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    Arms-Commander
    Arms-Commander
    Arms-Commander
    Audiobook22 hours

    Arms-Commander

    Written by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

    Narrated by Kirby Heyborne

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The keep of Westwind, located in the cold mountainous heights called the Roof of the World, is facing attack by the adjoining land of Gallos. Arthanos, son and heir to the ailing Prefect of Gallos, wishes to destroy Westwind because the idea of a land where women rule, no matter how small and how isolated, is total anathema to him.

    Saryn, Arms-Commander of Westwind, is dispatched to the neighboring land of Lornth to seek support against the Gallosians. But Zeldyan, regent of Lornth, has problems in her family. To secure Zeldyan's aid, Saryn must pledge her personal support-and any Westwind guard forces she can raise-to the defense of Zeldyan and her son.

    The fate of four lands, including Westwind, depend on Saryn's actions.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateNov 25, 2014
    ISBN9781452686929
    Arms-Commander
    Author

    L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

    L. E. Modesitt, Jr., is the bestselling author of the fantasy series The Saga of Recluce, Corean Chronicles, and the Imager Portfolio. His science fiction includes Adiamante, the Ecolitan novels, the Forever Hero Trilogy, and Archform: Beauty. Besides a writer, Modesitt has been a U.S. Navy pilot, a director of research for a political campaign, legislative assistant and staff director for a U.S. Congressman, Director of Legislation and Congressional Relations for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a consultant on environmental, regulatory, and communications issues, and a college lecturer. He lives in Cedar City, Utah.

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    Reviews for Arms-Commander

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    • 4/5
      The Recluce series is one of my favorite fantasy series. I like the world Modesitt has built and how the stories have jumped around in time and perspective. Arms-Commander is a good addition to Recluce. It's a bit heavy-handed at times, bordering on preachy, but I still found it an enjoyable read. I don't think it would be a good novel to read without having read earlier tales of Recluce however. Some of the books have stood out more on their own, but I think backstory is more essential here. While perhaps not a home run, it's certainly not a swing and a miss. Fans of Recluce should be pleased.
    • 4/5
      L.E. Modesitt writes an entertaining fantasy novel here. It had been a while since I visited Recluce before receiving Arms-Commander, and I am quite happy to say that the world of Recluce is still as enjoyable as I remember. A nice, relatively quick, fun, and straightforward fantasy novel, I recommend this to anyone who has enjoyed Recluce in the past. After finishing Arms-Commander, I feel the need to stack up the Recluce books I own, see what I am missing, fill those holes, so I can someday read through the series in some type of order - the Recluce series, I feel, is underrated, and should, at the least, be looked into by any fantasy fan who has not done so yet.
    • 4/5
      This book definitely lives up to the previous work in Modesitt's Recluce series. It's been years since I've read any of the other books, but when I picked this one up, I was able to jump right in and couldn't put it down.Great book, and a great continuation in the saga. I recommend the book to any fan of fantasy, especially epic fantasy and fans of the previous books in the Saga of Recluce.
    • 4/5
      I received this book in 2009 from one of the Early Reviewers batches, and FINALLY got around to reading it (oops).That being said, it's a solid addition to the Recluce series. There really isn't anything extraordinary about the writing style if you've read the other 15 books (and if so, bravo—I definitely know it takes a long time!). As Modesitt has grown as a writer, you'll notice in this book that there aren't ridiculous sound effect noises and there aren't long meal descriptions (which I didn't really mind, but I've noticed other people haven't been fans of them).This book involves a couple members of Westwind quite a bit that we last saw in The Fall of Angels/The Chaos Balance/etc.—it's focused on Saryn's point of view and Hryessa pops up now and again. I think because it's focused on the female-oriented perspective, Modesitt felt he had to go all the way into man-hating feminist mode (which, let's be real, is not productive in everyday life and is frankly grating by the time you finish this book). It's really a shame that he did, because ordinarily his characterizations are relatively realistic—fallible characters, characters that are neither good nor evil, and characters who have really good reasons for being the bad guy.But this could also be because the Westwind group tends to be "Amazonian"—they're a group of mainly women who make a living for themselves on a high mountaintop after falling from outer space in their spaceship. They run the men away because the leader is a woman, and none of the Cyadorian men take her seriously until she kills a bunch of them. Okay. Yeah. Let's go with that.Overall, it's an entertaining read—it's a fresher perspective from an author who's produced two female-centric books in this series including this one, and who has a tendency to not write strong female characters at all. If you've read a few other books in the series, it's just another Recluce book and follows along in much the same fashion as the other ones. Lots of battles, lots of magic (I do really like the magic system—it's a fabulous concept), and lots of "ONLY WOMEN CAN DO THINGS RIGHT", which... I think means Lornth will end up like Westwind, but oh well. (I wish that things had been a little more like how feminism actually works, but... this is an improvement over the sausagefest that Recluce has been.)
    • 4/5
      Mr. Modesitt has a certain style that I must continue to remind myself, having read him for more than 20 years, each time I start out. He writes slow, slow, slow, and likes to describe food (not that it is often food you can eat since these are fantasies that he writes)The speed is an aid to develop the character of the protagonist, which in these settings, there are few better at. His world building is unique, but sometimes fallible. Here I will provide a spoiler for he has decided by the end of the book that to completely do a cultural 180 as punishment for the errors of past generations. Instead of allowing the best person to rise to the top, since women have been nearly unable to contribute to society and been treated as chattel, they now will have all the power. Men, even should they be better than a woman, are shunted aside. For someone who strives to provide rationality in his character development, this oversight seems out of character for him as well as his lead.Aside from that large error of nature, and an issue that certainly would cause later generations to develop as many problems as the generations that wronged against women, the tale unfolds as most of the Recluce tales do. Outside politics need a hero to see what is wrong, rise to the fore to correct, and cause the nation of choice to succeed against odds that are desperate.Climax happens too early, and takes a great deal of the book to get into place. Resolution then takes another 20% to wrap things up. It is entertaining, but after all these years, a new formula for the tales of Recluce are in order. Instead of one super hero that is the only person who can do things, perhaps a group of talented people could be found where more than one carries the weight, and therefore can be sacrificed along the way to provide more drama than the predictable formula.Over these decades I have reread one of the Recluce tales, but not the entire series as others that I have reread many times. I fear that Recluce and its many novels will end the same. Never being reread because for the most part it ends up being the same as the last.
    • 4/5
      This may be a slightly higher rating than the book deserves as a stand alone, but as the 15th (or so) book in a series, it's great. It is so rare to find a series that continues to deliver the same quality, but the Recluse series has been a favorite of mine for 15 years or more.

