Fall of Angels

The Saga of Recluce #6

by L.E. Modesitt Jr.

L.E. Modesitt, Jr.'s Fall of Angels continues his bestselling fantasy series the Saga of Recluce, which is one of the most popular in contemporary epic fantasy.



Nylan, an engineer and builder, plans to raise a great tower on the plateau known as the Roof of the World. Here, he and the exiled women warriors will live and survive to fulfill their destiny, spawning a revolutionary new society. But Nylan must learn to control his growing power in order to do so--before the lowland amies can obliterate them all.

"An intriguing fantasy in a fascinating world."--Robert Jordan, New York Times bestselling author of The Wheel of Time(R) series

Saga of Recluce

#1 The Magic of Recluce / #2 The Towers of Sunset / #3 The Magic Engineer / #4 The Order War / #5 The Death of Chaos / #6 Fall of Angels / #7 The Chaos Balance / #8 The White Order / #9 Colors of Chaos / #10 Magi'i of Cyador / #11 Scion of Cyador / #12 Wellspring of Chaos / #13 Ordermaster / #14 Natural Order Mage / #15 Mage-Guard of Hamor / #16 Arms-Commander / #17 Cyador's Heirs / #18 Heritage of Cyador /#19 The Mongrel Mage / #20 Outcasts of Order / #21 The Mage-Fire War (forthcoming)

Story Collection: Recluce Tales

Other Series by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
The Imager Portfolio
The Corean Chronicles
The Spellsong Cycle
The Ghost Books
The Ecolitan Matter

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Epic Fantasy, Science Fiction, Magic, Science Fiction Fantasy, Audiobook

592 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1996

About the author

L. E. (Leland Exton) Modesitt, Jr. is an author of science fiction and fantasy novels. He is best known for the fantasy series The Saga of Recluce. He graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts, lived in Washington, D.C. for 20 years, then moved to New Hampshire in 1989 where he met his wife. They relocated to Cedar City, Utah in 1993.

He has worked as a Navy pilot, lifeguard, delivery boy, unpaid radio disc jockey, real estate agent, market research analyst, director of research for a political campaign, legislative assistant for a Congressman, Director of Legislation and Congressional Relations for the United States Environmental Protection Agency, a consultant on environmental, regulatory, and communications issues, and a college lecturer and writer in residence.
In addition to his novels, Mr. Modesitt has published technical studies and articles, columns, poetry, and a number of science fiction stories. His first short story, "The Great American Economy", was published in 1973 in Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact.

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Bookwraiths · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally reviewed at Bookwraiths.

The Saga of Recluce is a series which has captivated readers for decades, spawning 19 books so far, and soon to include installment twenty, Outcasts of Order, which hits shelves on June 19, 2018. One of the main factors contributing to the longevity of the saga the novels’ variety, as L.E. Modesitt, Jr. has effortlessly shifted his stories from one time period to another in Recluce’s long history, focusing in on legendary characters and explaining historical facts. Fall of Angels arguably one of the best examples of this, as it explores the founding of the mythical, female ruled land in Candar.

The story begins in exciting science fiction fashion upon a starship of the Angels (Humans from the various “cold” planets of “Heaven”). The commanders of the predominately female crew (Only three men!) tapped into a ship wide neuronet (a mental command program which controls every aspect of the ships and its systems), frantically preparing for battle. Of primary importance are two people among this group: Captain Ryba, a no nonsense commander, and Engineer Nylan, who is a competent techie but definitely not a leader. These two are sexual partners but not really romantically involved, as it is very clear the Captain has no emotional attachment to Nylan and views him as a tool to satisfy her professional and personal needs.

Very quickly after our brief introduction, the Angels are part of a space battle with the forces of the Rationalists, or “Demons” (Humans from the “warmer” worlds of “Hell”). The conflict resulting in their ship being thrown into another dimension, where they take quick action to safely land in the icy mountains of an alien world.

There is only one problem with the new planet they arrive on: it is already inhabited by the remnants of a Rationalist colony. These people very patriarchal and feudal in nature, viewing the new arrivals as instant enemies who must be attacked and destroyed.

Quickly, the Angels discover they are stranded on this world; their technology slowly ceasing to operate. Ryba and Nylan taking up important roles in the titanic task of building up their refuge’s infrastructure and defenses before their technology completely dies. Added to their monumental tasks an even more difficult problem of how to control the “changes” some Angels have undergone by their arrival in this new dimension.

From this setup develops a story of the birth of a fledgling civilization. Mr. Modesitt writing what some reviewers have dubbed “crafting porn.” A huge amount of the narrative spent focusing on Captain Ryba, Engineer Nylan and their fellow Angels creating a colony from scratch, building the trappings of a low technology civilization, and setting up the social trappings of the new community. Simple things like having enough charcoal for the forge or finding enough food to eat or building a tower before winter adding real drama in the context of the plot.

Mixed into all that civilization creation is the main plot of the book: the clash between the patriarchal and matriarchal systems. It is actually quite brutal and harsh, yet also very enlightening. Modesitt taking the traditional gender roles of Western Civilization, twisting them inside out, and allowing the rival societal narratives to compete against one another. Ryba becoming the physical embodiment of the matriarchy, Nylan the physical embodiment of modern gender equality, and the rulers of the world the physical embodiment of the ancient patriarchy. The different representatives very believable avatars of their differing philosophies; their clashes quite dramatic, as a rousing philosophical debate lurks just beneath the surface of this fantasy tale.

As for any negative with the novel, the main one I had was the huge amount of page time spent on the establishment of the Angels’ colony. I certainly understood why all these actions needed to be taken to ensure the survival of the ship, but it was too much of a good thing for me personally. I can’t read about farming and furniture making but so long before my mind tends to wander to other things.

