Scholar: a novel in the Imager portfolio
Description
Hundreds of years before the time of Imager, the continent of Lydar is fragmented. Years of war have consolidated five nations into three--Bovaria, Telaryn, and Antiago. Quaeryt is a scholar and a friend of Bhayar, the young ruler of Telaryn. Worried about his future and the escalating intrigues in Solis, the capital city, Quaeryt persuades Bhayar to send him to Tilbor, conquered ten years earlier by Bhayar's father, in order to see if the number and extent of occupying troops can be reduced so that they can be re-deployed to the border with warlike Bovaria.
Quaeryt has managed to conceal the fact that he is an imager, since the life expectancies of imagers in Lydar is short. Just before Quaeryt departs, Bhayar's youngest sister passes a letter to the scholar-imager, a letter that could well embroil Quaeryt in the welter of court politics he had hoped to leave behind. On top of that, on his voyage and journey to Tilbor he must face pirates, storms, poisonings, attempted murder, as well as discovering the fact that he is not quite who he thought he was. To make it all worse, the order of scholars to which he belongs is jeopardized in more ways than one.Scholar is a Kirkus Reviews Best of 2011 Science Fiction & Fantasy title.
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Published Reviews
Publisher's Weekly Review
Modesitt branches out from the original Imager trilogy (which concluded with Imager's Intrigue in 2010) with this somewhat sluggish political fantasy. Scholar Quaeryt Rytersyn is sent by Lord Bhayar of Telaryn to check into some anomalies occurring in the province of Tilbor. Quaeryt digs deeply into all aspects of the province and its people before he reaches the garrison, where he asks provocative questions while downplaying his own abilities-including his magical skill as an imager. Quaeryt never receives or seeks any specific orders on how to proceed; instead, he merrily awards himself the task of fixing all the problems he can find in Tilbor province, by murder and treachery if necessary. Modesitt piles on the details as various players jockey for power and political gain, but much of it is extraneous information that tends to drag between the bursts of high drama and action. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Library Journal Review
The scholar Quaeryt, friend of young King Bhayar, ruler of Telaryn, accepts a royal mission to journey to the land of Tilbor, conquered by Bhayar's father ten years earlier, to assess the possibility of reducing the occupation forces. Concealing the fact that he is also an imager, a mage who can create mental images and endow them with material being, Quaeryt weathers pirates and a shipwreck on his journey to Tilbor. Once there, he faces more subtle political dangers as his suspicions grow concerning a conspiracy that could throw Telaryn into chaos. Set in the time before the events of the first book of the "Imager Portfolio" (Imager; Imager's Challenge; Imager's Intrigue), Modesitt's latest addition to his fantasy saga focuses on the complex character of its hero, an unlikely combination of serious scholar and, when need be, ruthless opponent. The author excels in creating worlds that are believable down to the last detail and characters whose vitality expresses itself in actions that have resounding consequences. VERDICT Fans of the author's "Recluce" novels and the works of Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, and Raymond E. Feist should enjoy the elaborate world-building and believable characterizations. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Book Review
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Library Journal Reviews
The scholar Quaeryt, friend of young King Bhayar, ruler of Telaryn, accepts a royal mission to journey to the land of Tilbor, conquered by Bhayar's father ten years earlier, to assess the possibility of reducing the occupation forces. Concealing the fact that he is also an imager, a mage who can create mental images and endow them with material being, Quaeryt weathers pirates and a shipwreck on his journey to Tilbor. Once there, he faces more subtle political dangers as his suspicions grow concerning a conspiracy that could throw Telaryn into chaos. Set in the time before the events of the first book of the "Imager Portfolio" (Imager; Imager's Challenge; Imager's Intrigue), Modesitt's latest addition to his fantasy saga focuses on the complex character of its hero, an unlikely combination of serious scholar and, when need be, ruthless opponent. The author excels in creating worlds that are believable down to the last detail and characters whose vitality expresses itself in actions that have resounding consequences. VERDICT Fans of the author's "Recluce" novels and the works of Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, and Raymond E. Feist should enjoy the elaborate world-building and believable characterizations.
[Page 68]. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.Publishers Weekly Reviews
Modesitt branches out from the original Imager trilogy (which concluded with Imager's Intrigue in 2010) with this somewhat sluggish political fantasy. Scholar Quaeryt Rytersyn is sent by Lord Bhayar of Telaryn to check into some anomalies occurring in the province of Tilbor. Quaeryt digs deeply into all aspects of the province and its people before he reaches the garrison, where he asks provocative questions while downplaying his own abilities—including his magical skill as an imager. Quaeryt never receives or seeks any specific orders on how to proceed; instead, he merrily awards himself the task of fixing all the problems he can find in Tilbor province, by murder and treachery if necessary. Modesitt piles on the details as various players jockey for power and political gain, but much of it is extraneous information that tends to drag between the bursts of high drama and action. (Nov.)
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