      On the downside, there is some repetitiveness. The entire theme of men goofed it all up & women are fixing it got old. It was hammered in until finally it relented towards the end. There is a reason for this because - if you've read the earlier works - it is obvious that he is all for equality of the sexes. Unfortunately, circumstances don't allow for that & the results, later in the chronological time line, but earlier in the publishing order, make this clear.

      I'm looking forward to the next one, hopefully taking us back to Hamor. This particular novel is set just a decade or so after the founding of Westwind. If that doesn't mean anything to you, don't worry about it, just read it & then get the rest of the series. Modesitt prefers you read the books in published order. My family & I agree for the first read. On the second read, chronological order is the better choice. Yes, it is worth reading a couple of times or more.
    • 4/5
      More of a 3.5-3.75 stars then 4.0

      Arms-Commander is the sixteenth Recluce saga installment and takes us back to the time following The Fall of Angels, about ten or twelve years after the arrival of the Winterlance's crew to the Roof of the World. Ryba is the Marshall of Westwind and Saryn is her Arms-Commander.

      The first half of the book deals with an incursion from Gallos intent on destroying Westwind. Saryn pushes gently but firmly for Ryba to allow some men into Westwind, for progeny and for comfort and support of the women warriors. Saryn also develops her skills with order-chaos flows.

      After the defeat of the Gallosian invasion force, Saryn suggests and Ryba sends (depends on whose perspective) Saryn and a couple of squads to Lornth in support of the Regency. This endeavor is detailed in the second half of the book, with Saryn continually presented with no good choices and the use of deadly force left as her only viable option.

      I don't necessarily agree with Modesitt's portrayal of strong and weak women nor with the thick headed over-the-top male egos, but it all makes for a good adventure. I've also never been overly fond of Modesitt's battle scenes. I don't get the sense of danger or immediacy that I prefer when reading close combat scenes.

