The Grand Illusion
It’s official now. The fourth book about Alyiakal — Last of the First — is completed and in Tor’s hands. I’d originally thought that I could finish Alyiakal’s story in three books, but it took four, given that Tor wouldn’t have been all that happy with three 750 page books. And if you’re counting, Last of the First is my eighty-fifth novel, but because of various publishing oddities, including omnibus volumes, there are at least 92 different titles involving those eighty-five books, in English, that is.
I’m also working on a story for a kickstarter anthology (Last-Ditch) from small-press Zombies Need Brains. In that anthology, all the stories feature protagonists who are the last-ditch hope for stopping the force or forces that will bring disaster.
Wonderful news!I just finished the Mage Fire War and started Fairhaven Rising. Looking forward to more stories from Cyador! After you usually finish a book, or a storyline involving more than one, do you typically take time off from writing? Do you know what your next book project is at this point?
I take a little time — usually a week or two — but this time I took off a little longer. Usually, I know what the next book will be about, but not always. Right now, I’m working out something, but I’m not ready to say what it is. That’s because, every once in a while, I discover that something I thought would work turns out not to be workable, at least for me.
750 pages actually sounds great! But I defer to your (and I guess Tor’s) wisdom. I can’t wait to start reading this new saga!
Considering Tor’s rather elongated publishing schedule, it might be some time before we see the books. The first of these four isn’t out until Jan 2024.
I’ve just finished rereading the Grand Illusion books, & the 3rd books ends almost on a cliff-hanger. Have you any update on when number 4 will be out?
My next four books are Recluce novels. I’m still working on what the book after those will be. If I do write another Grand Illusions novel, it won’t be an immediate sequel to Contrarian. As in real life, Dekkard isn’t facing any immediate large challenges or problems, and to twist the entire structure of Guldor for the sake of gratuitous action isn’t what I do. If… if… there is another book about Steffan and Avraal, it will have to be set farther in their future.
I just finished Contrarian and thought you wrapped it all up quite nicely, although I hope we’ll get to spend more time with them again someday. The degree of mundane details about their daily lives creates an interesting form of immersion, beyond the usual “lost in a story” experience, where I find it takes me several days to stop wondering which lunch Steffan will choose next, etc. Thanks for the fun trilogy.
I also just finished up Contrarian.
I thought you might find it amusing that my well read wife HATES SF&F, but I got her to “try” Grand Illusion. She was immediately “hooked” and is now starting Contrarian.
I would love to read prequel novels to the Grand Illusion. Maybe set in the time of the Scarlet Daughter or the Silent Revolution.
Darn – I was looking forward to the introductions of the ‘Working Women’ & the ‘fair pay for women’ bills. And there was also the problem of the death of Jens which was sort of hanging in the wind, whodunnit??
What a great idea! Or even a story about Aavrals life as a young woman and her struggles. Or Deckard struggling with the fact he isn’t going to be an Artisan. I’d definitely take a short story or novella over nothing at anll. Even an “Epilogue” type story because obviously the next full book would be “ Premier”!
It is an impressive burst of productivity that you have finished the 4th book in a (sub-)series before the 1st book in the series is even published. I am looking forward to reading it.
Thank you,
Jbeumer
Thank you so much for all of your work! I have been reading your books for close to 30 years and LOVE RECLUCE!!!
Please never stop writing your fans here love you!
Surprise surprise! Your books are featured on Humble Bundle. 36 books. I bought the full bundle as I’ve lost many of my Recluce books over the years (many many moves, sometimes halfway around the world, natural disasters followed by mold… not fun). I also get to own some of the books I read through libraries. Time to re-read the series, I guess, this time in chronological order.
Thank you, and stay healthy!
I’m beyond excited! Thank you so much for writing these four books! I’ve been reading everything you have written for the last twenty years.
Be advised that I find your writing “frustrating”.
I have about 150 authors on my spreadsheet of writers since retirement in 2006 (many more prior to that). I have been reading you for decades, everything you have written. At 76 I find your publication schedule frustrating because one becomes aware of personal mortality, and I hate the idea that I will miss any of the products of your astounding mind that so relax, educate and addict me.
