Are they spoilers when the plot never changes?

[madbaker]

I'm about 2/3 way through the latest LE Modesitt book (from the library). It's the first in a new trilogy and I'm actually enjoying it far more than I expected to. That aside, there are no surprises. He's published about fifty books and at least forty go like this:

Young man is misunderstood and rebellious. Something Happens and he develops Magickal Powers while offending some Powers That Be. He leaves home to develop said Magickal Powers and discovers that his Magick is stronger than everyone else's. Through training, young man grows to understand that his rebellion was misplaced and Society has Good Reasons for its rules. He then marries the girl he met on page ten and becomes a Power.

What I'm reading: LE Modesitt, Imager

Comments

[sarahbellem.livejournal.com]

Remarkably similar to all of Robert Jordan's books, except minus the blatant misogyny.

[joycebre.livejournal.com]

is it suitable for teens? I'm always looking for new books for my son to read.

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

It depends on what you consider suitable - I was reading adult sci-fi when I was ten.
There's no sex in Modesitt's books if that's what concerns you.

[joycebre.livejournal.com]

I look for stuff with respect for people, good male role models, no misogny. He reads at an adult level. A lot of modern fiction has no problem with killing off everyone by the end of the book. I personally don't like books where everyone dies, but he's ok with that.

[kahnegabs.livejournal.com]

Sound like boy-teen lit to me!

[tshuma]

He's occasionally more than a little patronizing to women, though. I still read his stuff, because the female characters often call the male characters on it, but he doesn't stop writing the male characters that way.

[tshuma]

I think it's pretty reasonable. He might decide he gets bored with the philosophical and ethical debates, he might not. Some of the early stuff is less teen-safe and more misogynistic, but the Recluce stories are pretty good, and the Empire & Ecolitan stories are pretty good. A lot of heavy-handed treat the environment well and sacrifice yourself for the greater good and take responsibility for your actions treatments within the texts, but mostly in good ways.

[tshuma]

I will say, there are also a fair number of themes around conflicts over racial civil rights, homosexual civil rights, and some heavy-handed treatments of political and religious conflicts with very strong judgments against a religions that could be stretched slightly to be identified as Mormonism, and another that could be stretched to be identified as based on almost any of the early tribal religions that founded the Judeo-christian faith.

Just mentioning these things in case any of these things might be triggering.

[tshuma]

Which trilogy?

[joycebre.livejournal.com]

thanks! I'll try to pick one up for him and see if he likes it. (and I'll sneak read it first, since I'll never see it again if I give it to him straight away)

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

The Imager trilogy.

[dame-cordelia.livejournal.com]

Your synopsis has saved me simply hours and hours of reading! Thanks.