Rating: 
Summary: I liked it
Review: I found this to be one exceptional novel. Especially at the end, for me it got very emotional, and not one book to date has done that. It felt like a dark fantasy because of the toll it took on me. Caught me completely off guard. I own all the books (except for The Chaos Balance-just released a couple weeks ago) and do not regret buying them. Modesitt can make the most boring subjects interesting (like smithing, woodworking, building towers etc)
Rating: 
Summary: Imaginative, inciteful
Review: I wish there were more books with the same cast of characters. The story ended with little chance of that happening (2nd book).
Jeffrey Zimmerman
Rating: 
Summary: Mixed feelings
Review: I've notice this crazy trend with online reviews - raves with little explanation equal positive feedback from readers, and those that are critical receive quite low marks. Now tell me - those of us who are "well read" in the genre of science fiction and epic fantasy - can any of us really say that Modesitt is in the upper echelon of fantasy authors? Certainly not. Were there such a list though, men like Jordan, Martin, Tolkein, Rawn, and Jacques would be at the top. Their worlds are captivating, believable, with characters that DO rather than say, and you feel transported. Modesitt does have numerous redeeming qualities: a good magic system, interesting political commentary (moreso than most fantasy), and a penchant for making his heroes so mellow and modest. On the other hand, the meal scenes are intolerably long, slow, and frequent. There's a lot of inexplicable happenings - for example - why did Lerris and Krystal need to be bonded? In that area of the book - I reread the same 10 or 15 pages that SEEMED to be explaining, but I was baffled at to the apparent necessity. My theory - just so that we could have more lovey dialogue and a few situations where she could answer question he had thought and not spoken. At least there was more conflict than in previous books (the Magic Engineer was awful), and that perked my interest and saved me from many naps that otherwise would have been taken. I would caution anyone who has not read - this is SLOW stuff. There's nothing wrong with that if done right, but I can only safely say that the Recluce series gets it partially right.
Rating:
Summary: Mixed feelings
Review: I've notice this crazy trend with online reviews - raves with little explanation equal positive feedback from readers, and those that are critical receive quite low marks. Now tell me - those of us who are "well read" in the genre of science fiction and epic fantasy - can any of us really say that Modesitt is in the upper echelon of fantasy authors? Certainly not. Were there such a list though, men like Jordan, Martin, Tolkein, Rawn, and Jacques would be at the top. Their worlds are captivating, believable, with characters that DO rather than say, and you feel transported. Modesitt does have numerous redeeming qualities: a good magic system, interesting political commentary (moreso than most fantasy), and a penchant for making his heroes so mellow and modest. On the other hand, the meal scenes are intolerably long, slow, and frequent. There's a lot of inexplicable happenings - for example - why did Lerris and Krystal need to be bonded? In that area of the book - I reread the same 10 or 15 pages that SEEMED to be explaining, but I was baffled at to the apparent necessity. My theory - just so that we could have more lovey dialogue and a few situations where she could answer question he had thought and not spoken. At least there was more conflict than in previous books (the Magic Engineer was awful), and that perked my interest and saved me from many naps that otherwise would have been taken. I would caution anyone who has not read - this is SLOW stuff. There's nothing wrong with that if done right, but I can only safely say that the Recluce series gets it partially right.
Rating:
Summary: The best book of the series!! (so far)
Review: In the Death of Chaos, the story of Lerris, Justen, Krystal, Tamra and the other exiles of recluce comes full circle. The story line was great, with lots of awesome battle scenes and crazy magic preformed by black, white, and gray wizards. The story culminates with Hamor attacking Candar and Recluce with a massive fleet of battleships and cannon. Not only the story line makes this the best book in the series thus far. The characters are lovable and believable, while at the same time completely badass. The dialect and the relationships between characters in this book are very well thought out and realistic. The one thing that I thought Modesitt could use a little work on is his obsession with minute details, some of which don't really need to be included. I mean, he kinda turns a long story into an even longer book by included lots of information that isn't really pertinant to the storyline.
