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clearly's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A real high fantasy adventure with a healthy amount of politics for those who love A Game of Thrones, Trudi Canavan or even Harry Potter.
aggressive_nostalgia's review against another edition
I was in the middle of the scene where the house catches fire when I realized I absolutely did not care if any of these characters lived or died or made their dreams come true or not. Super interesting concept, but story was ruined with flat character writing.
jdhacker's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
While I enjoy the (some would say formulaic) nature of Modesitt's "Recluce" series, its clear to see why that and his one off science fiction is really his bread and butter.
Imager is supposed to be a brand new fantasy world/epic series. What it ultimately feels like is a low stakes knock-off of his own Recluce series. We lose the overarching themes of order, chaos, and balance with nature, the interplay between those concepts and 'good' and 'evil' and motivation, and are instead left with a world and magic that feels similar but stripped of anything approaching a thought provoking ideology. Even the magic feels the sames, but with essentially no risk/reward...no intrinsically limiting factors to the otherwise mad power fantasy of this entirely internal system of magic and imagination. I'm going to read the second book, just because I have it, but I would skip this series entirely.
Imager is supposed to be a brand new fantasy world/epic series. What it ultimately feels like is a low stakes knock-off of his own Recluce series. We lose the overarching themes of order, chaos, and balance with nature, the interplay between those concepts and 'good' and 'evil' and motivation, and are instead left with a world and magic that feels similar but stripped of anything approaching a thought provoking ideology. Even the magic feels the sames, but with essentially no risk/reward...no intrinsically limiting factors to the otherwise mad power fantasy of this entirely internal system of magic and imagination. I'm going to read the second book, just because I have it, but I would skip this series entirely.
mary_soon_lee's review
4.0
This is the opening book in a fantasy series set in a secondary world with a Victorian rather than Medieval feel. I note that is very clearly part of a series and the end-point felt somewhat arbitrary. I found the start of the book underwhelming, the opening scenes skipping from one year to another without hooking me. After that, the story gradually ramped up, and I came to like Rhenn, the main character.
I like the principal fantasy conceit, a form of magic called imaging. I liked several of the secondary characters, including some strong women. And while it is standard fantasy fare to feature scenes in a magical school, I usually enjoy such scenes. As I did here. Far less standard is the emphasis the book gives to government, law and economics, which I found a refreshing departure, though occasionally over-detailed.
The book also contains mystery and romance components, plus several strong action scenes. Once past the start, I found it agreeably diverting. Not an outstanding book, but a pleasurable one.
Update after re-reading the book a year and a bit later: I enjoyed this book the first time around, and, unexpectedly to me, enjoyed it even more the second time. As noted above, on my first reading it took me a while to warm to the main character. Re-reading it, I started with a remembered fondness for Rhenn, and was interested in details of his childhood and apprenticeship that hadn't compelled me the first time. I found the book very immersive and very enjoyable.
I like the principal fantasy conceit, a form of magic called imaging. I liked several of the secondary characters, including some strong women. And while it is standard fantasy fare to feature scenes in a magical school, I usually enjoy such scenes. As I did here. Far less standard is the emphasis the book gives to government, law and economics, which I found a refreshing departure, though occasionally over-detailed.
The book also contains mystery and romance components, plus several strong action scenes. Once past the start, I found it agreeably diverting. Not an outstanding book, but a pleasurable one.
Update after re-reading the book a year and a bit later: I enjoyed this book the first time around, and, unexpectedly to me, enjoyed it even more the second time. As noted above, on my first reading it took me a while to warm to the main character. Re-reading it, I started with a remembered fondness for Rhenn, and was interested in details of his childhood and apprenticeship that hadn't compelled me the first time. I found the book very immersive and very enjoyable.
dinapetko's review
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
ppigg81's review
5.0
Very Very good. Its a page turner in a different way than any other fantasy book i've read. Intriguing. Great character development. Love the courtship, and the interaction with family, mentors, and fellow imagers. It's so real, except for the fantasy part.
dretnanich's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Pleasantly surprised to "discover" this author after so many years of not picking up his books. Now I will be reading the Ecolitan Matter series as well as the Spellsong series.
shelvesofsecrets's review
4.0
3.5/5 stars
A high quality fantasy with an interesting world. The first book in a fantasy series always understandably needs to do a lot of worldbuilding and this one probably more than most. The imaging magic system was interesting and I enjoyed Modesitt's depiction of the hard work required to do it, although certain things seemed to come fairly easily to our hero Rhenn. However, despite my enjoyment of the magical worldbuilding, I think Modesitt took other aspects a touch too far. We don't need another word for hour and the basis of a lot of terms in French kind of confused me regarding whether this world was separate from our own.
Rhenn was a fairly likable character, if a bit too much in his own head. However, I felt like some of the side characters could have been fleshed out more. I think part of that is Rhenn's loner personality, but we only get to know a handful of secondary characters (although I did love his little sister and I hope we get to see her reappear in future books).
The pacing was a bit off for me and I found the last third of the book dragged on more than it needed to. I think a bit less time spent on the lead-up and a bit more time spent on the climatic scenes would have worked better for me.
A high quality fantasy with an interesting world. The first book in a fantasy series always understandably needs to do a lot of worldbuilding and this one probably more than most. The imaging magic system was interesting and I enjoyed Modesitt's depiction of the hard work required to do it, although certain things seemed to come fairly easily to our hero Rhenn. However, despite my enjoyment of the magical worldbuilding, I think Modesitt took other aspects a touch too far. We don't need another word for hour and the basis of a lot of terms in French kind of confused me regarding whether this world was separate from our own.
Rhenn was a fairly likable character, if a bit too much in his own head. However, I felt like some of the side characters could have been fleshed out more. I think part of that is Rhenn's loner personality, but we only get to know a handful of secondary characters (although I did love his little sister and I hope we get to see her reappear in future books).
The pacing was a bit off for me and I found the last third of the book dragged on more than it needed to.
Spoiler
Who would have thought multiple murder attempts could be boring?masonvic's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
futuregazer's review
4.0
Very Milesian. Though the world building does not have as much clarity as could be desired; and there are too many names for wine mentioned.