A lesser complaint but still one nonetheless is the characterization of Captain Ryba and Engineer Nylan. As the story progresses, the former’s single minded implement of a matriarchy grew tiresome. Her explanations for her discriminatory behavior half-hearted. Her rationalizations regarding her gender being held back in Angelic society ringing somewhat false. And Nylan really did not act as a counterpoint to Ryba. The fact he spent most of his time engrossed in his self-doubt and self-loathing, making no attempt to confront Ryba’s behavior, left the struggle between the two gender avatars without any true conflict.

All in all though, Fall of Angels was a fine Recluce adventure filled with detailed world building and a compelling look at the clash between the patriarchy and the matriarchy. If you are already a longtime reader of Modesitt’s saga or just someone interested in taking a peak at this fantastical place, then this legendary tale in the history of Recluce will certainly be a compelling one which you shouldn’t pass on.

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I may be an unpopular reviewer here, but considering when this came out and the kind of style it has, I'm reminded of the huge slew of resource-gathering civilization-building games, including Civilization, itself. Or if we're talking about modern literature, I'd point to the LitRPG novels that are taking the writing world by storm.

The fact is, this timeline-early novel of the world surrounding Recluse is, in fact, a Tower Defense game.

Start with some high-tech that breaks down, protect yourselves on a hill, get enough resources and infrastructure building to survive, and hold out until all your enemies give up. This magical world of Recluse was also built on a foundation of high-technology, and these Angels were survivors of a war and of a universe-hopping jump. Unfortunately, previous settlers from the opposite faction had already settled here.

It might seem a bit simple, but at least to me, it's endlessly diverting. I fell in love with the characters and the subtext was complicated and heartbreaking. What else could it be? It's a clear depiction of three camps in the battle of the sexes. The ship survivors are mostly female. A surviving male engineer is a good man and an egalitarian man who is used and used until there is hardly anything left of him. The women are forced to become warriors. Their enemies in all the surrounding lands want to destroy them because all their abused women are finally seeing hope and escaping to this besieged community. The patriarchy, obviously. But we also see the rise of matriarchy and it is NOT as idealistic as any might hope. The understory, the pull and push of this angle is actually quite cogent and hard because there are no obvious winners... just a ton of losers.

And yet, legends are born, heroes are made, and this particular book is something of a fantastic old, old history lesson in the series.

And it is just about here in my reading that I'm wondering if I chose correctly in reading these in publication order or whether I ought to have read them in chronological order.

I suppose I could always do another read after I've caught up with all 20 (currently) books. :)

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third book of the Recluce series in chronological order. The first two dealt with Cyador, a country based on chaos most of which was left over from the original colonization effort by those of the Rational Stars (Rats). We're never told where they came from nor why they set up a colony & abandoned it, just getting hints of what happened 2 centuries before.

This book starts out with a space battle that is told from the side of the Angels (They speak Anglican.) who have a base planet of Heaven. They get blown out of their universe & wind up landing high up in the Westhorn mountains, previously mentioned, but quite distant. Although we're not given a date, there are quite a few hints that it is some time after the events of the first 2 books & according to this timeline of Recluce, it is about 400 years later.

The Angels land in an area that is little used, but run into a lot of troubles with the locals anyway. The main reason is they are mostly strong women surrounded by lands to which that is an anathema. To survive, Captain Ryba has to become a tyrant with no mercy to any who may stand in the way of her new colony. Her engineer, Nylan, one of the few men, has to push to create the basic infrastructure of a civilized society. And this universe has changed many of them in some respects, another issue to grapple with.

The ongoing issues of building & fighting to survive mingle well with the local rulers' issues, both mundane & those caused by the Angels. The story also focuses on the differences between Ryba's mercilessness & Nylan's inability to deal with it. Both are strong, pragmatic people, but Ryba knows people & societies better while Nylan knows tech better. It's an interesting dichotomy, but Nylan keeps coming off as whiny, especially in audio, the biggest reason I've never cared for this book as much as some of the others. His character is just too whiny. Still, the rest of the story, especially all the tech that society requires, even a low tech one, is very well done. The political issues are gripping & very realistic.

The next book, The Chaos Balance, takes place just a couple of years after this one. I can't wait to listen to it.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

My relationship with Modesitt's "Recluce" series began several years ago with the first book, "The Magic of Recluce". It was a good read. Since then I have slogged my way through numerous sequels, prequels, spin-offs, or whatever else they might be called. None of them were read in order of publication or in order according to the stories' chronology, and I have no idea if this helped or hindered their readability. All of them seem to have a male engineer/mage/smith and a female warrior/mage/healer trying to build a civilization against all odds in a world that hates them for who they are. This book is no exception. It also follows the other stories' trend of recounting about five hundred pages of day-to-day life, followed by about one hundred pages of action ending the tale. You need to really enjoy reading about the trials and tribulations of growing potatoes and building roads if you want to get through this book.
That being said, Modesitt doesn't make it hard to read about such things. He writes excellent descriptions, and pays attention to detail in such a way that the world- though it is not the most exciting world- comes alive for the reader. You find yourself relating to the difficulties of finding enough wood to make charcoal for the forge, and really wishing that they could catch some better game- because ,damn it, you're just as tired of them eating rabbit every day as they are.
If you've read one of the "Recluce" books- or at least read one of the five that I had read- then you pretty much know what's going to happen in this book. But, like me, you may find yourself enjoying it anyway.

[Brandy Cross · Rating 4 out of 5]

God, I love this book. If you want to read Modesitt and actually enjoy it, you have to love world building and perhaps not really care about literally anything else at all. The writing is good but nothing stellar, the characters are exact duplicates of every other character in literally any other Modesitt novel ever, and the plot is fairly standard for this type of fiction but with a few caveats. I’m going to write a fairly *cough* very *cough* long review here going into several themes, including gender and its implications, light vs. Dark (the story™), and a brief comparison to the themes in Dragonsdawn.

First, some personal sentimentalism.

This was my favourite book from maybe 2002-ish to 2009-ish when I disavowed having favourites. We (family) used to have a fairly beaten up copy, taped together at the spine, but that didn’t stop the pages escaping. You could take chapters 14-16 out and read them as their own mini-novella. I read it maybe 15+ times. I’ll probably continue to love this for, if nothing else, the warm glow of nostalgia and happy escapism in the back of a moving camper van.

