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| Mage-Guard of Hamor (Saga of Recluce) | 
 enlarge | Author: L. E. Modesitt
Publisher: Tor Fantasy
Category: Book
Buy New: $7.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 275490
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 736
ISBN: 0765358824
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780765358820
ASIN: 0765358824
Publication Date: March 3, 2009 (In 105 Days)
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Product Description
Acclaimed author L. E. Modesitt, Jr. continues his new Recluce story in Mage-Guard of Hamor, the second of two volumes set mostly on the continent of Hamor, far across the sea from Recluce, where the story began.
Rahl was a young apprentice on the island of Recluce sent to the mages training school for testing, then banished to Hamor. His education now continues under dangerous circumstances. In Hamor, his powers have increased, but so has the amount of trouble he attracts.
The whole society of Hamor is a new culture for Modesitt—and Rahl—to explore, one in which magic is a monopoly of the state. Rahl is a mage now, powerful and still just as dangerous to himself and to others. This is the story of how he gains both more knowledge and power, and more self-control.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 Best Recluce novel in a long, long time. August 4, 2008
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
Mage-Guard of Hamor is one of Modesitt's best works to date. He continues Rahl's story in a believable and enthralling fashion & his supporting characters have great depth and their own enticing backstories and intriguing motivations. The exact nature of the final conflict and its resolution were reasonably difficult to predict until just before the events. Even then, the resolution had a few interesting surprises and the epilogue offers its own little twist.
The main character Rahl is believably flawed and slowly matures over the course of the book. Rahl's maturation is done in a great variety of ways that are gradual enough to feel realistic yet quick enough to keep pacing steady and lend urgency to the plot. While there are certainly surface similarities between Rahl and Lorn from Modesitt's Cyador duology, I found that the vastly different political structure, Rahl's status as an immigrant, the nature of the campaign and the presence of a guiding mentor lead to a completely different story.
Rahl's mentor Taryl is one of my favorite supporting characters in any Recluse book. I found his backstory to be fascinating and the way he keeps Rahl (and the reader) somewhat in the dark will make you want to keep turning pages very late into the night! Partially because of the greater attention and detail on a mentor than other Recluce books, Mage-Guard is longer than typical of Modesitt, but I found that the pages were well filled.
Modesitt also reveals much about Hamorian customs, food, and general life in the book. He depicts a variety of cities and rural areas within Hamor as well as the seat of government itself. He blends this quite well with the military campaign, never stopping the flow of things to gush Hamorian history but doling out enough to give a lush backdrop to the events of Mage-Guard.
Better than ever August 12, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
L. E. Modesitt just gets better with every book he writes. Great action scenes, and likable characters make for great reading. Read it in one sitting, because I could not put it down.
 Solid read August 3, 2008
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
It amazes me that this series keeps going. And we are still learning more about the world of Recluce. I enjoyed the detail and planning evident in how the Hamor Empire runs and the political implications to every decision made by powerful people.
Reading "Natural Ordermage" before this book is advisable, but not necessary as the characters refer to the events of the previous book frequently and with enough detail to keep you up to speed.
Fighting Against the Rebellion September 4, 2008
2 out of 7 found this review helpful
Mage-Guard of Hamor (2008) is the fifteenth fantasy novel in the Recluce Saga, following Natural Ordermage. In the previous volume, Rahl finally put together his observations within Swartheld and deduced the plot by the Jeranyi pirates. He initiated an explosion and fire to take out the pirates at the Nylan warehouses and then returned to the station looking for his captain. The undercaptain found him first and tried to kill him, but Rahl outfought the officer and left his ashes in an alley.
Rahl headed for the piers. He used the undercaptain's name to initiate countermeasures and then headed off to the Jeranyi vessels tied along the piers. He used a light shield to board one ship and arranged an explosion in a gun room. He barely survived the results.
In this novel, Rahl returns to Recluce as a junior mage-guard and envoy for the Emperor of Hamor. He is to bear witness for the events in Swartheld. He also hopes to see Deybri again.
