Wellspring of Chaos - L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

Written by one of my favourite authors, from what I think is his best series, The Saga of Recluce. I've just re-read it, or more accurately, skimmed through it as his newest in the series, Ordermaster, follows on from this one. This is the twelfth in the Saga.

It expands the world that Modesitt has created, away from the Recluce and Candar continents and begins to depict the other continents of Nordla, Hamor and Austra. His previous volumes skipped back and forth in the history of these two, following powerful mages, whose actions have defined the world in which they lived.

Wellspring of Chaos in particular is enjoyable, as the protagonist is a middle-aged man, whose experience in life contrasts with the lack of experience in the youths who make up the heroes of many other fantasy narratives. His adventures bring a whole new perspective to the idea of a middle-age crisis, and show that it is not only the young who are learning and who struggle with the right decisions. As always, Modesitt plays with the notion of power of all kinds, of trust, of intuition and of a world that is constantly changing around you. It is about what to do and how to stay on, after it seems that all has been lost.

Modesitt's style is direct and his dialogue often very minimalistic. There are long passages of description about activities such as carpentry or ironsmithing, which are very information and detail dense, offset by the short chapters. The pace can often be slow, with the characters given to long periods of introspection and contemplation of the nature of magic.

Modesitt's magical world is scientific, based on order and chaos, with the magical users often having to pay heavily for their use of power; having to work within their physical limits and without complete understanding or knowledge of the consequences. I find this far more realistic than epic fantasies where there appears little that needs to be paid for the use of magical power.

With its rambling philosophy and attention to detail that at times seem mundane, Modesitt's work is not that which I would recommend lightly to anyone. People who enjoy fantasy with a scientific and at times science fiction bent will appreciate the subtleties in the discourses in the text which stimulate thoughts that deepen an understanding of his world and our own. The amount of large-scale death, moral and ethical concerns, and insights into human nature can at times be very confronting, but in the end, Modesitt is always worth it. There is something new to be discovered and understood at every reading.