FYI, In my life I have attended “Univ. of 7 seas” on full scholarship, graduated summa cum laude from ASU, been subsequently drafted to Vietnam where I survived by surrounding myself with the best as I managed to be among 18% of volunteers who graduated from ranger school in those days (1st from MACV Recondo School, DaNang). I went on to a career as an accomplished teacher and measurably (morale/student achievement improvement) successful school principal where my own writing skills earned over $5 million in competitive grants for my elementary school…
And yeah, some disappointments, sadness and failures along the way. I say that only to substantiate that my major life regret is that I write “essays” quite well, but have never been able to create the fiction artistry that you accomplish, but do have enough life and literary competence to judge your writing first among greats I have read (including Dante and Machivelli, Asimov and Cherryh, McCaffery and Silverberg). You entertain me immeasurably. You educate me in philosophy, sociology, politics, economics and more. And I thank you.
Thank you. I do appreciate your words on my writing.
I have found in life that there are always many quick to jump in with negatives and anger, and far too few who will offer praise where it is deserved. I am sure you get plenty of praise from those you make money for, but I have enough of an ego of my own to know that positives from actual readers is a deserved reward.
You’re absolutely right about that.
Hello,
I am a great fan of your work and reread them all the time.
If you don’t mind a question you probably get a lot, what would you suggest for a first-time writer on getting a work looked at?
No worries if you hate answering this question. 🙂
There’s no quick or simple answer to your question. First, it depends on what the “work” is. If it’s a short story, there are magazines that will read unagented manuscripts, but you might not get more than a form rejection letter/email. If you’re trying to sell a novel, many traditional publishers won’t look at a work unless submitted by an agent, and those publishers who do can take a long time to reply, which is why it can help to get an agent. Agents vary in quality and ability, but finding one can be difficult. Most important, steer away from any “agent” or “publisher” who wants money from you.
Another way to get someone to look at your work is to attend a reputable writing workshop and get helpful criticism/suggestions there. Some colleges offer courses in creative writing, but those vary greatly in quality. Another avenue is to attend F&SF conventions and take in the panels on writing and publishing. At the larger conventions, there are chances to meet editors and or agents. Some writers have found writing groups to be helpful, but how helpful depends on the writer and the writing group.
These are just quick suggestions. An in-depth answer could take pages.
Thank you! That was way more than I knew before.
I have spent a long time on the other side of books, 28 years as a high school English teacher and avid reader.
I have been toying with the idea of trying to write for a few years and finally thought – ‘if not now, when?’.
So, again, thank you for replying, and for the past 30 years of awesome stories to read.
The first book of yours I read was The Magic of Recluse when it first came out and I have been hooked on your many worlds and characters since.
Sincerely,
Jason Schultz
Mr. Modesitt,
I’m so excited to look forward to FOUR new Recluce books! And I love that you are going back to tell the story of a legendary character from a previous go-round. That is something you do so well! You are “the master of founding myths.”
If I could see you tie up one more loose end with the Recluce world… it would be something to do with the Druids. They are probably the most mysterious element in the world, especially since you were mysterious with their names. I would like to see more of the dots connected from Fall of Angels to Towers of Sunset to the Justen days.
Second request after that would be a little sci-fi series that was a real, honest to goodness tie-in with Recluce and Fall of Angels. Give us Sybra! Give us space war between the Angels and the Rats! That would be so awesome.
I am a huge fan of your science fiction. Been hyping it on Facebook groups lately. Adiamante, Haze, Hammer of Darkness, Quantum Shadows all so good. I love the way you can make an endearing, fascinating world / universe all for a single book / sci-fi story.
But yeah, top two requests: 1) Druids; 2) Recluce Sci-Fi tie-in leading to the stranding of one or both sides we know and love. 🙂
Also, someone needs to put together a Modesitt encyclopedia, dad gummit. I remember everything vaguely, but not encyclopedically.
Thank you, sir, you are amazing!
Thank you. At present, I’m working on something else, but after that I don’t know for certain. I appreciate your suggestions.
Something else we need is Recluce Tales Part 2!
I am re-reading Tales now. Which is fun because I only ever read it once so it’s re-discovery.
Question you may or may not want to answer: in the Alyiakal books, do you explore the eastern peoples and their origins at all? In the Vice Marshall’s Trial, Kiedral thinks they probably came from another shipwreck. I had forgotten that.
Anything I say, one way or the other, would be a spoiler. So I’ll have to leave your question unanswered.
If you’re looking for other story ideas, I just finished re-reading about Rahl in Natural Ordermage and Mage Guard of Hamor. It seems like you left the stage set for Rahl to eventually succeed as Emperor of Hamor…just sayin’.
