Read All About It: Imager's Intrigue

We return to the fantasy world of L. E. Modesitt, Jr.'s Imager Portfolio with its third novel, Imager's Intrigue. After the events of the first two novels, we are firmly embroiled in the conflict that faces the main character, Rhennthyl, and I was definitely invested in his story, and that of his wife.

I enjoyed this one, though I did find it a bit more difficult to get through. It has all the hallmarks of the previous novels, and Modesitt's own style, and brings in new elements that show the growth of this fantasy universe as well as the intricacies of the plot and its details.

We return to Rhennthyll, who has achieved more within the Collegium than he ever thought he could. Rhennthyll is one of the most powerful Imagers, but that power has come with a price--enemies who would see him destroyed, loved ones he must protect, and more responsibilities with less help. With a wife and a child, Rhenn must think about who he has to protect, and what he is willing to sacrifice. Even Rhenn must worry about his friends and enemies when he is under attack seemingly from all sides. He has lost people before, but never has he felt this great a loss.

With great power, Rhenn must deal with increased scrutiny, and every action he takes has a dangerous and possibly deadly retaliation from his enemies--unless he can get to them before they get to him or his family.

I want to talk more about Modesitt's universe for this series. It's not as original as I wanted to give him credit for before. He takes a lot of stuff straight from our own world, and merely bastardizes the names without strictly changing anything. His days and months are easily translated, and the same is true for his most deadly weapons: guns and explosives. There are some things that are, of course, notably different--the schooling system and Imagers themselves. I do like his universe, but it seems like some of his efforts are a cop-out to make it easier to focus on describing food and Rhenn's exercises.

Other than that, I appreciated how he treated women in this novel as well. He continues to acknowledge that women are constantly forced behind the scenes, but often have more influence than they had before, and are growing to be considered equals in their own rights. His fantasy society is growing more aware of the changes that must occur in their society, and that is heavily paralleled in today's circumstances, which makes this series even more interesting. The women of this series are individually powerful, but I would still like to see more of them--there's still a lack of female Imagers and female representatives. I would also like to see more diversity over all--there is one mention of a gay couple in this novel, and it's not very positive. It could have been better.

This universe is intricate and very, very detailed, and I like it. I just think it could be a bit better, and give us a better look at his characters. We got a lot of character development for Rhenn in this novel, and I'm looking forward to seeing more characters grow as this series moves on and the focus shifts away from Rhenn, especially with the next novel.

Until next time, keep an eye out for suspicious ships and convenient solutions--the most convenient solutions may not be the right solutions.