The Chaos Balance by L.E. Modesitt Jr.My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The Chaos Balance follows Modesitt's usual story pattern. There are simmering tensions between men and women, with resentments on both sides. They both have reason for their feelings, but it does get repetitive. Here we have the main character, Nylan, who is a reluctant black mage. It seems all the main characters are dissatisfied with the status quo, but unwilling to talk about whatever is eating at them. They are all hyper-responsible, workaholics with persecution complexes. They all end up with vision problems at the least or blindness at the most, for using more of their mage powers than they should or misusing the power in their own opinion.
The author frequently gives us male characters who leave their emotional labour to others. ”Just give me a task to do and then thank me extravagantly when its done,” that seems to be their way of dealing with life. Then they're surprised that the women in their lives get annoyed, being forced to nag, guess what's going on in his head, be the bad guy, or be blamed for the outcome of the decisions that they've been forced to make without his input. Plus, after all this he expects praise for whatever task she has had to plan and request his work on.
What I really did appreciate in this volume is Modesitt's examination of the nature of so-called honour societies. Where it is more honourable to throw away lives in an unwinnable war than it is to mount a guerilla operation. Where it is honourable to treat women and children as chattel. Since there's still quite a bit of this among men in modern society, this book still has relevance. Other very positive aspects are the obvious environmental message in the use of the forest energies and the message about sexism being ridiculous. Thank you, Mr. Modesitt, for featuring these progressive concepts.
Book number 366 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project
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