my opinion the protagonist, Alastar, is a well-created protagonist who has his own ambitions, goals, motives and feelings. The author has made him a believable character. The minor characters are also well-portrayed and it's interesting to read about them.
What makes Alastar an especially intriguing protagonist is that he's a bit older and more powerful Imager than others. He's also an outsider and feels a bit out of place at the Collegium. He faces many problems, because he has to participate in a political power play and he has to try to develop the powers of the imagers.
Rex Ryen doesn't have much respect for the Collegium and he'd like the imagers to do what he wants them to do. For example, he wants the Collegium to remove the strongest High Holders. Rex Ryen causes quite a lot of problems to Alastar, because Alastar notices that he's not the most capable man to hold the throne.
It's wonderful how well the author uses different characters and settings in his stories. The world in this fantasy series is one of his best creations, because it's reminiscent of France during the time of Renaissance and Enlightenment. It's a world that feels instantly familiar, but differs from our own world.
L. E. Modesitt, Jr. is one of the few fantasy authors who are capable of writing about politics in a fascinating way (he doesn't alienate readers by writing about political happenings, but manages to make his readers interested in them). His ability to create political tension is in full bloom in this novel, because he has created a complex political structure that feels totally believable and realistic. Such well-created and fascinating political complexity is difficult to find in modern fantasy novels, so this novel is a rare treat to fantasy readers.
Magic is handled in a good way, because the author writes fluently about imaging and what happens when the characters use their powers. He also pays attention to what may happen if one is careless with imaging and doesn't take everything into consideration, because it's possible to kill or hurt oneself badly by imaging something in a wrong way.
One of the most interesting aspects of this novel is that the author writes fluently about how certain people feel about the imagers, their powers and their doings. He handles this issue surprisingly well, because he manages to create a realistic vision of a city that is inhabited by different people with different goals and ambitions.
The author writes perfectly about how Alastar pushes the young imagers to work harder. The training is hard and even dangerous, because it's possible that not all of the young imagers will survive the training, but Alastar has no other choice but to train them hard. He's willing to do almost anything to make the imagers more powerful (if the imagers can't become more powerful, the future doesn't look very promising to them). He wonders about what made the ancient imagers so powerful, because the new imagers can't match their powers.
It's possible that some readers may consider Madness in Solidar to be a kind of a growing up story. In a way it is a growing up story, but it's not your usual kind of a growing up story, because Alastar is already an older and experienced man. He's an adult man who has a lot to learn about politics and relationships between different people in L'Excelsis. He faces quite a lot of different problems.
L. E. Modesitt, Jr. has a talent for drawing the reader into the middle of detailed plots and political intrigue. In Madness in Solidar he creates an absorbing story by slowly revealing more details about the city, its inhabitants and its politics, and he makes the reader care about the happenings. When you begin to read this novel, you'll soon find yourself immersed in the story.
Reading this novel was a satisfying reading experience for me, because the characterization was excellent and the story was intriguing. The author knows how to deliver a well written story and pays attention to all the necessary elements that make up a good and intelligent story. There's quite a lot of depth and intelligent storytelling in this novel.
If you're a newcomer to L. E. Modesitt, Jr.'s Imager Portfolio series, you should consider reading Madness in Solidar, because it gives you an excellent example of the author's writing abilities and writing style. Madness in Solidar is a perfect entry point to Imager Portfolio series. If you enjoy reading this novel, I strongly urge you to read the previous novels, because you won't regret reading them. If you're already familiar with this series, I can recommend this novel to you, because it's immersive and well written entertainment.
Excellent fantasy entertainment!