Worldbuilding:
Or, on why all this talk about potatoes is actually great

As an adult, I still love this book and one of the reasons, – in very sophisticated terms – is, it’s meta as fuck. Modesitt is well-aware that what he’s writing about is boring as fuck. He’s well aware that most of his contemporaries are more focused on the person doing the bolt-slinging and the sword-throwing. Fall of Angels was published in 1997, the same era where Salvatore spends the first 10 pages of his Legacy of the Drow quad detailing the elegant arching of Drizzt Do’Urden’s blade as it snakes a path through the bodies of his foes, he spins about, blood spurts, it is magnificent. Yes! That is 3/4s of this genre really. In that light, this is not a writer who is boring by accident, this is a writer who is sick of a genre caught up in violence and decay in chaos when there’s so much more to living. This is a book that is satirizing and criticizing a genre as a whole. And, to be fair, the series does that because Modesitt writes all of his books in the same way (although this is one of the most extreme examples of it).

“The editors would cut out all the parts about building. That’s boring. You know, heroes are supposed to slay the enemy, but no one has to worry about shelter or heat or coins or stables or whether the roads need to be paved” _ Nylan, in the middle of an entire chapter about building a bridge and a culvert in the mud.

Modesitt gets caught up in worldbuilding and doesn’t stop. I like it. It’s a breath of air in a genre that is stale and predictable. It’s sweet and soothing and calm and only occasionally broken by the need to be violent, and even then, there are severe moral implications and questions surrounding violence and the need for it. There are potatoes, yes. There is dubious craftsmanship (I have manned a forge, this is dubious), there is more dubious craftsmanship (no really don’t look at this from a technical point of view, just don’t), but much of it is beautiful, intensely detailed, well-crafted worldbuilding. It’s adorable. If you want a series that goes in the other direction and focuses on the violence and the emotional fallout of war go see Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth (also a masterpiece).

Gender
Modesitt has clearly written his concept of gender as a) a criticism of high fantasy and it’s phallic-centric mindset of male heroes and male badassery with women largely relegated to the chainmail bikini, damsels in distress, or a’la Brooks’, the sensible mother-figure who is somehow also the sexy love interest *gag*. Not that Modesitt doesn’t adopt any of those tropes, he just very clearly tries to avoid them. Modesitt’s sexualization of his female characters is ever so slight, and while you will have to put up with “the slender marine”, “the stocky marine” as consistent descriptors of women, these people get to be people, albeit through the eyes of a fairly clueless and emotionally and socially inept lead.

The basics of the plot:

All the men are dead. 30 people with just 3 men remaining. The culture they are moving into is loosely based on feudal western Europe, hardly hospitable to women accustomed to modern standards. Modesitt has gone a large way towards demonizing the Europeans of centuries past, including buying into the concept that modern people are faster/smarter/better than we were in the past (although he mitigates this to quite some extent with two characters). Read Michael Crichton’s Timeline for a decent criticism of this, so that I don’t veer off and make this review even longer.

• Women in this world are represented as fairly realistic medieval women based on Western European standards. Most have a relatively good life, although it is hard.
• Modesitt does quite a good job of showing the huge difference between women in power (nobility) and peasant women. Historically, women in power have always had much more of a system of give and take, (you give some power and rights, you get some power and rights – e.g., you don’t get to own land but you also aren’t obligated to go to war and die for it) where the poor have always had a system of subjugation (If your husband is forced to go to war for his lord, your family starves because he gives your farm to another serf/peasant with a man). Historically the privileges associated with being a man in power have been offset by the responsibilities of being in power, and women in power have very few of the responsibilities but also very little of the power.
• Inserts moral questions relating to whether it’s “right” for women to take power in the way that men are, even if it’s a necessity based on the fact that women make up a large portion of the population. This is incredibly clumsy and not very well done, likely inserted as an afterthought, and not terribly well thought out either. Is Modesitt expressing his own concerns or assuming his reader wants to read those?
• Women get to be sexual, more so than the men. Men get to be desirable. Men get to be objects of sexual desire even against their will.
• Women get to be diverse. Ryba is hard and driven, she is a bitch, but she is multifaceted, she is sexual, she is “real” even if viewed from the perspective of said inept male character. Ayrlyn is soft, gentle, and motherly. One of them is idealized, the other is set up for failure with the lead male.

Overall, this book approaches gender almost solely as a construct to differentiate it from other works of its kind. It’s not a thought experiment to see how this type of society would work, it’s the author doing his best not to fuck up writing about a bunch of women. He’s picked a male lead anyway, and rightfully so considering how inept he is at actually writing personalities and he still only really has three that he can really do across all of his work.

It’s a cute approach to a gendered society and it raises some questions, but it answers nothing and shouldn’t be considered truly seriously as a philosophical work on this level. The same can’t be said for the next point, Light vs. Darkness

Black and White Dualism
Most cultures have some form of metaphorical usage of black and white dualism, normally contrasted with good and evil. God “separated the light from the darkness” on the first day in the Christian Bible, the Krampus creeps out of the darkness, Hades stole Persephone away to the underworld, and Tolkien’s orcs sound racially charged but they are the embodiment of evil (blackness) leveraging the terminology of the time that was associated with “bad”. This has come under fire in recent times in association with colorism and racism. It’s normal because, honestly, without technology, housing, heat, and light to protect you, the dark is scary. We’ve all been little children afraid of the dark at one point or another but these myths were created when there was no safety from the pack of wolves or the panther in trees. The night was a scary place and being eaten was not an uncommon thing for much of history. *Jack London’s White Fang*

Modesitt has taken it upon himself to tackle Black and White Dualism and to flip it around. The dark is the light and the light is the dark. Black is Order, the force of building, of creation, of healing. White is chaos, likely inspired by optics and white light being an amalgamation of the visible light spectrum. White is deterioration, death, and bad.

