Author: L.E. Modesitt Jr.
Cover Artist: Darrell K. Sweet
Publisher: Tor
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publication Date: July 1997
One of the nice things about Modesitt’s long running Recluce series, there are currently 15 books (and there may be a 16th in 2010) is that once you are familiar with the time line you can more or less reread the books in any order you please. No main character has more than two books and they are usually separated by several generations. A reread in a more chronological order than the publication order gives the reader new insights in the overall history of the world of Recluce. Fall of Angels is the sixth book in the publication order but the third in chronological order. It deals with the founding of the state of Westwind, from which the refugees that would found the island nation of Recluce will flee some five centuries later. An event described in The Towers of the Sunset, book two in the publication order.
The book opens in a different universe where a great galactic war between, in terms of the people from the world of Recluce, angels and demons. During one of their frantic battles, using the local equivalents of Order and Chaos, the ship of the main character Nylan, there will be a city on Recluce named after him, is somehow displaced in space and forced to make an emergency landing on the planet. On board are two squads of marines and six officers. Only three of them men. Most of the crafts crew originate from a much colder climate than the word they are about to land on, so they choose a landing site high in the mountains. A region known as the roof of the world.
The local lord and ruler of the city state of Lornth, who claims this territory the angels now occupy, soon finds out about their presence. Not only does he intend to do something about the angels’ trespassing, he also has a fondness for exotic women. The ensuing battle is swift and brutal. The locals are no match for the advanced technology of the angels. Their technology will not last however and they have made an enemy. Ryba, the leader of the angels realizes this. There is no place to run for them, most of the angels could not survive on the lower altitudes. Nylan sets about building the low-tech infrastructure needed to survive in this world, while Ryba attempts to create a new society from scratch. One based on the on the world of Recluce unheard of combinations of feminism and militarism.
Nylan soon finds out he is sensitive to the local order fields, or in terms the Recluce reader may be more familiar with, he is developing the talents of an order mage. The increasing levels of violence the angels need to maintain their foothold clashes with his sense of order. Yet Ryba, cursed by a talent for foresight, insists it is the only way for their new nation to survive. Although Ryba appears to be right Nylan is increasingly uncomfortable under Ryba’s dictatorial rule.
Mixing epic fantasy and hard science fiction is usually a recipe for disaster. To me, there is nothing more annoying than a introducing advanced technology in an otherwise low-tech setting. It usually damages the credibility of the story. Modesitt proves they are not entirely mutually exclusive, he handles this aspect of the story very well. The technological advantage of the angels proves to be hard to maintain. There are hints that both wielders of order and chaos have descended from the stars (or in the case of the angels, crashed) and that both brought technology with them. Modesitt’s order/chaos system puts a big brake the usefulness of powerful machinery though, and on technological development in general. In a way that is a bit of a shame, the series spans so much time that it would have added an extra dimension to see the technological advance in the overall storyline. On the other hand Modesitt is very consistent is his approach, never any quick fixes.
Feminism, or the oppression of women is a frequent theme in Modesitt’s work. It is a bit more outspoken in this novel than in most of his other books I’ve read (close to thirty by now). The way Ryba goes about establishing a society ruled by women does not put it in a particularly flattering light though. Modesitt uses the male/female struggle between Westwind and Lorth (as a proxy of most of the continent of Candar) as a parallel for the struggle between order and chaos, where an in an increasingly polarized conflict more and more force is used but the parties to try and overcome the other. Balance is the key, as Nylan and much of the continent will find out in The Chaos Balance, the next book in the series.
The mages might think of themselves as black and white but the story certainly isn’t. As usual the ethical underpinning of the novel are complex and impressive. One of the lesser aspects of the novel is Nylan’s character development. He admits to one of the other angels, Arylyn, that he is slow to reach conclusions. That is an understatement. Nylan puts up with a lot more than we can reasonably expect him to because of this. Personally I think in the two books with him as the main character there is only one book worth of character development for him. It’s the world building that is the strength of this series.
My issues with Nylan’s character development notwithstanding, Fall of Angels is one of the better books in the series. I have read it several times now, and in my latest reread I still found new details linking this book to the others in the series. According to hints the author has dropped about the next Recluce book, it is going to be linked quite closely to the tale of the angels. Apparently he isn’t done with Westwind’s early years. You’d think that after fifteen books the author would be done with the series but from what I have read of it the next Recluce book looks promising.
