Product Description
Still recovering from injuries received in foiling the murderous plot of a Ferran envoy, Rhenn begins new duties as imager liaison to the Civic Patrol of L’Excelsis. While dealing with his new duties, which include patrolling some of the most dangerous streets in the city, Rhenn receives formal notice that a vengeful High Holder, the father of a man Rhenn partly blinded in self-defense, has declared his intention to destroy Rhenn and his family.
Rhenn’s only allies against this vendetta are the family of the woman he loves, successful merchants with underworld connections. Rhenn must stand against gang lords, naval marines, Tiempran terrorist priests, the most powerful High Holder in all of Solidar, and ultimately his own Collegium—and prevail without further endangering those he loves.
Darious @ 3:23 am
First, I want to say that I enjoyed Imager’s Challenge, wrapping it up in just two days and immediately putting the sequel on pre-order.
However finishing the book in that period of time was no great effort as I glossed over all the food, fashion and faith fillers. The author spent want felt like a godawful amount of pagecount discussing the clothing of the characters, what they ate for dinner, and lunch, and breakfast, and late breakfasts, and early dinners, and… well you get the point.
The didatic indoctrination of the protagonist in the Way-Things-Ought-To-Be by tediously delivered instruction by mentors or sermons by the clergy left me with glazed eyes before half of the book was finished. I hadn’t encountered something this heavy handed since Gerrold’s War Against the Chtorr series.
Those points aside it is an interesting, if roughly sketched in, setting. There is some interesting foreshadowing and possibly Chechov’s guns laying around, and I look forward to seeing the main character in his new role in the next installment of the series.
But please. No more than one meal description per four chapters…
A. Lee @ 5:51 am
This book continues the story that began in IMAGER. Rhenn, formerly a journeyman portrait painter who, after a series of events in the first book, goes to the Collegium to learn to properly use his talent as an Imager. At the Collegium, Rhenn quickly learns to master his skills and had been made a Master Imager. At the start of this book, he has just started as a liason to the Civic Patrol. Rhenn discovers some nefarious activities on his rounds at the criminal courts and patrolling the Taudis, a district in the city where poverty and gangs are common. Rhenn is also formally notified of the deadly vendetta against him by one of the most wealthy and powerful High Holders in the land. He needs to find a way to deal with those problems without lending any attention at all to the Collegium, as the role of all Imagers and the Collegium is precarious in the land, since everyone is wary of the powers Imagers may use, and the balance of power is always a touchy issue, even among the High Holders and their relations with the Merchants and other groups.
This is primarily a political fantasy, as Rhenn needs to work within the system, or at least be aware of the system enough to be able to work around it without revealing himself. There is also suspense and action, as assassins are gunning for him, and also for those important to him. And there’s also a bit more about the magic system of Imaging, although not as much as in the first book. Here, there is some further exploration of his abilities, but much of his magic is spent doing fairly basic things (shielding and telekinesis). Readers who enjoyed the first book should find this book equally enjoyable. As with the last book, there are parts that are slow-moving, but with lots of detail about the world and the society and politics. This book finishes a definite story arc. If there are no more books in the series, a reader could be satisfied. If there are more books, I would certainly be interested in reading them.
J. Christensen @ 8:50 am
Modesitt has an outstanding talent to write a fantasy novel that is enjoyable in itself but also leaves you hoping for a sequel. Most of the better known, contemporary authors of fantasy novels, such as Jordan, Martin, and Goodkind, end their novels like daily segments of a TV soap opera. Apparently, that is the only way they can create reader interest in a sequel. I look forward to reading all of Modesitt’s future fantasy novels.
booksforabuck @ 10:44 am
Imager-Master Rhenn has survived assassination attempts, political intrigue, and abusive fellow-students in the Imager college. By handling those problems, however, he’s created even larger difficulties for himself. First, the Imager community (imagers are magicians who can manifest things by mental force) survives by keeping a low profile. Imagers are powerful, but they’re a small minority…a minority that’s actively wiped out in most nations and only tolerated in Rhenn’s country. Too much visibility, too much attention to how arbitrarily an imager could murder…by, for example, creating an undetectable heart attack, could bring back the wars that have nearly destroyed imagers in the past. Second, he’s earned an enemy in the richest and most powerful lord, Ryel D’Alte. The High Holders (lords) have made an art form of their revenge and D’Alte is systematically going about ruining not just Rhenn, but most especially his defenseless family.
