More Questions from an L.E. Modesitt Fan

[ironwill96]

I wonder why the editors didn't just cut out his entire prologue to Book 10, I found it completely worthless and boring. I'd have to say that Book 10 was the first book that I have ever quit reading halfway through, tried to pick up again a year later and making it to about page 300 and then quitting again out of boredom.

/end rant

I'm glad that Mr. Modesitt's books continue to be interesting and new each time and not just stalled out overly large books covering time periods of less than a week each time!

Nathan

[Silver_Phoenix]

I'm very glad to hear that there will be more Recluse books in the future. I have to say that you are by far my favorite author, so much so I've had to switch to buying hardcover editions to withstand the re-reading. You're also the only author I've found who can write both SF and Fantasy that I will enjoy.

Is there any chance of a hardcover re-release of my first and favorite book The Hammer of Darkness?

[RecluceMage]

Phoenix, if you look at a few of the Hammer of Darkness threads here you'll see that it is being discussed. I'm all for it, of course!

[ov]

I appreciate the sentiment... but I'm not working on all those at once. I only write a single book at a time, but the production process after I finish the manuscript takes about a year.
L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

One of the things that I find most attractive about your works is that they explore a common world from different perspectives using multiple books. It is the synergy effect where the total is more than the sum of its parts. I find the implicate story that emerges from the composite to be more interesting than any of the explicitly printed components. (This is probably why I have more of your books on my shelf than any other author.)

The question LEM, is how much jof the composite story do you have in mind before you start a new series? Or do they just sort of take on a life of their own and evolve for reasons that are not predetermined? Or am I simply reading too much into this?

An added comment and compliment is that this interactive component through the internet is new and very cool, and I am glad to see that you are taking literature to another level.

[lmodesitt]

The question was whether so much of what I write is all in my mind before I start. The simple answer is no. I have a composite "vision" which is as much feeling as plan, and at times that vision is clearer than at others. The actual writing process is where I attempt to realize all the details of the vision that will bring the final book alive, not only for me, but for my readers. Where I begin is with a mental image, and where I end is a reality depicted -- mosaic-style -- by the composite impact of the words themselves.

At least, that's how I see it.


L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

[ov]

The actual writing process is where I attempt to realize all the details of the vision that will bring the final book alive, not only for me, but for my readers..

Thank you LEM for that prompt reply. It sounds like you have a vision for the end of the time line, and then the individual books 'come together' according to how they fit with that end; (did I get that right?)

Vision. Good word. I think that might be what I tune into most, even though I like your plots, and strongly relate to some of your characters, it's the vision where the synergy comes out.

[lmodesitt]

There are two levels of "vision," if you will, in the fantasy series -- the overall vision of the world and its history and the vision of how a particular book should be and feel.

For the stand-alone SF, of course, I still have an overall vision of the "universe" in which that book "fits" -- even if it's the only book I write in that particular "universe" -- although that vision is usually not quite so detailed in my notes.


L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

[ov]

I'm starting to wonder if there is that much difference between the fantasy series and world history here on Earth. I've just finsished the first book of Stephenson's Baroque trilogy which is creating a world in the 1600's. There is also a http://www.metaweb.com which appears to be a morphogenic field for this universe. John Bunyan is the favorite author for the fictional family in the story, and in an attempt to get a better understanding of his roots I've been exploring the literary criticism on Edmund Spenser and the role of allegory, and its multiple layers of visions, in the opening of The Faerie Queene, which also has parallel lines in Dante's Commedia. Being a poet yourself, with interest in alternate universes and medieval constructs I think you can appreciate all of the intrique that this has created in our own world.

I liked the chapter on poetry and truth that you did for the Octagonal Raven. Which of the non-modern poets have you found have had the most inflence on your own thoughts?

[lmodesitt]

As I've said before, the poets who have most influenced me are Wallace Stevens, T.S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas, and especially William Butler Yeats.

Older poets -- that's another question. I suppose John Donne and Shakespeare have most influenced me, plus, of course, the scholars who crafted the words of the King James Bible, which I still find one of the great works of literature.


L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

[Antangil]

I didn't see a thread about this - if it's been covered than ignore me.

Ever since Fall of Angels, I've wondered about Ryba's ship - unless I missed something, it's still in orbit around Recluse's world. This is purely speculative, but it seems that their hasty parking orbit would degrade in time. Even more speculatively, it seems that a big hunk of metal in space would draw mage-ish attentions. Is the Winterlance waiting for re-discovery, or has it perished?

Thank you for your time and efforts, by the way, Mr. Modesitt - I'm amazed and extremely gratified at your devotion to your fans.

Antangil

[edit: removed part of a sentence that made absolutely no sense]

[lmodesitt]

Overtime, the orbit will doubtless degrade, but the reason why it hasn't been noted is that, as a combat vessel, its hull embodies energy and visual spectrum stealth features. Thus, it's not likely to be noticed until it becomes an enormous fireball.


