Legacies (Corean Chronicles Series #1), Corean Chronicles Series, L. E. Modesitt, Book

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Product Details

Pub. Date: October 2002
Publisher: Doherty, Tom Associates, LLC
Format: Hardcover, 560pp

Series: Corean Chronicles Series, #1
ISBN-13: 9780765305619
ISBN: 0765305615
Edition Description: REV

Synopsis

A New Age Begins

The First Book of the Corean Chronicles

Millennia ago, a magical disaster caused the fall of a great civilization that spanned a continent, and ended a golden age. Corus today is a world of contending countries, of struggling humans, strange animals and elusive supernatural creatures. Though much has been forgotten, it is still a place of magical powers, and of a few people who are Talented enough to use them.

Even as a child, Alucius showed very strong Talent. He was warned never to reveal it, lest others seek to exploit it. But as he grows to young manhood, Alucius must serve in the Militia like his father before him. When his country is invaded by the slave armies of the Matrial, immortal ruler of a nearby land, Alucius is captured and magically enslaved.

A time of changes has come upon all of the world of Corus. If the evil surrounding the Matrial is not ended, those changes will not be happy ones. Alucius and his Talent have a central role to play.

Publishers Weekly

Although "judicious matriarchy vs. brutish patriarchy" may have been done to death, Modesitt has boldly taken on the task of breathing new life into this venerable feminist clich , and done a more than credible job. Alucius, a young shepherd-turned-soldier from the proud but impoverished Iron Valley, is wounded and captured by the invading Matrite army. He manages to disguise his magical Talent well enough to pass the inspection of the Matrial, the seemingly immortal ruler whose magic reaches to every corner of her kingdom, and is assigned to fight in a company of Matrite cavalry. As he gains valuable knowledge of patience, warfare and honor, Alucius also comes to realize that despite his hatred of the slavery and prejudice that are so integral to the Matrite society, he can't help admiring the order and prosperity that accompany them. Resolving this internal dilemma is only one of his struggles: he must also work to regain his freedom, practice and improve his Talent and figure out why magical creatures appear at odd moments and aid or attack him seemingly at random. The historical background is somewhat sketchy and difficult to follow, and Modesitt still has trouble reconciling science and magic; but the warfare and dialogue are clear and authentic, and he's learned a lot about pacing in the 11 years since the first Recluce books were published. Thoughtful readers will be appreciative, and the author's fans will be impressed. (Nov. 1) FYI: Earlier this year Modesitt published a well-received SF novel, Archform: Beauty (Forecasts, June 10).

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Biography

L. E. Modesitt, Jr. lives in Cedar City, Utah.

Customer Reviews

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Ratings: 7Reviews: 7
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Driven Story Tellingby Lord_Adair

Reader Rating:
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August 15, 2009: Modesitt does an excellent job selling you on his main character. He again does a masterful job of withholding information until the right moment to add suspense to the story.

the great legacies of corusby Anonymous

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December 10, 2007: Legacies is about a boy with forbidden powers who is trying to save the world. I would highly recommend Legacies to any fantasy writing fan. Its base structure is very nearly perfect. In the beginning you get the main characters background and a mystery to be unfolded. A slowly deepening and informative storyline is spliced with a bit of action to keep you excited. Those are only technical details. Legacies is also creative, original, and inspiring. L.E. Modesitt, Jr. has designed a world from the ground up. I have never read a book that includes the theory that humans could have been grown like cattle for a higher species. Legacies shows us that just because you were designed for a specific purpose does not mean that you are limited to that purpose alone. Because of these facts I would highly recommend this book.

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From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
If the first book of L. E. Modesitt Jr.'s brilliant Corean Chronicles, Legacies, is any indication of what's to come, this series will be more entertaining and fully realized than even his epic Spellsong Cycle and Recluce sagas. The story revolves around Alucius, a young boy with a secret, powerful Talent, being raised by his mother and grandparents on a rural ranch. While he enjoys herding nightsheep, Alucius knows that when he comes of age he must serve in the military and begin life on his own. But when his peaceful country is invaded by slave armies and Alucius is captured, he begins to realize his Talent is directly linked to stopping the bloodshed spreading across Corus.

While I enjoyed Modesitt's Spellsong and Recluce series, this series is like an exhilarating breath of fresh air -- it's so different than anything I've ever read from Modesitt. The main characters are well developed, and the magical realm of Corus, with its strange and supernatural creatures like dustcats and sandwolves, is a place I can't wait to visit again. Paul Goat Allen

From the Publisher

A New Age Begins

The First Book of the Corean Chronicles

Millennia ago, a magical disaster caused the fall of a great civilization that spanned a continent, and ended a golden age. Corus today is a world of contending countries, of struggling humans, strange animals and elusive supernatural creatures. Though much has been forgotten, it is still a place of magical powers, and of a few people who are Talented enough to use them.