The Imager Collegium lets Rhenn to know, in no uncertain terms, that they will offer him no direct assistance unless he can bring them unassailable proof–something he cannot do. Fortunately, he isn’t completely on his own. His girlfriend comes from a wealthy Pharsi family. The family has contacts in various underworlds and is willing to pitch in to help Rhenn. Of course, his imager powers are strong enough to defeat most direct attacks…but it’s the indirect approach that has him worried.
Rhenn is assigned to serve as liason between the Imagers and the Civic Patrol, and soon finds that corruption and bribery are rampant in the local police force, and that local crime leaders control the streets while an increasing percentage of the population uses drugs while waiting for a chance to riot… something that’s being encouraged by national enemies.
Author L. E. Modesitt, Jr. continues his Imager series with IMAGER’S CHALLENGE. I found this book easy enough to read (although it soon became clear that Rhenn would never miss a meal or a glass of wine), and holding enough of Modesitt’s engaging writing to keep my interest through the story. Rhenn’s situation, with powerful enemies who choose not to confront him directly (something that has led to short lifespans for anyone who’s confronted him in the past) is sympathetic and it’s interesting to speculate how Rhenn might resolve his problems while staying true to the Imager code. Ultimately, I found Rhenn’s solution to be less clever and less interesting than I was hoping for. Despite the promising beginning and the buildup, the resolution of this book came off, to me, as either rushed or attempting to make a political statement I simply didn’t understand.
Modesitt is an uneven writer. Some of his books have been brilliant. Others only so-so. His writing is always engaging, however, and I’ve never found one of his books I didn’t want to finish. While IMAGER’S CHALLENGE has its high points, I’d have to put it in the lower bracket of Modesitt’s works.
Stefan Raets @ 12:12 pm
Imager’s Challenge is the second book in the IMAGER PORTFOLIO, the latest fantasy series by L.E. Modesitt Jr. The author is probably best known for his ongoing SAGA OF RECLUCE, but for readers who may be daunted by the length of that series, the IMAGER PORTFOLIO is a great way to try the work of this talented and prolific writer.
Imager’s Challenge picks up right where Imager left off. Rhenntyl, now a master imager at the Collegium Imago, has succeeded in foiling the plot of the Ferran envoy, but because the resulting explosion and deaths have made him more visible (and so less appropriate as a covert operative), he has received a new assignment: he will be the imager liaison to the l’Excelsis city patrol. In the course of this task Rhenntyl learns much more about the less well-off areas (or “taudis”) of the city. He also realizes quickly that not everything in the city patrol is as it should be, and because of this, the garrison’s officers aren’t exactly thrilled to have the resourceful and observant imager in their ranks.
Several sub-plots are deftly interwoven in the story. First of all, High Holder Ryel, whose son was blinded by Rhenntyl in Imager, begins to plot his revenge. On the other end of the social spectrum, a young taudis boy with imaging talent is delivered to the Collegium Imago, and the contrast with the now relatively powerful and experienced Rhenntyl effectively highlights how much he has changed since the start of the series. Finally, L.E. Modesitt Jr. explores the growing romance between Rhenntyl and Seliora. These sub-plots are integrated seamlessly into the main story and lead to a thrilling conclusion.
Stylistically, Imager’s Challenge is almost identical to Imager. The first person narrator, combined with L.E. Modesitt Jr.’s typically dry prose style and attention to even the most minute details, occasionally make the story sound like someone giving a deposition. More generously, you could say that the prose doesn’t get in the way of plot or character development, and Modesitt does a superb job in creating a consistent and original fantasy world.
In short, Imager’s Challenge is an excellent second installment in the IMAGER PORTFOLIO. If you enjoyed Imager, it’s almost guaranteed that you’ll like this novel too. Although calling it fast-paced would be a stretch, there’s definitely less exposition and more action in Imager’s Challenge, making this a more captivating read than the first book. It’s not very hard to make some predictions about where the story is heading, but I’m more than sufficiently intrigued to keep reading.