Book completed

[eve_prime]

The Towers of the Sunset, by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. Recluce #2. The first five Recluce books pretty much comprise a single story - what was happening with Lerris, how the world got that way, and then finally back to Lerris for the resolution. This is the first of the three books about how the world got that way, jumping back 950 years to when Creslin and Megaera founded the community that grew to govern all of Recluce, under the Black (order-based) mages against the White (chaos-based) mages dominating much of the larger continent of Candar. The story is interesting, but there are several things that bug me about the writing style. Most of all, I find the dynamics of the relationship between our two main characters to be pretty irritating until they finally are comfortable as a couple. I also don't care very much for present-tense narration, which is what the author uses for every point of view other than Lerris's throughout these five books. (Later Recluce books have the more normal, past-tense style.) Also, sometimes he introduces a scene by referring to "a man" who often but not always turns out to be Creslin; that's not my favorite either. Other readers don't like the author's use of onomatopoiea, where he transcribes lots of sounds like the horses whinnying, bells tolling, birds crying, explosions booming, and I've learned not to mind it, but it's nice that there's a lot less in this book than the first.

Now, on to Dorrin's story. The first time I read it I really liked it, but the second time, the present-tense narration really bugged me. Which will it be this time?