Last Of The First: 26 (Saga Of Recluce book 26) by L.E. Modesitt (book review)
Don’t start here but don’t read the other twenty-five books first. While ‘Last Of The First’ is Book 26 of the ‘Saga Of Recluce’, overall, that saga comprises many smaller ones and an interested reader could get by with reading ‘From The Forest’, ‘Overcaptain’ and ‘Sub-Majer’s Challenge’ which collectively tell the story of our hero Alyiakal as he rises from low-ranking officer in training to an important position in the Mirror Lancers of Cyador.
After a tough career defending the borders and fighting barbarians, Alyiakal has now been posted to the capital city, Cyad. He’s the Tactical and Regional Information Officer at Mirror Lancer headquarters and his official job is to write a manual on strategy and tactics for field officers. Their job would be much easier if roads were maintained and they had enough supplies to do it efficiently, but external threats to Cyador are complicated by internal troubles. For over a century, since the First Emperor, a triad of interests has ruled the land, the military, the Merchanters and the Magii. It’s been okay, but now there’s a weak emperor, Merchanters are embezzling the finances and the Magii are having a power struggle among themselves. The Mirror Lancers can’t do much about any of this. Alyiakal has to get his bearings in the capital, find allies who want what’s best for the Empire, winkle out the Merchanters and Magii who put their own interests first and keep himself and his superior officer alive.
As usual with L.G. Modesitt, the story unfolds through the lead character’s detailed daily life. He attends meetings with his boss, Laartol, Captain-Commander of the Mirror Lancers, and other department heads, where they discuss the latest issues. The author is a United Statesman and I detected a hint of allegory in the details. The Mirror Engineers need chaos energy for much of their work, cutting stone to repair roads and bridges, but it’s in short supply because most of it is being diverted to building the Emperor’s new ballroom! The Merchanters don’t like competition from foreign traders, so imports are subject to large tariffs, which raise the price of everything for ordinary people. Greed trumps the state’s real needs.
Alyiakal is a decent chap, ever treading the upward path and constantly improving himself while cleverly gathering information that may be useful in future. He’s a straight arrow without much humour, but that’s par for the course in Recluce. He’s also an extremely powerful Magi, but he keeps that secret by concealing the chaos energy he wields behind strong order shields. Recluce’s magic system is based on chaos and order as natural properties that certain individuals can manipulate.
I found the present-tense narration mildly annoying at first, but you get used to it. The best thing about this and the whole saga is the sense of solidity, of a thoroughly worked-out background with real people, real economics and politics, which you don’t often get in fantasy. The violence isn’t gory and there’s no sex at all, so it’s suitable for young readers and would probably do them good. The author has worked in government and the military and brings his wide knowledge to detailed discussions of strategy, tactics and policy in a land with several conflicting interest groups.
Although Modesitt’s heroes are basically good, they are sometimes too ruthless for my tastes, given to sly murder by magic of some normal human, a rotten one admittedly, so that it appears to be death from natural causes. Alyiakal does that here and it always seems less than heroic to me. Unfair. It’s not the sort of thing Randolph Scott would have done. I admit my ideals are old-fashioned.
The climax is too sudden. After a slow build-up that shows the many troubles besetting Cyador and our hero, everything is resolved in a few pages and the denouement rolls on slowly after that, though not for long. This is a minor flaw, however. As usual with the ‘Recluce’ books, there’s enough solid narrative to satisfy fans and any new readers might like to give it a go. Be warned that it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. I like it enough to keep reading them, despite a certain sameness, as a sort of comfort food for the brain. That might be true of all big fantasy epics.
Eamonn Murphy
September 2026
(pub: TOR, 2026. 448 page hardback. Price: $32.00 (US), £22.00 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-25034-905-7. Ebook price: £16.92 (UK)
check out website: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250349057/lastofthefirst/