Rating:
Summary: The best book of the series!! (so far)
Review: In the Death of Chaos, the story of Lerris, Justen, Krystal, Tamra and the other exiles of recluce comes full circle. The story line was great, with lots of awesome battle scenes and crazy magic preformed by black, white, and gray wizards. The story culminates with Hamor attacking Candar and Recluce with a massive fleet of battleships and cannon. Not only the story line makes this the best book in the series thus far. The characters are lovable and believable, while at the same time completely badass. The dialect and the relationships between characters in this book are very well thought out and realistic. The one thing that I thought Modesitt could use a little work on is his obsession with minute details, some of which don't really need to be included. I mean, he kinda turns a long story into an even longer book by included lots of information that isn't really pertinant to the storyline.
Rating:
Summary: A good yarn, but what about the Balance?
Review: In the world of Recluce, a few have the skills to master the power of Chaos, and a few have the power to master the skills of Order. It's evident from the more recent books involving Chaos masters that neither Chaos nor Order is intrinsically good or evil; it's the use those masters make of those forces. We know from _The Order War_, _Fall of Angels_ and _The Chaos Balance_ that at deep and fundamental levels, Order and Chaos are balanced, and that an increase in either triggers an increase in the other. The entrenched Order of Recluce helped power Fairhaven in _The Order War_ . The Chaos on the continent of Candar in _The Magic of Recluce_ fed the white wizards. And we know from _The Order War_ that Lerris' uncle, Justen, greatly reduced the forces of Chaos by annihilating Fairhaven and the core of white wizards who lived there sometime before Lerris was born. Under the Balance, the power of Order necessarily declined, too. The Mighty Ten became the less mighty three. Yet in _The Death of Chaos_, we surely have in the mature Lerris surely the most powerful Order Master that Recluce has produced. More than any of the extraordinarily powerful Order Masters of the past, Lerris changes the world. His are, quite literally, Apocalyptic powers. So, under Modesitt's carefully crafted rules, where does this power come from? Where is the Chaos that permits Lerris to have such power? We know about Chaos focuses; what causes Lerris, in a time when there are a significant number of other Order Masters (his father, his uncle and his aunt, to name three), to have such world-changing powers? If there is such a thing as an "Order focus," why does it exist in Lerris? His father and uncle, remember, destroyed Fairhaven. It's a question Modesitt doesn't explain or even acknowledge. While _The Death of Chaos_ clearly calls for a sequel (What will Hamor do next? What has happened to the Angels? To Naclos? To the Balance?), it's hard to see how he can explain his way out of the problem he has created. Lerris simply should not be able to do what he does. For that matter, why are the Order-Chaos Balanced relatives of Lerris reduced to dust for heaven's sake? Did Lerris completely destroy the Balance? The epilogue suggests otherwise. This is a good yarn, and it helped foreshadow Modssitt's break of the link between good and Order and between evil and Chaos that has followed in subsequent Recluce books. But for me the huge logical inconsistency that's the premise of the story makes it a less successful book.
Rating:
Summary: Not his best, but still very good
Review: L.E. Modesitt's world is very rich and detailed, to the point of being burdening at times, but still very imaginative. "Magic of Recluce" is still my favorite, and it seems that the books that take place before all seem to follow the same pattern. The present tense form in books 2 and 3 can also get wearying at times. This fifth book in the series follows much the same pattern as "Order War," while continuing the original story from book one. I didn't much like the ending, but the story leading up to it was very good. I hope the future books will be better overall.
Rating:
Summary: IT'S GOOD!!!
Review: Mr. Modesitt's "Death of Chaos" is A VERY GOOD BOOK, but I like no LOVE his "Magic of Recluce" better. =-)
Rating:
Summary: The best Order war book since "The Magic of Recluce"
Review: The Death of Chaos is filled with the original feeling and depth of the first book. Modesitt gives us more than just characters to read about, but instead "people" to "follow." This book was a quick read, due to the fact that you don't wish to put it down. The story centers mainly on just two characters instead of several, who end updividing your attention. Read it. Enjoy it. Tell a friend
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