Arms-Commander
by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
Being a woman in the 21st century and living in north america is prity good. There are options and chances open to us that haven't been always been there, and still aren't form many. If I was to some how be stuck in a world where the chances I have in my life suddenly disipeared I can only hope I would be able to handle myself as well as the ladies of Westwind.
The Angels of Westwind arrived there when there space ship failed and they had to land on the nearest planet. Those events are covered in the book The Chaos Balance, this story takes place 10 years after they landed. They have since built themselves a place to live in the snowy mountaintop know as the Roof of the World. Even though the land they live on is harsh and unwanted they are continually finding themselves attacked by men in a world who don't believe in equality and are very threatened by the Angels presence. We follow the tail of Saryn who is sent down to the lowland country of Lornth to help them prevent a civil war. The land has lords who are bothered by the fact that the country has a female Regent.
In the world of Candar there are two different forces of magic. Order and Chaos, they are both found in nature and work together to create a balance. There are magi use the forces to do different kinds of things. One of the things I enjoy so much about the Recluce books is this idea of magic. Each mage you read about is learning, teaching themselves how they personalty see this magic. The different forces are not good or evil, they just do different things, but are looked upon different by different country throughout Candars history.
One of the things I enjoy about the series is how each book doesn't always follow the same characters. You can pick them up and enjoy each one on its own without havening ready anything before it. Sometimes you will find characters and events mentioned that you have read about in other books but there is no perfect order you need to read them in. It lets you explore the creation of the world and its history in little chunks and makes the reader a better historian on the world than any of the characters ever could be.
Saryn's path in the story is not an easy one, she is working to improve the rights of women in a time where they are still though of as property. Though she does have a lot of women on her side. I know that what she does changed Candar in a way it was fighting against. I respect the women who had to do this in our world. All so that I can sit here all day working on math so that I can go to university and become an engineer. Something that wouldn't have been possible without them.