L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

[Antangil]

I guess my confusion stemmed from the innate properties of order and chaos that all matter on the world of Recluse posesses. The order-cloaked ships of the Brotherhood were visible to Lerris, and it's unlikely that the Winterlance has a chaos-based cloaking system - it seems to me that a sufficiently powerful wizard of either type would notice a great hunk of iron with (theoretically, at least) order-based high-tech weapon systems.

Since the original angels experienced the change as soon as they dropped into the Recluse universe, I always assumed that the ship itself experienced the same fundamental alteration, taking on the properties of order, chaos, and balance.

(Maybe it's just the wishful thinking of a guy who read Have Space Suit, Will Travel too many times as a kid, but I'd kinda like to see what happens when the order/chaos/balance mages land on virgin soil without the surface balance that the Old Rats planoformed in. )

Thanks for the books and the insights into this world...

Antangil.

[Ron Lambert]

Maybe the Winterlance is what really took out Fairhaven, when it fell on it in a fireball like a second sun. Justen and Gunnar called it down.

[Antangil]

I had always assumed that the destruction of Fairhaven was brought about by a "lance of winter" - i.e. a laser beam. All the light-ordering and lense material, as well as the later discussions between Justen and Lerris, suggests that Justen melted it with ordered light. If he had brought the hulk of the Winterlance down, wouldn't there have been a huge crater and bits of the same stuff that Nylan cannabalized from the lander?

On a completely different note, I've also been thinking about Cassius, from Magic of Recluse. Big black guy - I think he said something about "the emperor having no clothes." LEM kinda hints that he came down post-Winterlance, but leaves out the details. Are there now two dead ships orbiting Recluse-world? Maybe the only remnant of a rescue mission?

And on a last semi-digression, where are the landers from Fall of Angels? It didn't sound to me like Nylan had used all of the pieces from the three landers, and it seems that someone wandering around the Roof of the World might find three hulks, full of technology they dreamed not of...

[edit - found Cassius' real name.]

[lmodesitt]

Nylan used everything that he could from the landers, from insulation to whatever. There wasn't much left within a year. Also, the rules of the universe are somewhat different, and much of that marvelous technology didn't work.


L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

[Gil galad]

The swords that Nylan forged, would they still be around at the time of Fairhaven, possibly as a family hairloom somewhere? I bet they would be worth much to anyone who got hold of them.

[lmodesitt]

I have no doubt that at least a few blades from Nylan are hanging around, probably in Southwind...


L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

[Ravenseye]

Did Nylan and Ayrlyn figure out the self-ordering trick Justen gave to Gunnar to keep from aging? Or was that discovered later?

[lmodesitt]

Nylan figured that out later, from dealing with the "accursed" forest.


L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

[Ravenseye]

So Nylan could possibly still be alive? Or at least until the end of Death of Chaos, where perhaps the lessened Order/Chaos levels would be insufficient to hold someone that old together?

[lmodesitt]

Nylan is not alive by the time of The Death of Chaos, or even by the time of The Towers of the Sunset. He lived a far longer life than most, but there was too much chaos and too much baggage for him to fully balance matters.

Where you've come from counts as well. We're not talking about the magical equivalent of divine "grace."


L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

[Ravenseye]

Thanks

[Hunter B]

In addition to his novels, Mr. Modesitt has published technical studies and articles (generally with boring titles), columns, poetry, and a number of science fiction stories.

I found this on Michael Sauers' website and I was wondering a few things:
1. What were the "boring titles"?
2. What were they about?
3. Where can I find/buy them?

I really want to read a few of them and hopefully learn something new.
Thanks,
Hunter Berwick (Norseraider)

[lmodesitt]

So far as I know, none of the technical articles are currently in print. One was in the Petroleum Journal, as I recall, and dealt with the impact of environmental regulations on the oil industry. Two were in the WAC Journal [WAC = Writing Across the Curriculum]. One of those dealt with the use of "factsheets" as a writing and teaching tool and the other was an analysis of all the various ways of teaching writing that suggested the emphasis on finding a methodology that would be successful for almost all students obscured the basic point that not all students would ever be able to write [not a popular viewpoint]. Another was an analysis of environmental trends done for NAM. There was also a series of economic columns for the monthly newsletter of a now-defunct brokerage house, the "future economics" columns done for the now-departed Galaxy Online... just to mention a few.


L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

[Hunter B]

Thanks for the quick reply Mr. Modesitt. It's too bad that none of the articles are in print. I would have liked to read the one in Petroleum Journal and the one in the WAC Journal about the "factsheets." It's really too bad that they aren't around anymore but thank you anyway.

Hunter Berwick (Norseraider)