Unlike the standard Black/White dualism you’re likely familiar with, Chaos here operates in the broad light of day, is revered, hired, powerful. It’s a far cry from the orcs and goblins creeping up out of the dark that you might be familiar with. But. It’s the same story.

“ In a lot of cultures [] white means purity. [] here darkness is pure []. “

Of course, that quote ends with: “and there’s not much emphasis on cleanliness.”, effectively tying back into the “medieval people were not on par with modern humans” trope, but alright.

The interesting thing here is that Modesitt spends most of his series demonizing White, utilizing terms like “Demons”, “Chaos”, etc, to say, “This is bad”, but eventually resolves into a peaceful resolution of,” You need both”. You cannot have the dark without the light and maybe the light isn’t so scary after all, you just need moderation and balance. Essentially, migrating from Neoplatonism to Confucianism is one fell swoop over the course of (9?12? 378?) books. Yet, there is much leading up to this. Even in the prequel novel, the forces of Light are not presented as Bad, only as misguided as childish, and then as being forced into decisions they did not want to make. The Lord of Lornth is level-headed and likeable and is pushed into a war that he loses based on patriarchal values of honor. This also heavily ties into medieval implications of power, and why lords of fiefdoms didn’t always have it as well-off as history would like us to think. For the sake of this remaining readable, I won’t verge off into a separate essay about medieval power. The good vs. evil story is here but it tends to go, “maybe evil isn’t bad, maybe evil is just bureaucracy and tradition”, which is a moral that I rather tend to like.


Annnnndddd finally

Dragonsdawn

Dragonsdawn, by Mercedes Lackey, is a highly similar novel in several points:
a) It’s a prequel intended to retroactively set up the background and “first appearance” of a culture, detailing a *high tech* sci-fi civilization as it falls to a planet, loses technology and becomes wrapped up in a mythological or magical local culture
b) Follow a team of high-tech people as they struggle to adapt slowly failing technology to a new low-tech environment in which they don’t have the tools or the resources to rebuild or duplicate the tech
c) A large portion of the book is caught up in world-building and the details of living in a new and strange world.

Other than that, the books take completely different approaches. Fall of Angels covers a period of about a year. Dragonsdawn covers several decades, making the accomplishments of the team that much more feasible. Dragonsdawn goes more into politics, character development, and science, Fall of Angels remains more true to its roots of world-building and close questions. It’s earthier, richer, more boring by far, but honestly I love both books for what they are.

I find it terribly interesting that both latched onto the “lost colony” approach to fantasy, effectively tying fantasy novels into the sci-fi they love. Both are author’s pet projects, both authors really love sci-fi, and both pulled off the concept so very well. I’m sure there are examples where this concept absolutely flopped but I can’t think of any off the top of my head. Unlike some of the other works on this “genre”, both also eventually tackle bureaucracy and honor systems as the real “big bad”, and make human characters who really just want to coexist and to live and everything they do is about survival and not gain.


Criticisms:
-Ahh, personalities. What are those?
-The primary villain (whom I maintain is Gerlich) is so poorly constructed as to be farcical.
-I’d REALLY like the marines to have more personality. No, really. Please.

Wow did you read this far? Click here for a well-deserved reward

[Wanda Pedersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

In this book, we get the beginnings of Westwind, the kingdom which gave us Creslin in The Towers of the Sunset, which is my favourite of this series so far. We also find out that both the Order and Chaos populations on this fantasy world are originally from elsewhere, marooned on this planet and seemingly doomed to conflict over it.

This “stranded on another planet” plot line is a familiar one. Think of the Coldfire Trilogy by C.S. Friedman, the Foreigner series by C.J. Cherryh, and the Saga of Pliocene Exile by Julian May. The struggles that the small Angel force face when they are stranded were well realized. It would definitely be a challenge, especially coming from a high tech society where so many things are manufactured for you.

It is told from the point of view of Nylan, one of the few men in the Angel population. He is pretty consistent with a Modesitt main character: he’s an engineer, learning about his black mage potential; he is taciturn; he really wants people to acknowledge how much work he has done, but he’s not willing to let people know this; he works himself half to death in search of this approval. Once again, the story is a bit heavy on the description of all of his engineering projects for my taste and a bit light on the interpersonal relationships. But this just seems to be a hallmark of Modesitt’s writing.

Not my favourite series, but not bad either.

Book number 348 in my Science Fiction and Fantasy reading project.

[Bryan Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is the first of (at least) another duo of books. This is set some 400 years after the first two (in chronological order). The first set told of a master of the white power of chaos. This story is about the black power of order. It is the story of the crew of a starship involved in some sort of interstellar war. The vast energies involved in fighting their white enemies in space have somehow translocated their starship to the orbit of an unknown but populated planet.

They discover they have enough power to land on the only part of the planet cold enough to support their life and manage to land several shuttles with as much high technology tools as they can save. The translation through space has not only caused them to be lost but has physically changed several of the crew allowing them to "see" magical black powers and to manipulate these powers using their minds. Several are given to having visions of the future.

They are faced with beating back the wilderness of their new home and establishing a safe haven for themselves. Unfortunately as they begin to make some progress that way, they find that the local natives have previously claimed the location they made their home and bring forth both warriors and "white wizards" to confront them.

The unwilling colonists must find a way to both survive the brutal low tech world as well as find a way to live in peace with their neighbors.

Like the first duo, this book concerns itself with deep questions like "what is the nature of good" While the first book had "white chaos" as good powers, this book introduces the idea the "black order" is the good power. It delves seriously into the nature of man and what makes a person good after all.

[Connie Jasperson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had one of those weeks where I cracked open 4 indie books, and shut them after getting a third of the way into them. No plot? No problem--No way. So I was looking around my dusty shelves and came across my beloved Saga of Recluce collection and picked up "Fall of Angels." Written in 1997 by L.E. Modesitt Jr., this is one of the most enduring fantasy series of modern times. I think its longevity has to do with the way the saga takes place over many generations, and takes you into both sides of the conflict, with not usually more than two books dealing with a particular protagonist.