      Still, a good return to Recluce, especially to the early history of the angels shipwrecked from the UFA's Winterlance starship.
    • 4/5
      I have long been a fan of this series, and this particular book resonated more than most. Not that I didn't love the detailed descriptions of the intricacies of cabinetry (no, seriously, I love those bits,) I am much more familiar with the challenges of being a female athlete, fighter, and generally non-submissive woman.
    • 3/5
      Arms-Commanderby L.E. Modesitt, Jr. Being a woman in the 21st century and living in north america is prity good. There are options and chances open to us that haven't been always been there, and still aren't form many. If I was to some how be stuck in a world where the chances I have in my life suddenly disipeared I can only hope I would be able to handle myself as well as the ladies of Westwind. The Angels of Westwind arrived there when there space ship failed and they had to land on the nearest planet. Those events are covered in the book The Chaos Balance, this story takes place 10 years after they landed. They have since built themselves a place to live in the snowy mountaintop know as the Roof of the World. Even though the land they live on is harsh and unwanted they are continually finding themselves attacked by men in a world who don't believe in equality and are very threatened by the Angels presence. We follow the tail of Saryn who is sent down to the lowland country of Lornth to help them prevent a civil war. The land has lords who are bothered by the fact that the country has a female Regent. In the world of Candar there are two different forces of magic. Order and Chaos, they are both found in nature and work together to create a balance. There are magi use the forces to do different kinds of things. One of the things I enjoy so much about the Recluce books is this idea of magic. Each mage you read about is learning, teaching themselves how they personalty see this magic. The different forces are not good or evil, they just do different things, but are looked upon different by different country throughout Candars history. One of the things I enjoy about the series is how each book doesn't always follow the same characters. You can pick them up and enjoy each one on its own without havening ready anything before it. Sometimes you will find characters and events mentioned that you have read about in other books but there is no perfect order you need to read them in. It lets you explore the creation of the world and its history in little chunks and makes the reader a better historian on the world than any of the characters ever could be. Saryn's path in the story is not an easy one, she is working to improve the rights of women in a time where they are still though of as property. Though she does have a lot of women on her side. I know that what she does changed Candar in a way it was fighting against. I respect the women who had to do this in our world. All so that I can sit here all day working on math so that I can go to university and become an engineer. Something that wouldn't have been possible without them.
    • 3/5
      I always have high hopes for books by popular writers, especially within the genre of fantasy. I had read one previous novel in this series a long time ago, and was not overly impressed. Unfortunately this book didn't make me want to try this series again. The book is decent, the story is O.K, the writing is readable. So whats the problem? Its bland. Bland writing that I did not care for, bland story, bland bland bland. I'm sure this book will do decently with the people who are really into the series, but if you haven't followed it don't bother to jump in here, or at all. I'm sorry to write a negative review for a decent book but too many people are happy with this book as is.
    • 5/5
      Really enjoyed the book. It was a fun read, fast paced, and had some memorable characters. It was also the first book I've read in this series.
    • 4/5
      One of the things I love about Modesitt's Recluce series, is his ability to revisit, and plumb new depths of the history, filling in more detail by virtue of showing new characters, or older characters in new light. If one is not already familiar with the Recluce series, there may be some bits that are either confusing, or perhaps would not resonate to the reader as they might with a fan of the series. And while this is the sixteenth book in the series, it might be useful to understand that the series is not written chronologically, and that Modesitt often sets novels in vastly different historical (for the world of Recluce) periods such that you wouldn't need to have read all the others prior to this one to enjoy it. It's a layering, and if you have experienced the other works you will likely note interesting tidbits that can explain or expand a reader's perspective of events that take place in the other novels.In Arms-Commander, the viewpoint shifts to Sayrn, the Arms-Commander of Westwind and one of the original Angels who came from beyond the Rational stars. Chronologically speaking this is, I believe, the fifth book in the series taking place shortly after The Fall of Angels, and The Chaose Balance. At first we return to the setting of Westwind itself on the Roof of the World. It is ten years since Nylan has left, and we see that Westwind has become a haven for women, particularly the abused, and disgruntled women who do not like their lot in life among the heavily mysogynistic territories that border Westwind. They literally struggle to keep their place, a home where women can live freely, rule over their own lives, or even over the fate of men. Soon, however, we follow the adventures of Saryn as she takes a force of Westwind guards into Lornth, at first to negotiate and inform the regent, herself the wife of the man who last tried to lead the failed assault on Westwind, and mother of the young man who would one day lead the country. The primary conflict here is that of a futuristic societal norm, IE equality, being forced up against a overly slanted patriarchy that seems all too well aware of the idea that it is a patriarchy and that it feels a need to keep the women down. For me, this felt at times over the top, pushing in some places even beyond what seemed plausible. It felt artificial to me, how strongly against women living free of oppressive rule seemed to me. I got a sense that there might have been some kind of historical justification underlying it, but the reasons were never well explored nor came to light. I found it almost impossible to accept the idea that regent would even have been given such an important role, especially with the grandfather still alive, that it made much of the irrational attitude towards women seem unbelievable to me. The counter to that, the women's attitude toward protecting their place and space within the world, was successfully convincing. I could quite easily imagine someone who came from a futuristic, equalitarian society would fight tooth and nail not to have themselves or their descendents forced into subservience based soley upon their gender. Overall, the book is enjoyable, though perhaps not quite as strong as some others in the series. It is a solid action book, with a lot more direct war and conflict than many in the series, though with a main character whose job it is to train and command troops, this is perhaps not at all surprising. The role Saryn plays in the history, is intriguing, and I look forward to wherever else Modesitt chooses to take the series.
