Rating: 
Summary: Don?t Judge a Book by its Synopsis
Review: After reading the synopsis on the back cover of this novel, one would be reluctant to treat the reading of this story as a serious undertaking. Although magic-laden and otherworldly fantasy books are always an enjoyable break from the actuality of life, perusing a tale involving a dimension-hopping musician, turned killer sorceress just seemed laughable. However, following the first fifty rather dry pages, the brilliance of Modesitt's creativity really begins to shine. All of the very real aspects of existence are mimicked in this imaginary world, and Anna (the "Soprano Sorceress") must learn to cope with them here in a way that she was never able to in her dull existence in Ames, Iowa. After the death of her daughter, Anna finds it hard to readjust, and it is at this point she is thrust into the turbulent world of Erde. She gains self-confidence once placed in her new and influential role, and, as such, comes to be respected by friends and enemies alike. During the course of the book, Anna finds out how powerful her musical talents truly are, and must weigh her conscience against the Darwinistic will to survive. Anna also learns to handle personal emotions in this strange new world, such as loneliness, which she compensates for in her associations with those in Erde (some not as friendly as they may seem), and by trying to contact her remaining daughter on Earth. If the reader learns to ignore the mediocre attempts at lyric writing, and the over-descriptiveness in some portions of the book, he or she will discover that this story is more than had been bargained for when purchasing the book, because it is not a comic attempt at fantasy writing, but a reflection of a person's innermost struggles in fiction form.
Rating:
Summary: The magic of music
Review: As a fan of Modessitt's "Recluse" series, the "Spellsong" series has been tempting me for quite a while, and I wasn't disappointed. Modessitt's writing has matured since he started the "Recluse" series, and this first book of the "Spellsong" series is more coherent than "The Magic of Recluse" was. It was also nice that Modessitt has finally moved beyond the young-hero-coming-of-age mold that forms the "Recluse" series. Here, our heroine starts out as a more mature woman, thrust against her wishes into a war in a strange world. We follow as she learns to adapt to her new surroundings and finds that she has skills that she can use to help shape her own destiny, as well as the course of history on this world. The use of music for magic is intriguing and fairly well-developed, and provides a unique twist to the story. I'm looking forward to reading more about this world.
Rating: 
Summary: These books are an absolute insult to women...
Review: As a man in his early 40's, I have read a great deal of this type of "literature" whether a dense and challenging novel or a quick trashy beach read. I'm a huge fan of good fantasy and sci-fi, and this series seriously reeks. It is almost worth reading to see how badly this writer portrays women ( and I am not at all sure that the author is male).
Rating:
Summary: Good read with a little preaching.
Review: As always Modesitt does a good job of world building and character creation. The series has an interesting premise, though one that has been used a bit often. A character is transported to some other world and must deal with the culture and situations found there.Modesitt is one of the few authors who is able to make the transition between scifi and fantasy. However, in each of these genres he has a distinct political bent to his writing. In scifi he generally writes about religious, economic, and ecologic topics. In his fantasy he generally emphasizes feminism. However, I tend to think that he comes across as a Superfeminist and lays his message on a little to thickly, all men are warmongers and would physically abuse women if they could get away with it. He could be a little more subtle with his message. However, the Spellsong Cycle is a good series and quite enjoyable. All of his writing is. Just go into it knowing that you will be getting a dose of his political and moral views. I don't mind this because writing is one of the best nonviolent ways to spread ideas and it's always good to expose yourself to another's opinion, though the best reason to read his books is that they're just plain good.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm Puzzled . . .
Review: by all the favorable reviews of this book (and the others in this series). Most of the book consists of trivial and repetitive daily events. If you took out all the episodes of Anna sweating (annoying and unattractive), or rubbing her nose to keep from sneezing, or patting her horse (which always replies with a 'whuff'), or wishing for a bath - well, it would be a much shorter book. She is constantly eating, her meals consisting exclusively of bread, cheese, and occasionally apple slices or meat in sauce (I predict some serious constipation), but although she is supposedly starving, she is never really hungry. Nothing happens for chapter after chapter while suspense is supposedly building, but then the battles are resolved more-or-less immediately by her overwhelming power, which is never adequately explained. What bothered me the most, though, was the lyrics of her spellsongs. We are given to understand that the spells are very sensitive to the words used, and the way those words work with the music, but then the actual poetry Anna uses is drivel - badly rhymed garbage, quite possibly the worst I have ever read! Your average angst-ridden, under-educated teenager could write better verse, and I can hardly believe that a popular, widely published author couldn't come up with something better. If you have any literary standards whatever, skip these books.
