Colors of Chaos
core novel 2000 The Saga of Recluce
Record
| First published | 2000 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.14 (5,760 ratings, collected 2026-08-27) |
| Page count | 818 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780812570939 |
Synopsis
Colors of Chaos, the ninth novel in L. E. Modesitt Jr.'s Saga of Recluce, follows Cerryl, protagonist of The White Order, now established as a full White Chaos mage within the ranks of Fairhaven's Magician's Guild. Cerryl must navigate the guild's tangled internal politics while proving his usefulness to Jeslek, the guild's High Wizard, all while maintaining a quiet relationship with a Black healer whose Order-aligned background sits uneasily with his own position among the White mages. As Cerryl rises within Fairhaven's power structure, he also has to contend with threats from a manipulative rival inside the palace who works to undermine his standing, forcing Cerryl to balance ambition, loyalty and self-preservation within a Chaos-magic hierarchy that rewards ruthlessness as much as raw power.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Saga of Recluce
- Series: The Saga of Recluce core; position 9 of 26 in the series' recorded order
- Author: L.E. Modesitt Jr.
Notes
- From the series record (The Saga of Recluce): One continuous, internally chronological world across many reading-order sub-arcs; the whole published run to date is Core Canon, per the author's own single ordered list. Ongoing; a further volume (Last of the First) is announced for 2026 and is not yet published, so it is not registered (Constitution Article 2).
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series The Saga of Recluce: position 9 of 26: previous The White Order (1999) · next Magi'i of Cyador (2001)
Sources
- L.E. Modesitt, Jr. official site: The Saga of Recluce
- https://www.lemodesittjr.com/the-books/saga-recluce/colors-chaos/
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