No, not that kind of perverting but it is perverted all the same.

 

It is quite interesting how little changes can affect how a person perceives a story. For instance, the mere fact that the author chose to reverse the familiar values that we commonly associate with white and black, however superficial it is, I have to admit, had a lasting effect on me as I read through the novel.

 

Quite simply, the Saga of Recluce is a series of novels by L. E. Modesitt, Jr. that takes place in the Recluce universe where most of the action takes place in (you guessed it) the city of Recluce. Now, I hesitate to call this a series since each novel is a stand-alone story with different characters and plot lines but all sharing the same world. This is opposed to the usual Epic Fantasy fare wherein we follow a group of characters through their own epic storyline which encompasses the events through several books. To say that one type of storytelling is more effective than the other is, I think, asinine and comparing one form from the other is pointless. That said, if there ever was a epic fantasy series where the “World” is in the spotlight and the characters mere agents which instigate the dire changes that the world is forced to undergo, then look no further than the Saga of Recluce.

 

When I say that the characters are simply catalysts driven by an unseen puppet master to create a sense of depth to the history of the world, I’m not saying that the author does not give weight to each character he introduces. No, far from it. In fact, without effectively believable characters, each endowed with their own characteristics, values, and motivations which are products of their respective time and society in the world’s history, the entire concept of the world as the major character is lost and what we are left with is a tapestry of messed up patterns and frayed edges.

 

Thankfully, The Towers of the Sunset succeeds, in its own way, in enriching the world that we had glimpsed in the previous novel, The Magic of Recluce, and giving us a deeper understanding of why the events in the first novel happened as they did. If you don’t mind a revolving cast of characters and stories that gives more importance to its effects on the world as opposed to how it affects the said characters, then this is the book and series for you. If you are unfamiliar with the first book and this book in particular and are intrigued with what I have said about it, let me just say this, now may be the best time to give it a read before continuing with this review.

 

Return now to the world of Recluce in The Towers of the Sunset.
Tells the story of Creslin, son of a powerful military matriarch, who chooses exile rather than an arranged marriage. He sets out on a search for his true identity as a man, developing his magical talents through constant conflict with the enigmatic white wizards of Candar. 

 

Right of the bat, we are introduced to the “Legend” and what I think is the main problem of this book: too much unwarranted misandry. Now, I know this is the way that the author chose to subvert our expectations seeing as this was published in the time when most fantasy protagonists are male and are highly lauded for their “male qualties” and females are relegated in the background either as eye-candy or to validate the excellent “male-ness” of the main character, but I think it could have been done more effectively.

 

Oscar Wilde once famously prefaced in his novel “The Picture of Dorain Gray” that “there is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.” and I have always believed that literature, like any other forms of art, should always strives to a certain aesthetic and appeal devoid of any significant moral agenda. I find that the books that usually interest me are those that gives us insights into human behavior and asks the questions; why we act the way we do. Nabokov’s “Lolita” and Ellis’s “American Psycho” are great examples of this. This is also the reason why SFF fiction as a genre appeals to me more than the literary fiction because it allows us to explore the human condition in a setting that is as alien as the human imagination can conjure. I can go on along this line of thought, but I’d rather save it for another post as there is a lot more relevant things to discuss with regards to this novel.

Basically, the reason why I think that misandry is a problem with this novel is that, ultimately, it is still the male protagonist who saves the day and the female protagonist, even though she is no sloucher in this story and perhaps could be argued that her contributions were paramount to the former’s success, is still simply that... a mere sidekick.

 

The Towers of the Sunset follows the story of Creslin, son of the Marshall of Westwind and a Black Wizard prodigy, and Megaera, Subtyrant of Saronnyn and a White Wizard who learns to control her power and shift to the Black (don’t worry, in this world black is basically good and white is bad). The dynamic of their relationship is the highlight of this novel. Creslin being the self-pitying hero despite his being able to overcome the obstacles he faces through skill, talent, and ingenuity and Megaera being the cynic whose hard life has earned her the skill to survive and thrive. On paper, it is hard to find a more interesting duo than these two and I admit that in the later chapters I have learned to love both these characters... somewhat.

