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"The fabulous fourth Corean Chronicle is an exciting complex work"

Limited talent though highly ranked, Alector Colonel Dainyl travels to Dramur to learn what is going on in this outpost where recent troubles have occurred. At the same time Cadmian Captain Mykel leads a force sent to Dramur to stop a local rebellion before unrest leads to fighting.

Their missions converge as decisions by superiors lead to war. When Mykel, a native, shows indications that he has talent perhaps more than Dainyl, the Alector has a new concern. On Corus, only the Alector, a race from a dead planet, is allowed to have the talent and live. Does he kill the captain whom he needs to stop the rebellion that has exploded because of incompetence on the part of Dainyl's leaders?

The fabulous fourth Corean Chronicle is an exciting complex (and at times convoluted) fantasy that fans of the series will relish; newcomers should start at book one (see LEGACIES, DARKNESSES, and SCEPTERS) to fully appreciate the intricacies of the multiple story lines. The magic seems real due to the fully developed key two players and a strong support cast. The epic fantasy focuses on the potential implosion of a civilization though it might simply metaphases into wider civil rights. Read the saga to learn which way talented L.E. Modesitt, Jr. takes his audience.

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted July 17, 2005

Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted January 25, 2007

L. E. Modesitt, Jr. returns to Corus, setting of his recent trilogy (Legacies, Darknesses, Scepters), to begin the epic story of the fall of a great civilization. Corus has been designed to become the new home of a superior race from a distant world whose very life depends on drawing sustenance from the biological life force of a planet. After changing the climate, they have grown ordinary people to tend the plants and animals, in preparation for their eventual arrival in force. Meanwhile, their plans are supervised by a staff of Alectors, who in effect rule the world. Alectors are bigger, tougher, and have both psychic talents and technology unavailable to the natives. The time is now fast approaching for the transfer from the old world, nearly bled dry of life force. But neither the Alectors (who will be reduced in status when the real powers arrive) nor the local humans (who seem destined to become no more than cattle, though they know nothing of this) are ready. The tension builds throughout the book, as deeper and deeper levels of complications are revealed.