Rating: 
Summary: A truly enjoyable addition
Review: Modesitt's addition to his Recluce saga is particularly fitting - it provides a balance all it's own to the history of his embattled world. It is particularly refreshing to explore the perspective of the Guild at Fairhaven, through the eyes of its increasingly powerful young mage, Cerryl. Perhaps the most masterful of all is the skill with which the author parleys minor scenes in previous novels into the foundation for an ever-evolving plot. Never once does the reader feel cheated or even the slightest bit confused by a second perspective on familiar events. It is even quite exciting to have foreknowledge of outcomes - the fun is in the progress of events. The main character, now fully explained and developed, is as intriguing a protagonist as the original Lerris of Recluce, and well deserves a second book. Any fan of previous Recluce novels will be well served to pick this one up. More than others, it is also an excellent place to begin the series - though it may predispose one to root for the world's traditional villians!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent addition to the Recluse books.
Review: The Magic Engineer is one of my favorite Recluse books and The Colors of Chaos is in no way a repeat of that book. The events recounted are the same, but obviously told from a different viewpoint. Moreover you see the development motivations and actions of the characters introudced in The White Order not those found in the Magic Engineer.The author does an excellent job in adding depth to the issues of order and chaos. After reading the book you realize that neither order nor chaos is inhernetly 'good' or 'evil' but both are capable of force and building and desstruction. Ultimately its the people employing order and or chaos and their reasons for doing so that makes all the difference. I enjoyed the time spent on explaining the motivations of tertiary charcters like traders and perfects even if its through the primary charcters' words. Thumbs up and highly recommended overall.
Rating: 
Summary: Probably the best of the series so far.
Review: This book along with the previous book, The White Order, make up a really great story about the white mage Cerryl. While every other book in the series is written from the perspective of the Blacks and portrays all chaos wizards to be totally evil (which most of them seem to be), these books provide a look into the workings of the Whites. It turns out that not all whites are truly evil and in fact many have very honorable ambitions to help the world rather than take it over. The Colors of Chaos was especially interesting because it told the same story as The Magic Engineer (with Dorrin the smith) exept from the perspective of Cerryl. It shows how there are two sides to every coin and that peole from both sides (except a few such as Jeslek & Anya) actually believe that they are on the side of good. In this story, told from the perspective of the Whites, Dorrin the smith and Recluce seem to be the bad guys because of their support of rulers who refuse to pay the road tariffs (to the detriment of all of Candar). Also, Modesitt's writing style has come a long way from his earlier novels and this book was much more interesting and gripping than its predecessors... I strongly reccomend this book for any Modesitt fans or fans of fantasy in general (although I believe that you'll have a much better appreciation of this one if you read the others in the series first). This book does much to patch up the complex story of the Recluce Saga.
Rating:
Summary: Probably the best of the series so far.
Review: This book along with the previous book, The White Order, make up a really great story about the white mage Cerryl. While every other book in the series is written from the perspective of the Blacks and portrays all chaos wizards to be totally evil (which most of them seem to be), these books provide a look into the workings of the Whites. It turns out that not all whites are truly evil and in fact many have very honorable ambitions to help the world rather than take it over. The Colors of Chaos was especially interesting because it told the same story as The Magic Engineer (with Dorrin the smith) exept from the perspective of Cerryl. It shows how there are two sides to every coin and that peole from both sides (except a few such as Jeslek & Anya) actually believe that they are on the side of good. In this story, told from the perspective of the Whites, Dorrin the smith and Recluce seem to be the bad guys because of their support of rulers who refuse to pay the road tariffs (to the detriment of all of Candar). Also, Modesitt's writing style has come a long way from his earlier novels and this book was much more interesting and gripping than its predecessors... I strongly reccomend this book for any Modesitt fans or fans of fantasy in general (although I believe that you'll have a much better appreciation of this one if you read the others in the series first). This book does much to patch up the complex story of the Recluce Saga.
Rating:
Summary: And Modesitt goes further into the rabbit hole...
Review: This book is absolutely stunning. Finally, we see a White mage portrayed not as a ruthless tyrant, but as a human being with feelings and concerns for the good of Fairhaven. Cerryl's character is noble, and is the exact opposite of what we have seen the Whites as in previous books. The political intrigue and battles balance each other perfectly. Three cheers for Mr. Modesitt!
Rating:
Summary: Another Great Read from Modesitt
Review: This book is absolutely thrilling. It has great political and economical intrigue. It is made great by the qualities and the diversity of the main character, Cerryl. He is a young white mage in the city of Fairhaven. He was a Patrol Mage, an assassin, and a temporary governor of a recently captured city.
The strengths and weaknesses of Cerryl made the book good but how money and economics influenced the course of action made this very realistic. The political backstabbing made the book very interesting.
Also another book written by the same author blended into this story but was told by the good side. This book was written from the evil side.
Coming to a conclusion this book is a great read. It is not very easy to follow but is still great.
Rating:
Summary: Increases your understanding
Review: This book was awesome. I have read all the Recluce books so far but this is definitely my favorite. It deepens your understanding of this unique world and changes the sense of good and evil that the saga had previously. Even when you learned more about the white wizards in the earlier book, there was still a sense of lingering evil. This book wipes that out and replaces it with the realization that the white wizards can be good also, and that even the worst people have some good in them.
Rating:
Summary: A REAL study of philosophy from perspectives.
Review: This is an excellent book, particularly if you have read other books in the Recluce Saga. It allows the reader to begin to understand why the white mages are not universal "evil people". Modestitt evidently felt the depth of his societal commentary was being missed and went into true detail of contrasting Cerryl's perspective of the events to those of Dorin in "The Magic Engineer". Both are following their beliefs as best as they can and find themselves in conflict due to differences in methods for providing peace and prosperity, rather than good vs. evil. It should be read with at least "The Magic Engineer" and "The White Order" to fully appreciate the book.
Rating:
Summary: A REAL study of philosophy from perspectives.
Review: This is an excellent book, particularly if you have read other books in the Recluce Saga. It allows the reader to begin to understand why the white mages are not universal "evil people". Modestitt evidently felt the depth of his societal commentary was being missed and went into true detail of contrasting Cerryl's perspective of the events to those of Dorin in "The Magic Engineer". Both are following their beliefs as best as they can and find themselves in conflict due to differences in methods for providing peace and prosperity, rather than good vs. evil. It should be read with at least "The Magic Engineer" and "The White Order" to fully appreciate the book.
Rating: 
Summary: How many times must he beat the same dead horse?
Review: This series has gotten really tired; over and over and over the characters mourn the reality of having to use force to get things done instead of everyone being 'reasonable' and 'listening'. It's become less a story of people and places so much as a political view. The characters, history, and dynamics of the world are slowly getting bogged down in Modesitt's ever-repetitive mantra of the stupidity of people, thus requiring armies to rise, fireballs to fly, etc. I lost count of the times Cerryl anguished over having to turn someone to ash because they were just not following the rules... the necessity of 'using force' over reason. It wouldn't be so bad, if Modesitt didn't feel the urge to blatantly say this. It's not as if it's an innuendo or a theme. The characters blatantly say this and do long mental diatribes over it... and it's the same diatribe! It's been the same theme for the last four books! People are stupid/stuck in their destructive ways so force has to be used. Great message, but I feel like I've had it beaten into my skull. Subtle, this book is not and they've become less and less so. The only redeeming quality of this book is that Cerryl is actually an interesting character, and somewhere in the blunt message Modesitt is delivering there is actually something akin to a story. My opinion? Eh, don't get the hardcover, don't get it new. Borrow it from the library or get it used.
| 