The Blurb:
Now in Fall of Angels, Modesitt moves deep into Recluce's past to chronicle the founding of the Empire of the Legend, the almost mythological domain ruled by woman warriors on the highland plateau of the continent of Candar. He tells the story from the point of view of Nylan, the engineer and builder whose job it is to raise a great tower on the plateau known as the Roof of the World. Here the exiled women warriors will live and survive to fulfill their destiny. Here a revolutionary new society will be born . . . if Nylan can get the tower built and defenses in place before the rulers of the lowland nations come with their armies to obliterate them all. And if Nylan can learn to control the magical powers that are growing within him.

Thus Modesitt relates the story of how magic comes into the world of Recluce, in a fantasy novel destined to please the growing Recluce audience and win new readers to the series.

Fall of Angels is the sixth book of the saga of Recluce.


My Review:
Two radically different magics--The black of order vs the white of chaos--this is the central facet of each tale in the saga. In each book the protagonist is either of the black or white persuasion, and in a few there is a grey area of magic. In Fall of Angels, Modesitt explores the side of order, the black magic of healing and building.

At the outset of the tale, we meet a crew that by happenstance, is made up of women, with only three male crew members. Nylan is the ships engineer, and, as are all the officers, he is connected into the ships neuronet, the mental command center that completely controls the ship and its environment. Ryba is the ship's captain, and while she and Nylan have a sexual relationship, there is no doubt that she is in command. I didn't say romantic, because though they sleep together and care for each other, there is no romance involved. As a result of a great battle, they are thrown into an alternate universe, above a strange planet. With no way to return, they are forced to land.

They are "angels," humans from the various cold planets of Heaven. Most are from Sybra, the coldest planet, but a few are from Svenn, a warmer planet. Nylan is half-Svenn. The Sybrans cannot take the heat of their new world and are pretty much trapped in the cool mountains. Unfortunately the first thing that happens is they have landed on a world previously colonized. It probably happened in the same way, but by the Rationalists of the warmer worlds of Hell, those humans called 'demons' with whom they have been at war with for thousands of years. The lord of the land immediately attacks them, and the conflict is on.

This tale takes the concepts of traditional gender roles and twists them inside out. If she hadn't been thrown out of her universe, Ryba would never have had the chance to rise any higher than she already had, as women are considered technically equal, but there is a glass ceiling most women can't break through. In their new world, she makes sure the three men know they are now the ones with lesser stature, coldly telling Gerlich, "I could amputate both your arms and you would still retain your stud value." She is determined to build a culture where women have all the power and men are simply a means to reproduction. She is deadly, calculating, and will ruthlessly use anyone to achieve her goal.

Nylan is a strong man but he is not a leader, and feels like he has no other options, other than to march along with plans Ryba sets down for them. Using their failing technology he forges the weapons and builds their tower so they can survive the first winter in their mountain home. As events unfold and his relationship with Ryba disintegrates, he is confused and unsure of what to do. He is a man with a temperate mind, believing in equality with neither sex having the upper hand. A few of the women feel the same way he does.

This age old conflict makes for an awesome tale. Each character is sharply drawn, and the contrasts in their philosophies and the way they relate to each other drives this to a dramatic finish. I have read this entire series several times, and absolutely love it. In my opinion, this is one of Modesitt's better tales.

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're reading this 6th book of the Recluse Saga, you probably know what to expect from this series by now. For many, however, this is the first book read of the series because, chronologically, it is the first. (By the way, I have read that the author would prefer us to read them in the order they were published). Regardless, I found it to be quite a good story, quite capable of standing on its own. Modesitt has flirted with blending science and fantasy elements together with his magic engineers, but now he brings that tactic to the forefront with his marooned spacecraft and crew becoming the leaders of a low-tech culture. The entire Recluse series has epic qualities and this novel is essential for the full effect. I only gave it four stars for the same reason as other novels in this series. There are too many times when the plot drags. Details are very good to have in a novel, but how many times is it necessary to tell us they are having dry, crusty bread for dinner? I like these sorts of mundane details because it really makes the characters real, but I would prefer there to be some variety. Anyway, that is my only real beef and overall, I think you will enjoy The Fall of Angels.

[Jeremy Preacher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fall of Angels is the only explicitly sci-fi book in the series (although, granted, the magic system may as well be sci-fi throughout, as rigorous as it is) and it's definitely more interesting for it. It sets up the female-dominated societies portrayed in later books as well as the background behind Westwind, which is critical later (earlier?) on.

That said, I'm only mildly fond of it. The lasers and spaceships don't really take up enough of the story to differentiate it, and while it has lots of the crafting porn I so inexplicably enjoy, it's not really enough to make this better than a middling Recluce adventure.

[Kathi · Rating 4 out of 5]

9/10
A thoroughly satisfying get entry in the Saga of Recluce, taking the reader back to the time when Westwind was settled by the survivors of an intergalactic battle. Here we get the apparent facts behind the Legend and the start of the Black Order.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Modesitt re-read bites the dust and loses its place on my favorites shelf.

So many irritations with this book.

1. Nylan is a whiney-ass Gary-Sue. He is good -- no, brilliant, genius in fact -- at everything he attempts despite having no knowledge of or training in low-tech tradeskills. It absolutely makes no sense. Who the hell knows how to make charcoal in even our comparative-to-"angel"-society low-tech society, let alone a society so technologically advanced as to have advanced space travel and combat? One example of many. And I don't think they would have taught that sort of thing in engineering school, because those sorts of skills and technologies would have been irrelevant to their society.

Then, everyone loves Nylan. Despite the fact that he has the emotional awareness and social skills of someone on the Asperger's spectrum. He rarely talks to anyone (and when he does, his conversation is short and to the point), makes no efforts to form friendships or bonds, and yet somehow everyone adores him, except, of course, the "bad guys." If you don't like Nylan, you turn out to be a chaos-ridden bad-guy.