 

The first half of the story deals with the fact that the two cannot escape each other. Creslin being arranged to be wed to Megaera, escapes into exile only to be later on saved by Megaera and the life-link they share. The two then set forth to find refuge and a place to call their own home (enter Recluce). Along the way, they learn bits of each other’s past and upbringing and basically try to live with each others quirks.

 

How do you profess your love to a woman who had a very troubled childhood where she always felt trapped and forced to undergo various tortures and mutilations through the whims of her all-powerful sister? If you ask Creslin, the solution cannot be anything other than to force yourself to her by establishing a secondary life-link just because. When said, this is a very crass way of handling the situation, and in a way it is, but reading through the novel and knowing who the characters are and how they behave, the conclusion doesn’t really take too much of a leap. A little more subtely in how it was handled would have helped though.

 

Speaking of life links, this was, I think, one of the strengths in the beginning of the novel. Here we have Megaera who can sense the thoughts of Creslin through the said link. The link doesn’t go the other way until later which provided a very interesting dynamic between them, where Megaera judges Creslin on his thoughts and actions. Genius, if you ask me, and a testament to how we explore the human condition in an alien setting.

 

As I said, one decision leads to another and the two are forced to the barren wasteland that is Recluce. This is the point where the novel and story really shines. I just love how these characters are forced in situations and, depending on who they are, are left no other course other than to adapt to their circumstances which in their case is doubly hard since they not only have to deal with the hostile people and surroundings they interact with but also each other.

 

It is when they arrive in Recluce and decide that they have to make the town prosper in order to surivive amidst the harsh political landscape that I find my interest gripped at every turn of the page. The common adversities that the fantasy protagonist faces (i.e. bandits, evil wizards, a rival kingdom, etc.) are aggravated when they also need to contend with the more mundane aspects of running a kingdom. That is how do you supply food, work, and amenities to your people and distract them long enough to stop them from stabbing you when you sleep and, instead, foster a sense of loyalty from them. The author even goes to such lengths as to provide a unique geography with a very specific flora and fauna that, in later chapters and through sheer human ingenuity, they learn to utilize to futher the prosperity of Recluce.

 

It is also woth noting that the book tackles the theme of maintaining ecological balance as a critical factor of the story. As a Storm Wizard, Creslin can basically manipulate the winds to create climactic conditions that is favorable to his situation. In the early part of the story, he uses the power to literally freeze his enemies and summon waterspout to sink the ships of his enemies. When he realizes that farming under the harsh desert-like weather of Recluce is next to impossible, he uses this power to send the occasional rain and favorable weather for the crops to survive. He does this despite the warnings of Klerriss, a black wizard master who teaches Creslin to control his powers, that continued manipulation to the weather can have adverse effects to the worlds climate. And, as a reader, you sympathize with his predicament and can neither blame him for choosing to save his own people above the people of the other kingdoms who, through the hidden workings of the Whites in Fairhaven, continue to antagonize them. It is this simple addition of the concept of action and reaction, push and pull, that elevates the story to another level. Though, if you ask me, I would have wanted the stakes to be more significant, the consequences of his wanton use of power more apparent.

 

The same can be said with the city-building aspect of the story. For instance, the foodstuffs available to Recluce are very limited and they have to organize trade to supplement their food shortage. The protagonists, in some scenes, are even shown to be constantly eating moldy bread and salted fish because there is no other food left. If this is the diet of Recluce’s rulers, one would shudder at the thought of what food items are available to the common citizenry. One would think that the lack of food variety would lead to the citizens being under-nourished and prone to sickness. Sickness would have been rampant and the lack of sanitation and healthcare facilities would have easily resulted in a plague that would have decimated the populace. The devil is in the details, as they say, and the inclusion of such minutiae would have improved my reading experience of this novel and further ingrained in me the importance of these often overlooked factors in city management that is sorely lacking in fantasy fiction.

 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was a fun, enjoyable, and not so predictable romp in a fantasy world that tries hard to stand-out from the rest. Whether or not, it succeeds to meet your expectations is based on your interest and what you have read so far. Ultimately, what makes this book very important, for me, is not in the author’s perversion of the familiar values of white and black or the stereotyped roles of male and female characters, but in its implication that fantasy can be just as compelling when it deals with more mundane problems like city building, management, and ecological balance (not really mundane, but easily overlooked in most stories).

 

It also helps that each story can be read as a stand-alone, especially in a series that is currently 20 books long.