Book: Imager’s Intrigue
ISBN-13: 978-0765325624
Author: L. E. Modesitt Jr.
Series: Imager Portfolio, Book Three
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Fantasy
Release: July 20, 2010
Length: 496 pages (Hardcover)
Rating: C (70 / 100)
Verdict
Considered as a whole, the Imager Portfolio is fairly good reading for those who enjoy political maneuvering in a fantasy setting, but Imager’s Intrigue is the weakest installment in the series. Fans of the first two books owe themselves the resolution this book brings to series, but L. E. Modesitt Jr. has once again allowed a series that started strong to peter out. It’s highly doubtful that any future entries in this series will be worth the cover price.
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Pros: Plenty of twists and turns. Interesting plot. Good magic system.
Cons: A bit lengthy. Characters have little emotional depth. Too little action.
Synopsis
Official: In Imager, the first book of the Imager Portfolio, we met Rhennthyl, an apprentice portrait artist whose life was changed by a disastrous fire. But the blaze that took his master’s life and destroyed his livelihood revealed a secret power previously dormant in Rhenn; the power of imaging, the ability to shape matter using thought. With some trouble, he adapts to the controlled life of an imager.
By Imager’s Challenge, Rhenn has become a liaison to the local law forces. He finds himself in direct conflict with both authorities and national politics as he tries to uphold the law and do his best by the people of his home city.
Now, in Imager’s Intrigue, Rhenn has come into his own. He has a wife and a young child, and a solid career as an imager. But he has made more than one enemy during his journey from apprentice painter to master imager, and even his great powers won’t allow him to escape his past.
Review
Imager’s Intrigue picks up five years after the events of Imager’s Challenge. Rhenn is now married to Seliora with a young daughter of his own, and he continues his work in the Civic Patrol as a Captain.
As in the previous installments of the series, Rhenn finds himself at the center of the rising storm, confronted with a series of closely inter-related conspiracies. The nations of Ferrum and Jairola hover on the brink of war, and Solidar has come under attack by a network of assassins and saboteurs. The High Holders (think nobility) are plotting to maintain their power, meanwhile, the merchant class is straining to prevent the onset of an industrial revolution that may be the nation’s saving grace when war finally does break out.
Modesitt does an excellent job of weaving an intricately layered plot. With subplots within subplots, “Imager’s Intrigue” is a fitting title for the book. However, Imager’s Intrigue rather closely follows the conventions and plotlines of the previous two books in the series, leaving readers with a distinct sense of deja vu. Despite that, Imager’s Intrigue is still an engrossing read. As with his Recluse Saga, the Imager Portfolio is habit-forming.
The magic system of the Imager portfolio, more specifically, it’s limitations, is refreshingly unique. Setting the story against the backdrop of a world roughly analogous to nineteenth century Europe is an imagination-sparking twist on the events of the book. The enormous cast of characters and intricacy of the series’ plot leave the convolutions of the story fairly unpredictable. And, as an added bonus, the announcement that the next book in this series won’t center around the same characters adds the welcomed edge of uncertainy over whether or not the protagonist will survive the climax.
The single greatest shortcoming of the series and of this book in particular is its lack of emotional depth. While Modesitt does an amazing job establishing his character’s reasoning and motivations, his characters don’t grow, they simply progress. When tragedy strikes, it simply doesn’t phase the characters. The effect is that it’s difficult to form an attachment to Rhenn, and as a result, the plot of Imager’s Intrigue has little emotional impact despite fights, political maneuvering, and tragedies.
Unfortunately, L.E. Modesitt Jr. can be a frustrating author to read. Though the concepts underlying his novels are consistently brilliant, he dwells obsessively on his settings’ economic and political systems, which often becomes tedious. For instance, in Imager’s Intrigue, Modesitt spends an inordinate among of time detailing the prices of goods and services, despite finances having nothing to do with the plot. These sorts of details are all well and good on occasion, but their place is in the background, lending the setting depth, not in the foreground, bloating the page count.
The result of the lack of emotional depth and occupation with economics and politics is that Imager’s Intrigue comes across as highly cerebral. Good, but cerebral.
Imager’s Intrigue neatly wraps up Rhennthyl’s story, but there’s very little satisfaction in it. Rhenn is a character who grows a great deal in terms of raw power but very little in terms of emotional depth. That is fairly typically of L. E. Modesitt Jr. but still disappointing.
If you read the first two books in this series, Imager’s Intrigue is more of the same. If you enjoyed Imager and Imager’s Challenge, it’s worth picking up. However, they stand fairly well on their own, and Imager’s Intrigue adds very little in the way of new material to the series.
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