2. Nylan blames Ryba for the state of the world, and for stepping up and dealing with what the world and circumstances throw at them. He pretty much makes her his scape-goat, focusing all his frustrations onto her. If Nylan had his way, they'd have surrendered early on and the whole group of women would have wound up as sex-slaves or dead. He acknowledges this, yet he keeps on whining and blaming Ryba and making her into the bad guy.

Although I did think for a while that she should have talked to him first about donating sperm. However, by the end of the book I had observed that with him being such a mule-headed dumb-ass about the basic need for self-defense, refusing to see reason, or come to terms with reality, I can understand why she did what she did. I don't think talking to him would have helped.

2. These people need therapy, like whoa. I find it really really hard to believe that such an advanced civilization as the "angels" have no accommodations for psychological counseling, and that pretty much everyone have absolutely no Emotional IQ. I mean even Star Trek TNG had an on-board counselor. Nylan is especially bad, but I think the only people with any normal amounts of emotional IQ or empathy were Ayrlyn and Istril. (although of course Ayrlyn is almost as whiny and out of touch as Nylan, I think she was a bit more realistic)

So many bad things could have been avoided if these people's emotional and psychological needs were being met. Like that marine that Ryba murders at the beginning. Any normal person would have a hard time adjusting to those circumstances. Send the woman to therapy, don't murder her! Even Nylan's whiny dumb-assery was probably a result of extreme emotional stress and ptsd. Therapy for everyone!!!

3. Somehow I missed this in my previous readings of this book in my younger years. The "angels" from "Heaven," who bring order-use to this world -- order-use being almost exclusively synonymous in this series with goodness, creation, and rightness -- are originally from an advanced society known as...The United Faith Alliance. Who, in the very early part of this book, are battling against....The Rationalists (also referred to as Rats, demons, and devils). Who are likewise associated with chaos-magic, likewise almost exclusively synonymous with destruction, corruption, and evil. And of course, it is the "Rats" who in some other book, similar to the "angels" in this book, originally brought chaos-magic to this world in previous years/centuries/whatever. Folks, rational thinking is the source of ALL EVIL.

Subtle, Modesitt. Subtle. My agnostic self gives you a serious side-eye.

4. Again, as in the first book in the series, Modesitt, with the subtlety of a sledge-hammer, occasionally brings up some feminist themes and immediately has the main character (who happens to be male, again) mansplain them away -- also with the subtlety of a sledge-hammer. Sadly this confirms the suspicion I formed while reading the first book -- which is that it is the author who has bigoted tendencies, and it's not merely the narrating character being written that way.

The author also gave Nylan the tendency to sweep in and rescue the poor helpless wiminz -- the birth scene in particular comes to mind. He sweeps in with absolutely no experience in the healing aspect of order-magic, jumps right in without any idea what he's doing, despite having an experienced and competent order-magic-healer present (who of course, states that she was too afraid to try to do anything), and saves the day -- and the baby and the mother. Derp. Modesitt is one of those obnoxious and subtle bigots, who claims to respect women and be all for equality etc; all the while thinking that all feminists are femi-nazis that need to be moderated and taken down a notch, acting as though he is the only level-headed person on the planet, while having no clue about feminism given his own privilege, and in reality still undermines women and real equality in nasty insidious ways.

5. Another self-indulgence of the author includes a 1-page bitter tirade of Nylan oh-so-subtly complaining/whining/ranting that in novels and movies the fighters get all the attention and glory, while the people who support the fighters are unsung heroes (completely disregarding the fact that Ryba ordered a whole freaking ballad to be written about Nylan and his building and smithing, glorifying the ungrateful bastard and ensuring him a place in history for centuries to come).

There is truth to this in general. However, given Modesitt's propensity to focus on the day-to-day details and crafting (both of which I do enjoy reading about -- I think you have to in order to get through any of these books), and the bitter sour grapes tone of this tirade, this begins to feel like Modesitt has a giant chip on his shoulder. Did he serve in the army as a craftsman or supply officer, and resent the glory the combat soldiers received while getting no recognition himself? (newsflash Modesitt, my father served as a supply officer in the Navy and never had any problems with serving in a role behind the scenes)

6. I found there were some inconsistencies again. There were some that were similar to the ones in the first book -- sloppy and lazy inconsistencies, resulting from bad editing and lazy writing -- but also there were some inconsistencies with character's actions not making sense in the context of their background. "Heaven," for instance, seemed represented as a largely equal-between-the-sexes society, or even leaning toward the feminist or matriarchal side. Yet, a lot of what the "angels" said or did, still seemed more representative of a background in a less-than-equal patriarchal society.

There were a couple more issues, such as some problems with Gerlich and Sillek (and not to mention the obnoxious naming scheme in which almost all the names sound/look like each other), but this review is already insanely long as it is, and I'm still not done writing lol.

Modesitt has a talent for world-building, and I greatly enjoyed the sci-fi origin of the "angels" (this was something I enjoyed about McCaffrey's Dragonrider books as well), and I still greatly enjoy reading about the day-to-day details as well as the descriptions of crafting.

However, Modesitt also has a bias and a chip on his shoulder that leak into his writing, interfering with the stories, and I have to question whatever agenda or self-indulgence he's addressing in these books. The subtle (and often not-so-subtle) bigotry and sexism is obnoxious to slog through.

For example -- As with Tamra in the first book, he created a strong, capable female character in Ryba, only to turn around and represent her as a cold-hearted bully or almost-villain. Whereas Sillek, in the very same book, employs tactics of the same nature as Ryba (and is forced into them against what he would ideally prefer, but sucks it up and does what has to be done in the circumstances -- again, just like Ryba), but who is represented as a good, level-headed, likable guy (and who gets plenty of support, emotional and otherwise, from his romantic partner, instead of endless whining, guilt, and nonconstructive criticism -- yes Nylan, I'm looking at you).

