Review: The Order War

The Order War is the fourth book in the Recluce series, and this time, the protagonist is Justen, who played a minor role in Lerris's story in The Magic of Recluce. Following Dorrin in The Magic Engineer, Justen turns out to be at least as good an engineer, developing not only a steam-engine driven automobile, but also a hot air balloon with which to attack a city using lenses to focus sunlight.

Unlike the other characters who've served as protagonists in previous novels in the series, Justen is a gray wizard, probably the only gray wizard in the entire series, and so isn't subject to some of the restrictions the other characters were. He's also the first to fall into the typical Campellian arc of a hero, first refusing the call to action before being ordered to do so.

We get to see more of the world of Recluce, meeting the druids for the first time, and getting a bit more about the balance between the forces of Order and Chaos in the books. Unlike the other books, there's much less reference to Dorrin's textbook in this novel, despite Justen being the one telling Lerris to read it in the first book in the series. I find it puzzling.

The characters are less compelling than in previous books in the series. For one, the relationship between Justen and his brother doesn't feel as real, and second, there doesn't seem to be any purpose in Justen returning to Recluce in order to build his engine other than to further the plot. Nevertheless, it's a fun read and reads much faster than the page count would have you believe. Recommended.