‘The Mongrel Mage’ is the 19th novel in the on-going ‘The Recluse Saga’ but you don’t have to read the other eighteen to follow it. Even so, I imagine that most people who buy this book will have some of the others and at least understand Modesitt’s magical system of order and chaos. Essentially, order is the binding force that holds things together and chaos is free energy. Wounds contain chaos but a healer can drive it out with order, helping to cure. Order can also be used to strengthen wood and some metals. Chaos mages can throw energy bolts and order mages can form shields by strengthening the order in the air around them. They can also form concealments to make themselves and others invisible.

The protagonist is Beltur, a modest young man who doesn’t have much money and is in a subservient position. In his case, he’s apprenticed to his Uncle Kaerlyt, a chaos mage who does some work for the Prefect, in the state of Gallos. There’s another junior chaos mage called Sidon, who’s a little more advanced than Beltur. Chaos mages wear white robes whereas order mages, whose bastion is the Isle of Recluce from which the Saga takes its name, wear black.

Our hero doesn’t have much chaos at his command and actually seems tainted with some order. Only when Jessyla, a knowledgeable young lady, hints that he can use order to direct chaos does he begin to discover his true power. Most mages can use only one or the other and his ability to mingle them leads to some unpleasant folks calling him a mongrel mage. One of his defenders points out that the best dogs are mongrels, a sentiment with which I entirely agree.
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Smooth moving mostly engaging story of Beltur, a young mage who shifts from fumbling white to very competent black with the aid of a beautiful self-possessed young woman. Like almost all Modesitt protagonists Beltur is pretty much flawless, a diffident, observant, careful young man as is the woman to whom he is attracted, and as usual his nature is more revealed than developed.
The first quarter of the book has Beltur with the his uncle and uncle's apprentice and a squad of troopers scouting for the Prefect in a steppe or prairie like setting. On return to the city, Beltur is forced to flee and the rest of the story takes place as he settles into a new city where his past as a white is held against him by some of the black mages, and then is drafted into defending his new home against his former Prefect's army and white mages.
Not terribly exciting, but if you have enjoyed the Recluse Saga, you will probably like this. I stopped reading them after the first 5 or 6 and only picked up again with [Cyador's Heirs]. ( )

Recluce! Order and chaos! Addictive!

I continue to find Modesitt's thesis on chaos and order absolutely fascinating. I have been a devotee of all of the Recluce series right from the very first release and I have never grown tired of them. Indeed I enjoy every fiction novel Modesitt has written. Truly talented, I am continually enthralled by, and addicted to, his work.
As a supposedly White Mage and practitioner of the chaotic arts, and apprentice to his uncle, the White Mage Kaerylt, Beltur struggles to be a good enough magician. It seems he looks at things slightly differently from others. There is an order to his use of chaos, which is contrary to what is the norm. That use of order is hinted to him by the red-haired healer Margrena, a young healer he finds himself attracted to.
When Kaerylt and Beltur are called to report before Denardre, Prefect of Gallos, they are attacked as they leave the Prefect's presence by the Prefect's Arms Mage, Wyath. Beltur is forced to flee Gallos. He seeks shelter in the City of Elparta, Spidlar, a place where Black Mages, those committed to the practice of Order, reside. Here Beltur is able to extend his perspectives and understandings. He has the ability to detect chaos and order and use both, and with a master smith pursues the long lost art of casting cupridium.
As Beltur's education continues he struggles with what sort of Mage he is.
I know looking for chaos in sheep, and rotten parts of piers might seem mundane but as the process of Belthurs learning continues so does our understanding of chaos and order, the cornerstones of the Recluce novels.
A trade war is forced upon Spidlar, by the arrogant, despotic Prefect of Gallos. Beltur becomes part of the armed forces where he is forced under fire to develop his powers in new ways. It seems Beltur has enemies amongst the Black Mages, who see his powers as impure, 'mongrel' in heritage.
Whilst initially not as stunning as some in the series, Mongrel Mage is a solid contribution to furthering our understanding of this amazing world that Modesitt continues to grow. It earns its five stars status because of its intricate exploration of chaos and order alongside an equalling compelling human interest story of self-realization, struggle, intrigue and love.
I am so looking forward to more in this splinter series, with Beltur taking center place.

A NetGalley ARC ( )