Speaking of Nylan. Nylan felt like a re-hash of Lerris, except he was a million times more whiny and unlikeable and socially dumb-headed. He crossed the line into the Gary-Sue category IMO, whereas Lerris felt like a more balanced and relatable character. Lerris also had some character development (although it was a bit sudden and felt forced by the plot), and generally moved in a more positive direction as a human being. Nylan on the other hand, started out as a generally likable character with good potential, but got more and more intolerable, unbearable, and annoying as the story progressed. He completely regressed as a human being. Was this intentional? It was like watching a train-wreck. In super slow-motion.

ALL THAT SAID, Modesitt does succeed with his world-building, and the ability to connect historical events through time over an array of numerous novels. The combination of those, together with my enjoyment of his descriptions of the day-to-day and the details of manual crafting, as well as the way chaos and order magics work (although I don't agree with the moral bias associated with each), still makes my brain itch for more of this series.

Modesitt succeeds in continuing to pique my interest, despite his many negatives, in spite of myself and what I would term my own better judgment (I feel a bit like Mr. Darcy in writing that!). For all the negatives, I want to give this book 1 or 2 stars, yet there is still just enough good in it to not warrant so few. I'd give it 2.5 if I could, but I'll round up to 3.

Currently trying to decide if that's motivation enough, and if I'm feeling masochistic enough, to dig up one of my other old books of this series and slog through another 600 pages, mentally battling the issues I have with this author.

[Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best of the Recluse books l have read to date. I had doubts that I was reading a fantasy book in the beginning, where it starts off in the midst of a space battle.
This is the backstory of the warrior women of Westwind. The spaceship of the introduction is abandoned by shuttles which crashland on a mountain top.
The crew plus a score of women Marines are the survivors who now have to adjust to primitive life where women are looked down upon.

[The Reading Ruru (Kerry) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars - continuing my reread of the Recluse series, this time in Chronological order.
This was the very first book I read in Recluse series (a number of decades ago now) and I've reread it a few times over the years. It was always one of my favourite books in the series with the introduction of Nylan and Ryba + the origin of Westwind.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If reading this book in publication order, this is the sixth book in the Recluse Saga. I've read these early books a few times, and in this re-read, I find that I like "Fall of Angels" the best. It fills in the back story of some of how the legendary (in Recluse) figures arrived on the world, and how their legends began. Nylan is the primary character - a man who finds this new world exerts new abilities and insights on him.

The world already has a patriarchal and feudal population, and they view these newcomers as enemies to their culture. Women are subjugated, mostly pawns for politics, and brood mares for new generations. The Angels are matriarchal, believing that women would do a better job of running the world.

It's a fight for survival for the Angels, with Nylan engineering weapons, buildings, furniture, most of the things these warrior-women need. But he is not comfortable with their endless expectations and manipulations.

I found that this book ends rather abruptly, and I think there must be more to Nylan's story, since I vaguely remember him doing other things.

This book was narrated by Kirby Heyborne; he is reading all the Recluse books as far as I can tell. He does a good job with the pacing of the story, and is pretty good at signifying different characters by manner of speaking and tones.

[Richard Tran · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great entry in the Recluce series. This novel occurs many centuries previous to the founding of Recluce. It deals with a spaceship of Angels having to crash onto the planet and survive. The main angels in the book that have been vaguely mentioned in the earlier books is Nylan and Ryba.

Ryba is the captain of the spaceship who gains the gift of foresight and starts laying out the foundation for a women centric society. Nylan, the ship's engineer, goes about constructing Westwind. The angels discover that some of them gain the ability to manipulate the order flows on the world and utilize that to help them survive.

I thought this novel was great as it doesn't require any previous knowledge of the series. By itself it really deals with how a high tech world has to adapt to a low tech one and the breakdown and creation of a society.

I highly recommend this series to anyone interested in a story that blends sci-fi and fantasy and it's a must read for anyone that likes Recluce.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What happens when you cross Star Wars with Game of Thrones?
When an advanced starfaring vessel packed with warriors crash lands, only to find that the inhabitants of the world they ended up on possesses no greater technology than the classical Middle Ages, a truly intriguing problem is brought about. The conflicts of the 'Angels' with the common-folk of Gallos, Sarronyn, and Cyador are a fantastic study of what really should be an age old question: "What is the best way to use lasers against armed cavalry?"
The conflict arising once the space-age technology begins to fail is also intriguing. Stranded a universe away from their home, the Angels can only wonder if they will be able to survive in this hostile environment. And, observing the logic-defying chaos-towers of the Cyadorans, were the Angels the first to crash?

[Megan Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

In places a little boring, but the writing is so clear and the characters are so well-envisioned that it keeps on moving, even at it's most boring parts. The idea of having to build a home from scratch, even with partial use of advanced technology, makes my shoulders ache just thinking about it, and Modesitt's descriptions of the setting make me want to visit. The challenges the characters face, both with the construction and the petty intregues, are really what makes the book shine. Recommended.

4/5 on here, 9/10 for myself

[Jason Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read up to this book in the series a couple times, I have concluded that while an interesting book for the back story, this is one of the slower books in the series. Definitely not where I would suggest someone start even though it is fairly early in the time line (but not in the order they were written, for those unfamiliar with this series). But at the end of the day I still really like Modesitt's writing, so I enjoyed this book (but I'm also clear that's a somewhat personal opinion).

[Harper Kingsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably one of my favorite Recluse book. That said, it's typical L.E. Modesitt fair: lots of detail, lots of technical info, a male protagonist, and a solid magic/science base.

Explains the female warriors that live on the roof of the world and how they are able to survive there where no one else can. And seeing as I've read the first books and the later books, I find it interesting to discover just how the world of Recluse has changed and adapted over the course of years.

[Jerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sixth of this fantastic series, and perhaps as good as the first.
How many lost battles does it take before armchair bravado is finally slapped across the face and told to hush? The ambitions of a needle wielding old woman and her "honorable" intentions lead to the utter ruin of a once great kingdom.
This volume lays down the history of Ryba, Nylan, and the Roof of the World, Westwind. A great story.

