The Magic of Recluce
core novel 1991 The Saga of Recluce
Record
| First published | 1991 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.87 (25,964 ratings, collected 2026-08-27) |
| Page count | 501 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780812505184 |
Synopsis
The Magic of Recluce, the first novel in L. E. Modesitt Jr.'s Saga of Recluce, follows Lerris, a young man dissatisfied with life on the strictly ordered island of Recluce, where order-based magic and rigid social conformity define daily existence. Chafing against his circumscribed life, Lerris chooses dangergeld, a rite of passage that sends young islanders out into the wider, chaotic world beyond Recluce's shores to test themselves before deciding whether to return. During his travels and training under an order-master, Lerris discovers he possesses a natural, if reluctant, talent for order magic, a power that comes with real consequences and responsibilities in a world shaped by the ongoing tension between the forces of Order and Chaos. His journey becomes as much a search for identity and purpose as a magical apprenticeship, set against the wider conflict between Recluce and the Chaos-wielding powers of Candar.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Saga of Recluce
- Series: The Saga of Recluce core; position 1 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 1 of 26: next The Towers of the Sunset (1993)
Sources
- L.E. Modesitt, Jr. official site: The Saga of Recluce
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Saga_of_Recluce
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