    • 4/5
      I received this book as part of the early reviewers program and it was the first book I have read in the world of Recluse.I found the book overall to be quite good, but there were definite breaks in the pacing of the story that I found distracting. I'm fairly sure that some additional knowledge of the Recluse world and history from previous books would have helped as well.
    • 4/5
      This book started out a little slowly for me as I had to re-associate with some of the other books in the Recluce series, but once into the book and into the story, it became a "carry with me" book. Saryn, the Arms Commander for Ryba and Westwind gets taken for the ride of her life and becomes embroiled in an adventure even she could not have imagined. Without giving any of the plot away, I can tell you there is plenty of action, magic and even some honest to goodness real life decisions that have to be made by all the main charactes of the book. A little long for one volume for me, it more that makes up for the size of the book with constant adventure, unusual twists and turns and it also refuses to sugar coat life and the consequences that result from decisions everyone makes. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and look forward to meeting the Angels, Dealdron, and the Arms Commander in the next story. I also wonder if I will get a chance to learn more about how Zeldyan makes out and if I can learn more about the mysterious Haelora. Great book.
    • 4/5
      Arms-Commander is the 16th book in the Saga of Recluse series by L.E. Modesitt. This is the first book I have read in the series and my previous knowledge of the series wasn't much more than a few passing comments from my brother-in-law, I was rather pleased to find the story stood well by itself.The first 1/2 of the story takes place on "the Roof of the World", a small territory claimed by a handful of women who 'crash landed' 10 years previously from another universe. They are the only place where women rule and all the other countries treat their women little better than chattel. Many who tire of the oppression flee to the Roof of the World where they are taken in and trained to help protect each other from those who oppose such acts of independence. The whole book was about arrogant controlling men trying unsuccessfully to put a woman in her 'place', one who happens to be exceedingly powerful and efficient at handing out death to those trying to subjugate her. Overall the story was done fairly well, and even with the almost extreme view most men seemed to have in the book it was well written and enjoyable book. I was getting a little tired of the line "I never attacked anyone who didn't attack me first" though. I was overused IMO, and also not exactly accurate.
    • 4/5
      I received this book as part of the Early Reviewers program. With this book being part of the long Saga of Recluce serie, I was a bit apprehensive about the jumping in without having read any of the prior books. So the first few chapters were somewhat hard to understand, but the author put in just enough details that the rules of this new world starting making sense fairly rapidly.The story is very interesting and the whole book is easy to read once you start to know the characters. On the plus side, there are quite a few interesting ideas that were new to me and the main characters had quite a bit of depth: even with all the "visions", the way they still did not know the precise future and all the doubts they had does add richness to them.On the negative side, I found that one of the main topic (man vs woman theme) was covered at lenght a few too many times and that most of the battle descriptions, while still interesting, lacked variety in the tactics used. Yes the main character is growing, but still using the same chaos/sword throw over and over gets boring after a while.Still, overall an enjoyable read that makes me want to explore the Saga of Recluce further to see if the other book of the serie have as much to offer.
    • 5/5
      I have read all the books in the Recluce series, and Arms-Commander was every bit as good as the previous volumes. The book follows Saryn, the Arms Master of Westwind, in a story that is both engaging and well-written. As always, Modesitt has delighted his fans with another page turner. A worthy entry in this fun and interesting series. I am already eagerly awaiting the next installment.
    • 4/5
      I have never read any of the books in the Saga of Recluce series I found Arms-Commander easy to read considering its the 16th book in the series. There were a few small references to past events in the Recluces series that left me a bit mystified but didn't throw me off. I found the main character Saryn a bit lacking on the feminine side, but it was enjoyable to see where her story went. All in all I found it a page turner that left me wanting more of Modesitt's Saga of Recluce , I will be picking up more of this series in the future.
    • 4/5
      Although I've read a number of Modesitt's sci-fi books, I hadn't yet read any of the other books in this series, so I was approaching this cold. As a result, I felt a little bit lost as I started the book. This is not unusual with Modesitt's books though, so I pushed through until things started clicking. Despite a number of references to what I assumed were events of prior books, I found I was able to get in to the setting and the characters in a way that was still very satisfying.This book (like many of Modesitt's books that I've read) was slow building with a relative lack of smaller "peaks" in the narrative. I kept expecting something to go wrong in various points. This gave the book a very "slice-of-life" feel, which was actually different and enjoyable. Overall, there was a nice smooth build up to a very strong ending which wrapped things up nicely.I enjoyed this book enough to go out and pick up a number of books at the start of the series so that I could start reading it from the beginning. I would definitely recommend this book.4 / 5
    • 4/5
      It’s important to keep key milestones straight as you read the Recluce series. The order in which the series has been written and published does not match the chronological order of events throughout the series.