Naturally, Taryl is the senior envoy. As a former Triad, he has the prestige and experience to head a diplomatic mission. But Rahl is the crucial person since he witnessed the whole thing and is also known to the magistrates in Nylan.
Deybri is a mage healer in Nylan. Rahl just can't get her off his mind. They manage to meet after the magistrates finish interrogating him. She still doesn't want to go to Hamor, but his presence seems to satisfy some deep feelings.
In this story, after the voyage to Nylan, Taryl and Rahl are assigned to the land forces going to Merowey to put down the rebellion. Taryl is given the rank of Mage-guard Overcommander, the equivalent of a junior Marshall. Rahl has the equivalent rank of Captain in the Imperial land forces.
Taryl and Rahl journey to Cigoerne, the Hamor capital. There Rahl meets the Emperor and his Empress and is very impressed, especially by the Empress. Rahl knows that there is some history between Taryl and the Empress, but doesn't know anything else about the relationship.
Rahl also meets the Triads and the senior commanders within the High Command. He is not greatly impressed with these personages. Only Jubyl -- the Emperor's Triad -- seems not to be overly ambitious.
The supreme commander of the Imperial expedition going to Merowey was supposed to have been Marshall Charynat, but he had an untimely and unfortunate death. Now the High Command has appointed Marshall Bryna as commander of the expedition. Rahl meets Bryna in Cigoerne and is not impressed with his competence or attitude.
In fact, none of the senior commanders in the land forces are very impressive. Apparently the sea forces are more important to Hamor and the land forces are not as attractive a career for those who want to rise to the top. Marshall Charynat had been one of the better of the land force commanders and probably had been assassinated because of his competence.
When they join the main camp in Kysha, Rahl is attached to the Third Mounted Heavy Infantry company. Rahl meets the company commander -- Captain Drakeyt -- in Kysha and grows to like him in their subsequent maneuvers. The Third company scouts ahead of the army as they travel toward Nubyat.
Overcommander Taryl imposes a difficult training schedule on Rahl. He is expected to excel in both arms and magery while others are wasting time and having fun. Rahl is still experiencing self-pity and Taryl warns him to get over it.
This tale shows Rahl growing out of his self-centered attitude and becoming more mature. Gradually he sees the faults in others and thereby realizes that he shares such faults. Part of this process is the exchange of letters between Deybri and himself. Expressing his thoughts and feelings helps him understand himself and others. Of course, Overcommander Taryl also helps him comprehend his shortcomings.
The story arrives at a satisfactory conclusion, but hopefully we will hear more about Rahl and his career. At the finale, Rahl has been exposed to the highest levels of Hamor society, but many other problems remain. He will surely undergo more difficulties as a Mage-guard of Hamor.
Highly recommended for Modesitt fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of various magics, political intrigue, and a touch of romance. For those who have not read any of the previous works, the initial volume in this series is The Magic of Recluce.
-Arthur W. Jordin
 Entertaining book, but there's nothing new here July 31, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
I like books by L.E. Modesitt, but after having read 25+ of his novels there really is a lot of plot repetition. A brief synopsis (spoiler alert). Picking up where Natural Ordermage leaves off, Rahl and his mentor Taryl head off on a diplomatic mission to Recluce, deliver their message, Rahl has dinner with his love interest, and then Rahl and Taryl return to Hamor. Back in Hamor Rahl and Taryl head to the capitol, meet the emperor, various powers that be, and head out to Meronwy to join the military campaign against the Emperor's rebellious brother. Rahl is assigned to a mounted infantry company to scout the path of the army. Many skirmishes and battles ensue leading to a final confrontation.
So, for most of the 600 pages we get Rahl growing up, trying to understand the machinations of other characters before it's too late, and fighting in a war. Typical plot line for modesitt done by him many times. Entertaining read, lots of action, light and frothy.
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