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Sand was satisfying as kind of a pulp, b-movie experience. I'm overdue for something with a bit more substance, but I finished Sand not long before bed and was in the mood for something more easy-listening, so I went with The Magic of Recluce.
Recluce has been better than expected so far. While I enjoyed Gravity Dreams, I have reservations about Modesitt's work due to his seeming preoccupation with Randian Objectivism, an ideology I find alternately abhorrent and laughable. He doesn't necessarily endorse Objectivism, but he does place more or less Objectivist societies (rigidly enforcing achievement and social responsibility) at the center of his works. Also, all signs pointed to Recluce being textbook sword-and-sorcery, which has limited appeal for me.
Nevertheless, Recluce has been just what I like in an audiobook--engaging but relaxing. The reader, Kirby Heyborne, is very good. He does a wide range of character voices and even handles Modesitt's arguably excessive sound effects without falling into corny caricature as too many fantasy narrators tend to do. Modesitt has many quirks on display, like the above-mentioned sound effects, but for me they're holding together as a style rather than growing tiresome. The story so far has some of the better elements of The Belgariad, but with more competent prose, pacing and imagery. I don't know how the series holds up, but book one so far has been solid.
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