Even as a child, Alucius showed very strong Talent. He was warned never to reveal it, lest others seek to exploit it. But as he grows to young manhood, Alucius must serve in the Militia like his father before him. When his country is invaded by the slave armies of the Matrial, immortal ruler of a nearby land, Alucius is captured and magically enslaved.

A time of changes has come upon all of the world of Corus. If the evil surrounding the Matrial is not ended, those changes will not be happy ones. Alucius and his Talent have a central role to play.

Publishers Weekly

Although "judicious matriarchy vs. brutish patriarchy" may have been done to death, Modesitt has boldly taken on the task of breathing new life into this venerable feminist clich , and done a more than credible job. Alucius, a young shepherd-turned-soldier from the proud but impoverished Iron Valley, is wounded and captured by the invading Matrite army. He manages to disguise his magical Talent well enough to pass the inspection of the Matrial, the seemingly immortal ruler whose magic reaches to every corner of her kingdom, and is assigned to fight in a company of Matrite cavalry. As he gains valuable knowledge of patience, warfare and honor, Alucius also comes to realize that despite his hatred of the slavery and prejudice that are so integral to the Matrite society, he can't help admiring the order and prosperity that accompany them. Resolving this internal dilemma is only one of his struggles: he must also work to regain his freedom, practice and improve his Talent and figure out why magical creatures appear at odd moments and aid or attack him seemingly at random. The historical background is somewhat sketchy and difficult to follow, and Modesitt still has trouble reconciling science and magic; but the warfare and dialogue are clear and authentic, and he's learned a lot about pacing in the 11 years since the first Recluce books were published. Thoughtful readers will be appreciative, and the author's fans will be impressed. (Nov. 1) FYI: Earlier this year Modesitt published a well-received SF novel, Archform: Beauty (Forecasts, June 10).

Marsha Valance - VOYA

Not only a gifted storyteller but also a gifted teacher, Modesitt layers his adventures, always offering the reader a glimpse of the economic and philosophical underpinnings of the worlds he creates. In this first book of the Corean Chronicles, he portrays a post-Catactysm world, slowly developing an economic and social base that will ease the lives of its inhabitants. The young protagonist, Alucius, is a psychically gifted farm boy, growing up in his retired colonel grandfather's house after his father's death in military service. They raise mutant Nightsheep, aggressive black beasts with razor-sharp horns and hooves, whose diet of metallic salt renders their meat inedible but their wool of great value. Alucius wants only to be a herder like his grandfather, but is called up for military service. His grandfather's training and his psychic ability help him survive until the slave soldiers of the Madrien, a neighboring matriarchy, capture him. Enslaved with a lethal collar, Alucius must learn about his captors to survive and escape to his beloved home and fianc�e. Modesitt's continuing appeal is partially based on his ability to offer a fast-paced adventure-usually a hero's journey-where the protagonist's growing understanding helps his moral development. Alucius must question why, in the slave-owning matriarchy, the majority of the population is happier, wealthier, and healthier than in his own republic of small farming villages and merchant centers. Each Modesitt adventure is a disguised minicourse in moral philosophy-an attribute that makes them of inestimable value to high school libraries. VOYA Codes: 4Q 4P S A/YA (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YAappeal; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult and Young Adult). 2002, Tor, 560p,

Library Journal

As the son of a Nightsheep herder, Alucius learns the survival skills necessary to protect his valuable flock from the sand wolves and other strange predators that dwell in the cold northern lands. He also realizes the more subtle ways of his Talent, a magical ability common to those with herder blood. When the armies of Madrien invade his home, Alucius goes off to war, only to be captured and forcibly conscripted into the enemies' slave armies. Careful to hide his Talent, Alucius dreams of escape and revenge. The author of the popular "Recluce" series introduces a new world of subtle magic and ancient legends in this tale of a young man's coming of age in a war-torn land. Modesitt excels at portraying the everyday lives of people caught up in world-shaking events, thus making his characters both believable and sympathetic. This top-notch series opener is highly recommended. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Following his fine Archform: Beauty (p. 625), Modesitt kicks off a new series that, like the Recluce yarns, curiously but plausibly blends fantasy and SF. The Herders of the Iron Valleys in the north of the continent Corus tend their nightsheep on huge, rocky estates. Inedible nightsheep are the source of nightsilk, a miraculous fiber that's light, soft, and tough enough to turn a bullet. Herders like young Alucius also have, secretly, Talent (psychic abilities that help them survive against the deadly local fauna)-secret because, long ago, a great war involving Talent destroyed civilization. Today the Iron Valleys are threatened by neighboring Madrien, a matriarchy whose immortal Matrial enslaves rivals and captives through Talent-powered collars. So, leaving behind his betrothed, Wendra, and grandfather Royalt to tend the estate (his father died in battle), Alucius joins the militia and rides off to fight the Matrites. Despite his Talent and skills acquired from Royalt, Alucius and his fellow troopers are overwhelmed by superior numbers and an ancient weapon that hurls lethal volleys of glass spears. Wounded and captured, a collar clamped about his neck, Alucius must fight for the Matrial as a trooper against the encroaching Lanacronans. Again he survives and gains promotion. But then one of the soarers, seemingly intelligent flyers of feminine aspect, advises Alucius that he must soon find a way to free himself and defeat the Matrial, a threat to all sentient creatures. Solidly engrossing, if too dependent on luck and coincidence, with a robust and consistent backdrop: a satisfyingly self-contained inaugural volume that skillfully sets up the sequels.

