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    Review of SCEPTERS by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

    THE THIRD BOOK OF THE COREAN CHRONICLES

    TOR, July 2004

    With their own world disintegrating, the ifrit are desperate to complete the conquest of the Corean planet. Once they succeed, they will create a world of beauty, art, and glorious architecture. True, it's a world that will burn out fairly soon--that beauty can only be sustained at a cost to the planet's life force. Still, for the ifrit, it is a sacrifice they are willing to make--have, in fact made with their native world.

    Faced with an ifrit-inspired rebellion, the Lord Protector calls Alucius back into service. Alucius wants nothing but to be left to his herds and his pregnant wife, but the Lord Protector's request is compelling. If Alucius does nothing, the world will plunge into the chaos that the ifrit need to succeed in their invasion. But even military success only puts Alucius on a path for destruction. Putting down a rebellion means killing citizens, and eternal hatred.

    Alucius relies on his 'talent sense' (or magic) to face first the rebellion, then an invasion in the south fueled by terrible ancient weapons, and finally the ultimate threat in his own homeland where the ifrit have carved out a powerful base and are rapidly gaining control over the world's life-forces. Even assisted by a crack group of Northern Guard lancers, Alucius knows that he lacks the power to succeed on his own--but the ancient ones are dying and unable to offer him the assistance he needs.

    Author L. E. Modesitt, Jr. (see more BooksForABuck.com reviews of novels by Modesitt) combines magic, military action, and a bit of moral ambiguity to provide a compelling adventure. SCEPTERS isn't the tale of good against evil, but rather a battle between different conceptions of good. Even if he is successful, Alucius cannot know that he has done the right thing, fought for the right cause. And the price to pay for a mistake is large, indeed.

    Modesitt is a strong writer with the power to draw the reader into a believable and fascinating world. Although SCEPTERS is part of a series, it can be read as stand-alone, although readers are likely to enjoy it even more if they read the earlier novels first (see our review of LEGACIES, the first book in the series).

    Four Stars

    Reviewed 8/30/04

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