[Liviu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second Recluce sub-series in chronological order, this one starts about 400 yeras later after the Cyador books and presents the story of the opponents of the White wizards who are marooned to recluce and have to build a society; the first book is again somewhat slower and Nylan does not get into its own until later in the story but the second again picks up and is excellent

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked most of the Recluse novels. This one (oddly I suppose)I find made very little impression on me and can barely place it in the series (in my memory that is). I recall it as the weakest of the ones I read.

[Gordon]

This is my favorite so far. Nylan is amazing and gets the job done not nearly as whiney as the other main characters and since you know the world now makes this a roller coaster of action without the long buildups of previous books.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume 6 in the Saga of Recluse is actually the beginning of the story of the conflict between the White Brotherhood (the bad guys) and the Black Brotherhood (the Good guys).

[Clay Kallam · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sixth book in the Saga of Recluce did not disappoint, despite featuing essentially the same protagonist that has starred in most of the others. This time the name is Nylan, and as before, he is an engineer, a mage and cannot conceive that he could be anything like a hero.

But like the second and third books in the series, "Fall of Angels" is a prequel -- in fact, a prequel that reaches back to the beginnings of the conflicts in the five five books. L.E. Modesitt, Jr., fleshes out references to "angels" and "demons" in the earlier books with a backstory that involves an interstellar war featuring advanced technology. An overflow of energy somehow transports a group of starship troopers to a primitive planet, likely in a different spot in the multiverse, and they have no choice but to land and try to survive.

"Fall of Angels" tells that story, as Nylan and the commander, Ryba, carefully use their rapidly fading technology to fend off various attackers -- who at first merely dislike the newcomers, but soon grow incensed at the fact that most of the troops, and Ryba, are female.

Modesitt then goes in a much different direction than most fantasy writers. First, the female warriors, except for Ryba, are merely better trained than the men they face, and they also have a technological advantage, thanks to Nylan's ability to use the metal alloy from the spaceship landers to craft superior swords and bows. But the real story is that the new planet is not only primitive but for the most part brutally patriarchal, and women slowly trickle into the angels' camp, leaving behind men who beat and abuse them. This only adds to the fear of the newcomers, who must beat off attack after attack.

They do so because of Nylan, but rather than glory in his military ability, Nylan is sickened that the "angels" must use force and violence to survive, when all they really want is to be left alone. The feminist view and the anti-war stance are seldom married in high fantasy, but Modesitt pulls it off in "Fall of Angels."

And that's one more attraction to the series: You don't know what's next. It could be another prequel. We could return to a previous character. It could be something entirely new. Whatever it is, I'll be reading it. The Saga of Recluce has become one of my favorite fantasy series, and there are many more books to come.

[BJ Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third book in chronological order, the sixth in published order. A spaceship is forced to make an emergency landing on the planet that this entire series is based off of. The survivors try to build a new society on a high-altitude plateau which is one of the only places where the climate is livable for most of the crew. Even though most of the native inhabitants could never live in such a cold, inhospitable place, they cannot stand that a female-dominated society is being established that is upsetting their patriarchal culture. The locals are thinking, "If we cannot kill off these women, all our wives and daughters will try and sneak off and we won't be able to beat and abuse them with impunity anymore."

Nylan is an engineer and is able to tap into the order/chaos magic system on this planet. He is also one of the only men. As is typical of all of Modesett's books, he is a workaholic with an old-fashioned sense of right and wrong who grows more and more OP as the book goes on. There is an abundance of detail that will cause some readers to glaze over as the author waxes eloquent on the detail of what is required to develop a forge, build a tower, figure out the plumbing that won't freeze up in the cold harsh winter, etc.

It is a good book and I do enjoy the series, but over time LEM tends to retread the same exact characters simply with different names, occupations, and eras too much to seem creative and new.

[Stuart Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should this have been the book that started the series such that it could be presented in time order? Hell no! We needed to be slowly introduced into this world before we could hear about the “modernization” of the epic that is the Legend and the “Angels who fell to the Rood of the World.” It is a very simple story. Good faced evil in another dimension and the struggle at one point in time became so fixed and pinpointed that the Angels, rather than having been incinerated by so much power at the point of inception, that they were thrust into a new dimension that was primitive technologywise, but functioned along similar principles of order and chaos. This story is very simple over about a period of over almost two years where we simply see how the fallen angels were able to survive and beat back challenge after challenge, each of which grew harder over time until the rest of the world was forced to concede or destroy itself in the process, a sort of equilibrium that goes forward to the next novels. I loved it, but Nylan’s cynicism/fatalism can get a bit wearying. Onwards!!!!

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I could give half stars. You see my rule for a 5 stay review versus a 4 star is to say I couldn't put the book down, this was definitely true at points during this book. This book took elements of Dune and flipped the Recluce plot on it's head, it was definitely a compelling read. Ok ok it did drag a bit in certain areas which is typical for epic fantasies I find. The characters have to whine a bit about their tragic situations and just sorta feel bad about the unfairness of the universe, it's not only expected but pretty much universal in this genre, I don't even hold that against most books unless it's particularly egregious. Back to why I didn't give it 5 stars... yeah I'm not so psyched to read the next book in the series. Sure this book had some refreshingly new plot points but it's still behind it all more of the same. A group of heroes stands up against evil, during which the heroes will complain about the unfairness of it all and eventually prevail though after some significant sacrifice. Yup the next book will be more of that. Time to take a break from this series.

[Steven Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good lost-colony story. Fall of Angels is often compared to Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series and Julian May's Exile series. While I have read both Bradley's and May's series, I much prefer Bradley to May, and Modesitt over them both.

At the time the author started this series, there was a lot of wish-fulfilment fantasy stories and a few too many books where the untried, untested, and unknown mage, warrior, gerbil, etc. etc. saves the world. Wizard's First Rule and The Elfstones of Shannara come to mind.

This is probably one of my least favorite of the Recluse series. I have never liked how Ryba is so cold and calculating and pushes away Nylan, losing his love. I have always wanted the author to write perhaps a short story, or another book better explaining what Ryba's options were and why she made the choices that she did.

I still love this series with its grittiness and one of the best balanced magical systems in epic fantasy.