The White Order by L.E. Modesitt Jr.My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Call it 3.5 stars?
This is another one of those series that I'm lukewarm about. The plots carry me along, but I find the people to be so wooden and predictable that I can tell from the beginning of each book just where it is headed. Take one young man with a talent and an unnatural sense of honour and dedication to hard work. Add a young woman that he's interested in, but he'll only admit that if pressed. He works his way through trials that would derail most young men, but prevails through sheer talent and honesty. He's basically a boy scout.
What made this book more interesting was that we finally get a look at the Recluce world from the White mages' point of view. Up to this point, we've had Black mage main characters and they've been set up as the “good guys.” But we all know that perspective is everything and there are good people on both sides of any conflict.
I seem to recall dimly from memories of previous volumes that we witnessed from the Black viewpoint as Jesek pushed up the mountain range outside Fenard. I also recall a White mage at an inn somewhere who resembled Jesek in attitude. Power hungry, dangerous, and self indulgent.
Switching sides gave this installment a little extra fillip for me. It also helps that Cerryl is clear eyed about being manipulated and is quite a bit less dim about women than previous main characters. At least so far. The next book follows him as a brand new mage, so he'll have plenty of time to screw up his burgeoning relationship with Leyladin!
Book number 381 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.
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