I just want to thank you again. These books have been special to me for most of my life. I’d say I’ve read 60 or so of yours, and some many times. And in the coming of age of several different characters I learned lessons that helped me grow up and continue to learn, an influence I’ve lacked in my life.
Thank you. Your writing has really meant something to me. I wish you well.
I like your Imager series best with Corean next and some volumes of Recluse third…but I have read everything in Recluse. And, I applaud you and appreciate all the work you have put in over the years to keep us entertained and enlightened with some pithy insights now and again. Good fortune in the future. Looking forward to the new Recluse books.
I have enjoyed your books for years and often return to them. Like everyone else, I am excited for the new series. Thanks for sharing your imagination and craft!
I just finished FROM THE FOREST early this afternoon. I’d wish I didn’t have to wait a year for the release of the next of the Recluce series. I think I’ll live however. More than that they were written by the same guy, does it seem to you that there’s a marked resemblance between it and some of your Imager series?
Also, I’m just a bit curious: do you ride? You seem to have a particular appreciation for horses.
I have ridden a limited amount, but I’m not what you’d call a rider. However, a number of our friends are definitely riders, particularly the rancher who was a competitive and winning barrel racer into her sixties, who also had a prize-winning English shire team for years, and I’ve used every opportunity to pick the brains of those who know horses far better than I do.
Just started reading From The Forest, and have to ask, has Alyiakal been featured in another recluse novel? This book feels so very familiar, in particularly where Alyiakal meets the forest girl and her house in the forest. I am not complaining, as I love reading your novels. Perhaps this is just an example of dejavu, or early onset dementia… In any case, please keep writing!!! thank you.
Parts of the first few chapters of From the Forest appeared as a short story in Recluce Tales. There are also a few brief mentions of Alyiakal in Magi’i of Cyador and Scion of Cyador. So it’s likely neither dementia nor deja vu.
I agreed that From the Forest seemed very familiar. Knowing that first part was also in Recluce Tales makes so much more sense. Enjoying From the Forest immensely.
I am so sad that From the Forest isn’t 200 pages longer. And totally blown away that the next 3 are already complete!
85 books. You are a champ.
Thank you for your amazing work.
I’m happy to be reading From The Forest! Bought the hardback to support my favorite author.
But I don’t really have room for a full hardback collection. So my plan now is – read the next two from the library as soon as I can when they come out. Buy the paperbacks later. Then buy the 4th one in hardback when it comes out.
I have a mixed collection hard and paper of all the Recluce novels. And a bunch of the sci-fi and other fantasy in paper. I have yet to jump into imager or the other new series. But I’m a huge fan of Recluce, all the sci fi, and the shorter fantasy. Love the Correan Chronicles in particular too. Maybe that’s what I will re-read during these waiting times!
Good afternoon sir, I have 2 questions for you; do you have any idea when the saga will end? Would you advise reading in chronological or publication order?
thx
At present I don’t know when the Recluce Saga will end, but I have left instructions that no one else gets to play in my sandboxes. Right now, you can count on three more books, because they’re completed and turned in.
The order you read them in depends on you. Some people like strict chronological order; others prefer the order in which I wrote them. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter that much, so long as you start with the first book about each protagonist.
You, sir, are a tireless writer, that’s for sure. And I thank you for all the incredible stories so far.
Any chance there’s a new trilogy, maybe set in the period when the Hamor Empire was born and the Mage Guards founded?
Cheers
Currently I’m working on a novel in The Grand Illusion series. After that, we’ll have to see.
That makes me very happy! I was hoping you’d return to The Grand Illusion. Likewise, I’m happy there will be three more books about Alyiakal. Thank you for all the great books.
Oh, that’s exactly why I returned to this post today, to see if you had any more plans for The Grand Illusion, and how happy I am to see this! Thanks for the update!
Good afternoon, long time fan here and partilovebthe Corean books which I try to read every year. Currently reading From the Forest and would like to re-read Alyiakal’s whole story, but cannot for the life of me recall which Recluce books they are. I also recall a story concerning a Lady Merchanter , presumably Saleora’mer – so please remind of that one too.
Thank you so much, I adore the stories and frequently recommend them to friends.
