Review: Fall of Angels

 Fall of Angels might very well be my favorite book of the Recluce series so far. The explanation lies in a quote from the protagonist 63% through the book:

If this were a novel or trideo thrillers, the editors would cut out all the partts about building. That's boring. You know, heroes are supposed to slay the enemy, but no one has to worry about shelter or heat or coins or stables or whether the roads need to be paved or whether you need bridges or culverts to keep them from being impassible. Bathhouses are supposed to build themselves, didn't you know? Ryba orders sanitation, and it just happens.No matter that the snow is deep enough to sink a horse without a sign. No matter that most guards would rather stink than use cold water. No matter that poor sanitation kills more people in low-tech cultures than battles. (kindle loc 6019)

In other words, L.E. Modesitt wrote a fantasy novel where the protagonist hero is an engineer! He worries about all the mundane stuff, and builds sawmills, better weapons, etc. Of course, this being a fantasy universe, he's a wizard and fantastic combat engineer. It's also kinda strange that no one else in his group of stranded spacers show an interest or contribute to the engineering of the built environment that everybody's lives depend on.

The plot of the story is that the Angels are a faction in a space battle with Demons, and due to a mishap during a battle they get shunted into the Recluce universe. Landing on the planet they establish a settlement on a high plateau (which becomes Westwind in the earlier Recluce novels). The commander of the ship, Ryba immediately grasps the situation and realizes that they're going to be repeatedly attacked by the locals which do not want to cope with a settlement run by women for women in a male dominant culture.

This is a very explicitly feminist book, but since the protagonist is male, we get his view of the situation as well. I enjoyed the bootstrapping of technology, as well as Modesitt's run through of what happens in a heavily male dominated culture when an outlet is provided for women to escape to. It's well done and worth reading.