As a long-time fan of Modesitt’s Recluse Series, I immediately picked up the Imager series when it first became available, and I've been collecting (and reading, and re-reading!) the books as they are released. The first three books in the Imager series tell that story of Rhennthyl, an Imager at the Collegium of Imagisle in Solidar. Book Four of the Imager series, Scholar, takes us back before the time of Rhenn, before Solidar was created, to the land of Telaryn. This is my review of Scholar.

Quaeryt is a scholar and friend to Lord Bhayer, having shared teachers with the lord when they were both young. When Quaeryt is unable to provide a good answer for why it still takes so many soldiers to keep peace in a land conquered a decade before, Quaeryt finds himself on route to Tilbor. Even before arriving in Tilbor, his route is full of adventure, complete with a shipwreck and poisoning, with even more adventure and intrigue waiting for him in the Palace of Tilbora. Quaeryt also have a dangerous secret: he is an Imager.

I really enjoyed this book… while I enjoyed the Recluse novels, it is great to see a world with more shades of gray, instead of everything being black & white, good & evil. The Imager series brings us into a world where people are more realistic, with good and bad intertwined. It’s also interesting to see the world before Solidar was united, before Imagers were protected and brought together. There is enough development for both major and minor characters for you to either love – or hate – the characters, and the plot includes both adventure and intrigue.

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1) City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

2) Mythology by Edith Hamilton

3) Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

4) Whistle Stop by Philip White

5) Harry Potter and the Prison of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (re-read)

6) William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope by Ian Doescher

7) Brave New World by Aldous Huxley 

8) Eric by Terry Pratchett

9) The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien (re-read)

10) William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back by Ian Doescher

11) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

12) Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett

13) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (re-read) 

14) William Shakespeare's The Jedi Doth Return by Ian Doescher

15) The Outstretched Shadow by Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory

16) Imager by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

17) The Once and Future King by T.H. White *started*

18) Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett

19) A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (re-read)

20) Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow

21) Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

22) Witches Aboard by Terry Pratchett

23) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling (re-read)

24) Facing Justice by Diane & David Munson

25) The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

26) Small Gods by Terry Pratchett

27) A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin (re-read)

28) Confirming Justice by Diane & David Munson

29) The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

30) Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett

31) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (re-read)

32) The Rise of the Great Powers, 1648-1815 by Derek McKay

33) The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

34) Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett

35) A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin (re-read)

36) The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Volume One by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

37) The Art of War/The Prince/Instructions to His Generals by Sun Tzu/Niccolò Machiavelli/Frederick the Great (three-in-one book)

38) Soul Music by Terry Pratchett

39) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (re-read)

40) The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Volume Two by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

41) A Short History of Byzantium by John Julius Norwich

42) Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett

43) Legends edited by Robert Silverberg (includes re-read of The Hedge Knight by George R.R. Martin

Bonus- The Poetry of Robert Frost (reading a few pages a night)

Imager begins the journey of Rhennthyl on the path first of an artist and later as a Imager, a practitioner of mental magic, in the first of a trilogy as well as a whole series of books by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. The flowing narrative slowly built up the city of L'Excelsis, the culture of the country of Solidar, the Solidar view of the world, religious system, and the practice of mental magic from Rhennthyl's personal experience giving the reader an enjoyable read throughout the book.

Rhennthyl, or Rhenn for short, is the eldest son of a wool merchant who decidedly does not like business and instead becomes an artist's apprentice, but while still a journeyman his art career ends with the death of his master when his talent for mental magic sends him to the Imagers on Imagisle. The path of Rhenn's discovery of how to use his magical talent and the sudden danger he soon finds himself is written through his own experience thus allowing the reader to learn along with Rhenn not only the magical system but the mystery of why assassins are after him. Throughout the book Rhenn most not only focus on his magical training and the dangerous situations he finds himself in, but also his family and personal relationships that many times conflict.

There are many enjoyable things about this book, as mentioned before the reader learns along with Rhenn about the magical system and it's uses as well as the greater world. The interesting small details are very well written to add to the depth of the world, but this detailing also hurts it as well. While Modesitt gives details in fashion and food, he neglects to give meaning to particular names that everyone in Solidar knows but readers do not like for instant who are Pharsi, tuadins, and the like that seem to be ethnicities or regional titles of individuals. While it could be said that the seemingly formulaic aspect of the book is a negative, if well written it doesn't matter. The amount of assassination attempts on Rhenn and the suddenly plot resolution, or seeming resolution, does hurt the overall story but not enough to make me want to see more.

Overall, I enjoyed this my first reading of a L.E. Modesitt book. Even with the gripes I had, it doesn't mean I'm not interested in seeing what twists and turns Rhenn's life and career take in the next two books of the trilogy following his life as an Imager.

The story of Rhennthyl D'Imagisle draws to a close in this third book of the Imager Portfolio. The first novel detailed how Rhenn come to be an Imager and how he fell in love with Seliora, and the second novel displayed Rhenn's continued rise to power as he struggled to help improve Solidar one disaster at a time. In this third novel, Rhenn continues his work as a Civic Patrol Captain until one day he he abruptly needed at the Collegium when the two more powerful Imagers are killed during a bombardment of the Senior Maitre's dwellings. Rhenn and his family survive to find the world a lot more complicated and even more dangerous. Not only does Rhenn need to learn quickly to best fill his new position at the Collegium, but he has to do this while investigating the bombardments, the increasing number of Ferran agents, and treachery from within Solidar.

This third novel is the most action packed of them all, and shows the continued development of Rhenn's powers as well as his quiet action as a Civic Patrol Captain. The twists and turns in the storyline will keep you guessing as to the final outcome. Even though you know deep down that everything will end up well in the end, the roadbumps along the way can be both amusing and terrifying. The author does a great job showing both how power can corrupt as well as the true faces of the people who pledge their lives to keep the country safe.

If Imager's Intrigue is a book that interests you, the kindle version is currently available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003P8Q5N0/?tag=shasworofboo-20.

If you enjoyed my review, I would appreciate if you could mark it as being helpful on Amazon as well, as this is useful to both the reviewer and the author. I have included the link to the Amazon review in the Source section at the bottom of this review.