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Product Details

Pub. Date: October 2002
Publisher: Doherty, Tom Associates, LLC
Format: Hardcover, 560pp

Series: Corean Chronicles Series, #1
ISBN-13: 9780765305619
ISBN: 0765305615
Edition Description: REV

Table of Contents
Read an Excerpt
Read a Sample Chapter

Read an Excerpt

1

In the quiet of the early twilight of a late summer day, a woman sat in a rocking chair under the eaves of the porch, facing east, rocking gently. Except for the infant she nursed, she was alone, enjoying the clean evening air, air swept of sand grit and dust by the unseasonal afternoon rain. So clear was the silver-green sky that the still-sunlit Aerlal Plateau stood out above the nearer treeless rise that was Westridge, stood out so forcefully that it appeared yards away rather than tens of vingts to the north and east.
She rocked slowly, looking down at her nursing son, a child already with dark hair, more like deep gray than black. Through the open windows set in the heavy stone walls, she could hear the occasional clatter of platters being replaced in the cupboards, and the squeak of the hand pump.
The glittering and scattered light reflected from the quartz outcroppings on the top edge of the distant and towering plateau died away as the sun dropped farther. Before long, pinlights that were stars appeared, as did the small greenish crescent that was the moon Asterta. The larger moon, Selena, had already set in the west.
She brought the infant to her shoulder and burped him. “There…there, that's a good boy, Alucius.” Then she resettled herself and offered the other breast.
As she began to rock once more, a point of light appeared off the north end of the porch, expanding into a winged feminine figure with iridescent green-tinged silver wings. The nursing mother blinked, then turned her head slowly. For several moments, she looked at the soarer, a graceful feminine figure somewhere in size between an eight-year-old girl and a smallyoung woman—except for the spread wings of coruscating and shimmering light, which fanned yards out from the soarer's body until it bathed both mother and infant.
The woman chanted softly,

* * *

“Soarer fair, soarer bright,
only soarer in the night wish I may, wish I might have this wish I wish tonight…”

* * *

For a long moment after she had completed her wish, the woman watched. The soarer's wings sparkled, their movement seemingly effortless, as she hung in midair, in turn watching mother and child, less than twenty yards from the pair on the porch. As suddenly as she had appeared, the soarer was gone, as was the green radiance that had emanated from her.
Slowly, the woman murmured the old child's rhyme to herself.

* * *

“Londi's child is fair of face.
Duadi's child knows his place.
Tridi's child is wise in years,
but Quattri's must conquer fears.
Quinti's daughter will prove strong,
while Sexdi's knows right from wrong.
Septi's child is free and giving,
but Octdi's will work hard in living.
Novdi's child must watch for woe,
while Decdi's child has far to go.

But the soarer's child praise the most,
for he will rout the sanders' host,
and raise the lost banners high under the green and silver sky.”

* * *

She looked beyond the north end of the porch once more, but there was no sign that the soarer had ever been there.
Within moments, the door to the house opened, and a lean man stepped outside, moving near-silently toward the woman in the rocking chair. “I thought I saw a light-torch out here. Did someone ride up?”
“No…” She shifted the infant and added, “There was a soarer here, Ellus.”
“A soarer?”
“She was out there, just beyond where you put the snow fence last winter. She hovered there and looked at us, and then she left.”
“Are you sure, Lucenda?” Ellus's voice was gentle, but not quite believing.
“I'm quite sure. I don't imagine what's not there.”
Ellus laughed, warmly. “I've learned that.” After a moment, he added, “They're supposed to be good luck for an infant.”
“I know. I made a wish.”
“What did you wish for.”
“I can't say. It won't come true, and I want it to come true for Alucius.”
“That's just a superstition.”
Lucenda smiled. “Probably it is, but let me have it.”
He bent over and kissed her forehead. “For him, as well as for you.”
Then he pulled over the bench and sat down beside her as the evening darkened into night.

