This, yet another installment in the ever-expanding saga of Recluce, is the immediate sequel to Wellspring of Chaos, which I reviewed last year.

It’s a typical entry in the series: order wizard discovers his powers as he fights (nearly single-handedly) an increasingly nasty series of battles with chaos wizards, vanquishing all of them in his own peculiar style. It is, alas, a well-worn formula. The book (with its predecessor) stands out from the rest of the series in two ways: it’s set in a part of the world we’ve not seen before, and our hero’s order magic is rather different than that of any of Modesitt’s previous heroes.

In short–it’s an enjoyable enough tale if you’ve enjoyed the rest of the series, but there are few surprises here.