Rating:
Summary: Magic So Real You Can Feel It!
Review: I have read the Soprano Sorceress several times and my appreciation of L.E. Modesitt's talent grows with each reading. He is one of the few writers who communicates the essence of magic realistically without the usual hackneyed device of a charmed amulet or whatever. He went a bit heavy on the entropic balance problem, the need to replenish energy after casting spells, but his alignment of intention to results made the spellcasting so real I could easily visualize every one of the results. The heroine's concerns were legitimate, if repeated a few times more than necessary. I thought Anna was portrayed realistically, although she was somewhat less sensual than I would have expected. I think her concerns about being a powerful woman in a male-dominated world were entirely valid. The interestingly illiterate rantings about this heroine would seem to support the author's contention that a powerful woman is seen as a threat by certain men.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book
Review: I wish that when people wrote a review they would at least write a competent one. For one, whoever wrote that Anna had no morality must not have read the book. She ends up in tears every time she kills people and if she has to cast a spell on someone. She is also well aware of her own faults and points them out often. Also, in a society like the one she was throne into there is no line that says who can judge and who can't. By making certain people kind she didn't judge them, she just took away their write to judge the way the lives of those around them went by abusing them. It would have been immoral and unethical to not help. Also, having detail about meals and nonsense conversations is excellent. It gives a better feel of reality. No one can believe that someone is going to be involoved in action the whole book. If you want that then read a childrens book.
Rating:
Summary: Potentially a good story but...
Review: My initial thoughts about this story after reading the first couple of chapters was that it was potentially an interesting story. However, I was soon proved wrong as the story dragged on and on. The author keeps on repeating himself using the same words and phrases. Characters are two-dimensional without any real character development taking place as the story progressed. The main character, although, as noted by others, is a femminist as well as a powerful figure in a male dominated world, projects too much of a whiny and egocentric characteristics not to mention a complete lack of morals. She never hears the other side of the story before she massacres thousands in her first battle. She had only prepared offensive spells for that occasion showing that she was more willing to kill there adversaries rather than to protect the people in the fort.
I also feel that the story drags too much on the political aspects which slow down the pace of the story.
All in all I think that the skeleton structure of the story is quite good but should have been better filled in. The writing style is not among the best I have encountered. This being the first book written by L.E Modesitt Jr that I have read, I hope that it was only a fluke that he has written some thing as bad as this novel.
Rating:
Summary: Nice book
Review: Nice book about an ordinary middle age woman who is catapulted into a different world where she can work magic. As a bonus she also becomes beautiful and young. This all sounds very nice. But the real point of the book is about caring for people and taking responsibility. This is the story of a middle aged woman who comes into power (she becomes one of the most powerful beings in the world she is in) and finds that she can shoulder the responsibility that power gives. I recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: I'm Puzzled . . .
Review: Normally, I have no problem taking Anne McCaffrey's recommendations on reading material. However, this time I have to wonder. The story line in this series of books is pretty good. The problem I have with them is the extremely repetitive writing style. You could probably put all 5 books in this series into 3 if you eliminated all the unnecessary repetition. Did you know that all doors in Erde, when knocked upon, go "thrap"? No booming, knocking, rapping - just "thrap". All horses "whuff". No neighing, whinneying, trumpeting, etc. And the protagonists, Anna and her successors, are some seriously angst-ridden folks - you feel guilty - WE GET IT ALREADY! I've read other books by Modesitt and the writing style seemed quite different. These books almost condescend to the reader by implying you can't remember what you read a chapter or even a paragraph before! I've NEVER before thrown a book down in frustration because I told myself that if the character "said that one more time.......". I honestly don't know if I recommend this series or not. I gave it 3 stars for story content only. But the writing style at least makes it a good read for ADD or Alzheimer's patients, I guess. I'm just finishing up the 5th book and I will be glad when it's over but still enjoyed the story. Weird, huh?
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