Copyright © 2002 by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

L. E. Modesitt, Jr., is the bestselling author of the fantasy series The Saga of Recluce. His science fiction includes Adiamante, the Ecolitan novels, and Archform: Beauty. He lives in Cedar City, Utah.

Read a Sample Chapter

Legacies

By Modesitt, L. E.

Tor Books

1

In the quiet of the early twilight of a late summer day, a woman sat in a rocking chair under the eaves of the porch, facing east, rocking gently. Except for the infant she nursed, she was alone, enjoying the clean evening air, air swept of sand grit and dust by the unseasonal afternoon rain. So clear was the silver-green sky that the still-sunlit Aerlal Plateau stood out above the nearer treeless rise that was Westridge, stood out so forcefully that it appeared yards away rather than tens of vingts to the north and east.
She rocked slowly, looking down at her nursing son, a child already with dark hair, more like deep gray than black. Through the open windows set in the heavy stone walls, she could hear the occasional clatter of platters being replaced in the cupboards, and the squeak of the hand pump.
The glittering and scattered light reflected from the quartz outcroppings on the top edge of the distant and towering plateau died away as the sun dropped farther. Before long, pinlights that were stars appeared, as did the small greenish crescent that was the moon Asterta. The larger moon, Selena, had already set in the west.
She brought the infant to her shoulder and burped him. "There...there, that's a good boy, Alucius." Then she resettled herself and offered the other breast.
As she began to rock once more, a point of light appeared off the north end of the porch, expandinginto a winged feminine figure with iridescent green-tinged silver wings. The nursing mother blinked, then turned her head slowly. For several moments, she looked at the soarer, a graceful feminine figure somewhere in size between an eight-year-old girl and a small young woman--except for the spread wings of coruscating and shimmering light, which fanned yards out from the soarer's body until it bathed both mother and infant.
The woman chanted softly,
* * *
"Soarer fair, soarer bright,
only soarer in the night
wish I may, wish I might
have this wish I wish tonight..."
* * *
For a long moment after she had completed her wish, the woman watched. The soarer's wings sparkled, their movement seemingly effortless, as she hung in midair, in turn watching mother and child, less than twenty yards from the pair on the porch. As suddenly as she had appeared, the soarer was gone, as was the green radiance that had emanated from her.
Slowly, the woman murmured the old child's rhyme to herself.
* * *
"Londi's child is fair of face.
Duadi's child knows his place.
Tridi's child is wise in years,
but Quattri's must conquer fears.
Quinti's daughter will prove strong,
while Sexdi's knows right from wrong.
Septi's child is free and giving,
but Octdi's will work hard in living.
Novdi's child must watch for woe,
while Decdi's child has far to go.

But the soarer's child praise the most,
for he will rout the sanders' host,
and raise the lost banners high
under the green and silver sky."
* * *
She looked beyond the north end of the porch once more, but there was no sign that the soarer had ever been there.
Within moments, the door to the house opened, and a lean man stepped outside, moving near-silently toward the woman in the rocking chair. "I thought I saw a light-torch out here. Did someone ride up?"
"No..." She shifted the infant and added, "There was a soarer here, Ellus."
"A soarer?"
"She was out there, just beyond where you put the snow fence last winter. She hovered there and looked at us, and then she left."
"Are you sure, Lucenda?" Ellus's voice was gentle, but not quite believing.
"I'm quite sure. I don't imagine what's not there."
Ellus laughed, warmly. "I've learned that." After a moment, he added, "They're supposed to be good luck for an infant."
"I know. I made a wish."
"What did you wish for."
"I can't say. It won't come true, and I want it to come true for Alucius."
"That's just a superstition."
Lucenda smiled. "Probably it is, but let me have it."
He bent over and kissed her forehead. "For him, as well as for you."
Then he pulled over the bench and sat down beside her as the evening darkened into night.

Copyright 2002 by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

Continues...

Excerpted from Legacies by Modesitt, L. E. Copyright © 2003 by Modesitt, L. E.. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Legacies (Corean Chronicles Series #1) by L. E. Modesitt

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Legacies (Corean Chronicles Series #1) by L. E. Modesitt

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Product Details

Synopsis

Publishers Weekly

Biography

Customer Reviews

Driven Story Tellingby Lord_Adair

the great legacies of corusby Anonymous

From Barnes & Noble

From the Publisher

Publishers Weekly

Marsha Valance - VOYA

Library Journal

Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

Table of Contents

Read an Excerpt

Read a Sample Chapter

Legacies

Tor Books

Related Subjects

More by This Author

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