The Towers of the Sunset - L. E. Modesitt [0]
“This is a very special fantasy, original. . . in its slow and thoughtful use of familiar fantastic elements and its skillful development of character.”
— Asimov’s SF Magazine on The Magic of Recluce
“This lively tale of two strong-willed magicians’ coming-of-age chronicles the founding of the island nation of Recluce.”
—Publishers Weekly on The Towers of Sunset
“Extremely interesting.”
—Andre Norton on The Magic of Recluce
“The universe he’s built is fascinating. I hope he visits Recluce, Candar, and their neighbors again in the future.”
— Amazing
“An exceptionally vivid secondary world.”
—L. Sprague de Camp
TOR BOOKS BY L. E. MODESITT, JR.
THE SPELLSONG CYCLE
The Soprano Sorceress
The Shadow Sorceress
The Spellsong War
Darksong Rising
Shadowsinger
THE SAGA OF RECLUCE
The Magic of Recluce
The Towers of the Sunset
The Magic Engineer
The Order War
The Death of Chaos
Fall of Angels
The Chaos Balance
The White Order
Colors of Chaos
Magi’i of Cyador
Scion of Cyador
THE ECOLITAN MATTER
The Ecologic Envoy
The Ecolitan Operation
The Ecologic Secession
The Ecolitan Enigma
Empire and Ecolitan
(comprising The Ecolitan Operation and The Ecologic Secession)
THE FOREVER HERO
Dawn for a Distant Earth
The Silent Warrior
In Endless Twilight
Of Tangible Ghosts
The Ghost of the Revelator
Ghost of the White Nights
TIMEGODS’ WORLD
The Timegod
Timediver’s Dawn
The Green Progression
The Parafaith War
The Hammer of Darkness
Adiamante
Gravity Dreams
The Octagonal Raven
Archform: Beauty
Legacies*
*forthcoming
THE TOWERS OF THE SUNSET
L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
NOTE: If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental.
THE TOWERS OF THE SUNSET
Copyright © 1992 by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.
Edited by David G. Hartwell
Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
ISBN-13: 978-0-812-51967-9
ISBN-10: 0-812-51967-1
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 92-4527
First edition: August 1992
First mass market printing: August 1993
Printed in the United States of America
19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
For Eva,
and Susan,
For yet unforgotten memories,
and the lessons I should have learned,
and still have not.
Contents
Cover Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
I BLADE-MASTER
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X
XI
XII
XIII
XIV
XV
XVI
XVII
XVIII
XIX
XX
XXI
XXII
XXIII
XXIV
XXV
XXVI
XXVII
XXVIII
XXIX
XXX
XXXI
XXXII
XXXIII
XXXIV
XXXV
XXXVI
XXXVII
XXXVIII
XXXIX
XL
II STORM-MASTER
XLI
XLII
XLIII
XLIV
XLV
XLVI
XLVII
XLVIII
XLIX
L
LI
LII
LIII
LIV
LV
LVI
LVII
LVIII
LIX
LX
LXI
LXII
LXIII
LXIV
LXV
LXVI
LXVII
LXVIII
LXIX
LXX
LXXI
LXXII
LXXIII
LXXIV
LXXV
LXXVI
LXXVII
LXXVIII
LXXIX
LXXX
LXXXI
LXXXII
LXXXIII
LXXXIV
LXXXV
LXXXVI
LXXXVII
LXXXVIII
LXXXIX
XC
XCI
XCII
XCIII
XCIV
XCV
XCVI
XCVII
XCVIII
XCIX
III ORDER-MASTER
C
CI
CII
CIII
CIV
CV
CVI
CVII
CVIII
CIX
CX
CXI
CXII
CXIII
CXIV
CXV
CXVI
CXVII
CXVIII
CXIX
CXX
CXXI
CXXII
CXXIII
CXXIV
CXXV
CXXVI
CXXVII
CXXVIII
CXXIX
CXXX
CXXXI
CXXXII
CXXXIII
CXXXIV
CXXXV
CXXXVI
CXXXVII
CXXXVIII
CXXXIX
CXL
CXLI
CXLII
CXLIII
CXLIV
THE TOWERS OF THE SUNSET
I.
BLADE-MASTER
I
CAN YOU SEE how the pieces fit together? Not just the visible ones, like the towers of the sunset, but those unseen, like