      It was in The Fall of Angels where we were introduced to the characters of Nylan and Ryba. Chronologically, Arms-Commander takes place after The Chaos Balance in which Nylan leaves Westwind. (The book states Nylan has been gone for 10 years.) Recluce has not yet been established as Creslin (the first Black or Order Mage) is the grandson of Nylan.

      In this installment, Saryn, an “Angel” and the Arms-Commander of Westwind is sent by Ryba to assist the Regent of Lornth. The land holders no longer want to be under a woman’s rule as Zeldyan is acting as Overlord until her son reaches majority. Through a series of conflicts and battles, Saryn tries to enforce the idea that a woman can rule as ably as a man with the intent to secure the Regency. Stabilizing Lornth would help protect Westwind from future confrontations as well. The final outcome is completely unexpected- except to Ryba.

      The two volumes prior to Arms-Commander focused on a weak and whiny character and it was refreshing to have a lead that was confident, able and insightful. After having read a number of Modesitt’s novels, it finally struck me that most of his female characters can be described in this way while many of the males are flawed at best. This novel was openly anti-misogynistic and the topics of spousal abuse, property ownership and women’s role in government were all central to this particular story line.

      The mythology upon which the Recluce series is built continues to become more complex. I’m looking forward to where Modesitt will take the series next as there are so many more stories that can be expanded.
    • 4/5
      Arms-Commander is a solid fantasy book, and rather enjoyable. I haven't read much by L.E. Modesitt, but this book has certainly made me decide to check out the other books in the series. Some accuse Modesitt of being repetitive, though I wouldn't have noticed it much, if at all, had I not read about that from other reviews.It's certainly an odd-duck in the fantasy world, exploring the idea of what would happen if egalitarian people from a star-faring culture were flung into a universe where magic worked, and for the most part, only women survived the crash landing. It meanders between exploratory fantasy and feminism in a rather readable way, rather than being a screed against patriarchy or what have you. It's definitely interesting, and well done enough that you enjoy the entire book, and in my case, find interesting enough to want to read the other books in the series."What if?" is perhaps the ultimate driving question behind science-fiction and fantasy, and this is a "What if?" I've yet to encounter in any but a handful of books in nearly ten thousand or more. And this is the best I've seen it handled. Definitely a book worth reading.