Mixing a dose of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Herland with the Saga of Recluce’s intricate laws of order and chaos, Arms-Commander reveals how the predominantly female soldiers from another planet survive in a medieval-minded world.
Military Society of Women From Another Planet
These women, called Angels by the planet’s natives because they fell from the sky in a damaged spaceship, are able to physically thrive in the frozen, nearly barren land called the Roof of the World. Creating a stronghold called Westwind, the outnumbered Angels stave off attacks by jealous rulers of other holdings while using strategy, highly trained guards and unique talents allowing some of the Angels to control the order around them.
Recluce and Westwind
Arms-Commander occurs only ten years after the initial landfall and just a few years after the powerful order wielder and engineer Nylan left with his consort to found Recluce in Fall of Angels, leaving Westwind to attempt damage control after Nylan’s actions left significant consequences for both the Angels and for the surrounding landholdings.
Saryn, Arms-Commander
Arms-Commander Saryn reports directly to Marshall Ryba, giving Saryn the opportunity to witness Ryba’s increasing fragile isolation, due to Ryba’s heavy mantle of responsibility and to her form of premonitions about Westwind’s future. Saryn believes Ryba errs by not allowing more men to join their colony even as the numbers of oppressed women refugees grows and the food stores dwindle. The tension between Ryba and Saryn grows but Saryn’s new mission interrupts a potential devastating clash.
Told from Saryn’s point of view, Arms-Commander follows Saryn’s inner battles to harness her own abilities to “see” the links of order and to use that tactically while also leading several companies on a mission vital to Westwind’s long-term survival. Even though Westwind remains feared by both enemies and allies, Lady Regent Zeldyan requests Saryn’s help to protect her son Nesslek, a minor whose age and weakness makes him an attractive target by other landholders.
L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
Arms-Commander marks the first book in the Saga of Recluce series to focus on a woman although author L. E. Modesitt, Jr., typically includes strong, capable women in most of the series’ installments. The characters repeatedly remark on the overt patriarchy and abuse of women well after the situation becomes clear to readers.
This is also one of the few books in the series to almost ignore the main character’s romantic attachments, probably by design to highlight the struggle for survival and toughness required by these women. Modesitt allows Saryn to prove her worth on her own and on her own terms while illuminating how the warrior uses her senses to first guide her blades but then learns increasing control at the expense of her enemies.
Saga of Recluce
Once again, Modesitt builds on the Saga of Recluce realm within its own parameters while explaining how so many legends and traditions began. The series skips chronologically and also features both white (chaos) and black (order) mages throughout the evolution of the societies over hundreds of years.
Modesitt’s attention to character development, military tactics and detailed engineering-styled analysis of order/chaos will hold the attention of a variety of readers. Arms-Commander may be a departure in some ways but promises not only to fill in gaps in the series’ legend but also to entertain.
Modesitt, Jr., L. E. Arms-Commander. New York, NY: Tor, 2009.
Bonnye Good - Bonnye Busbice Good received an Editor's Choice award for her article on Your Historic Home's Interior Design Secrets and has also written ...
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