Cathy
From the Forest is the first book about Alyiakal. The second book, just published, is Overcaptain. The third book — Sub-Majer’s Challenge will be out next August. Recluce Tales contains a short story about Alyiakal, which I expanded for the beginning of From the Forest.
Dear L.e Modesitt Jr
Thank you for all your books! Rereading From the forest a third time and just wanted to say Thank you!we appreciate you! God Bless!
Hello! Long-time reader (been reading the Recluce books since 2000 or so) but have never commented. Thank you, I look forward to a new Recluce book usually each year!
Apologies if this has been asked before, but I have to know: how long is a quint? I read it as 12 minutes (1/5 hour), but it could be 5 minutes I suppose. Random question but I am curious!
I am reading Overcaptain as I write this, love it!! Thank you.
You’re right. A quint is a fifth of a glass.
I was glad to have Overcaptain to read during the 2½ hour chemotherapy session I began on December 17. I like to take a book to read when I go to any medical appointment, now especially when I have been diagnosed with a reoccurrence of my cancer from 4½ years ago.
I just began my chemotherapy for lung cancer. Ironic, because I have never smoked in my life. Four and ½ years ago I had two tumors removed from my colon. I did not have the follow-up chemo that my oncologist recommended, because I had heard that chemo is a dreadful experience to be avoided if you can. Doctors said some of the cancer cells must have migrated from the colon tumors to lodge in my right lung. This is surprising after going undetected for 4½ years, but my oncologist said such long delays are possible. So if I had received the chemo right after my surgery, this might not have happened. I had also delayed having my first colonoscopy until I was 72. If I had done this much sooner, doctors could have routinely clipped off the pre-cancerous nodules before they became cancerous, and I never would have needed surgery.
As it turns out, the chemicals in chemo have been greatly improved. I do not feel nauseous at all. And my oncologist said people seldom have any hair fall out anymore. Curiously, one of the two chemos I am taking is platinum-based, and it operates by throwing a monkey wrench into the DNA of cells, that prevents them from undergoing mitosis and replicating. Healthy human body cells normally undergo mitosis very seldom, typically only a total of 50 divisions during your entire lifetime. But cancer cells are continuously undergoing mitosis and growing, which is what characterizes them as cancerous. So the chemo works most directly on the cancer cells.
My oncologist told me that at this stage, he could not cure my cancer, only slow it down, and perhaps give me another two or three years of life. I am hoping that with chemo combined with a healthy lifestyle, which includes eating more of the foods that statistically show anti-cancer properties, I might be able to prolong my time more. I would of course appreciate your prayers on my behalf. God does listen.
Six months ago, I did suddenly have an awareness that I might die soon. I was not depressed, and felt fine. It was just an awareness, like the Holy Spirit was beginning to give me a preparation. In my present intention to improve matters with chemo and lifestyle, the Lord has not said yes or no, only said it was alright for me to try.
But if I am to die sooner than my mother did (she died at 101 and ten months), I remember that death is a mercy of God. He must deal with sin so decisively that it never will arise again in the universe. But since He foresaw that would take thousands of years for all the needed demonstrations to take place, He chose in mercy to allow those faithful to Him to sleep along with everyone else, with no awareness of the passage of time, until (for the faithful) the Resurrection when Jesus returns the second time. We close our eyes in death, and the next moment we are aware of, we open our eyes to see Jesus in the air, coming to take us with Him to the residences He has prepared for us. That way, we pass through all the misery and suffering and tumults that take place during the ages of sin, and do not have to be aware of the suffering of our loved ones. This is a mercy. We do not go directly to our final reward at death, but we do have a shortcut from death to eternal life in a sinless abode in Heaven followed by the Earth made new. This is the doctrine the Bible actually teaches, despite the mistaken tradition of many churches that the dead immediately go to their reward.
I would offer this advice to everyone: Do not make the mistakes I made. (1) Get your colonoscopy beginning at age 50 or even 45 as is now recommended. (2) If you do have to have cancer surgery, do accept chemotherapy as a follow-up, necessary to ensure that the cancer does not migrate through the body to lodge somewhere else. I still reserve judgment on radiation therapy, since it can CAUSE cancer by indiscriminately damaging healthy body cells, depending on where the nuclear particles strike.
I hope someone will profit from the lessons I have learned. And always trust in the leading of God. No matter what He allows, He does love us enough to sacrifice Himself for us, and He will bring forth His good out of whatever happens.
Most sincerely,
Ronald R. Lambert