This one hits all the L.E. Modesitt tropes and qualities, with strong forward momentum, huge body count, super-superpowered boy next door and nice supporting ladies. Given a town to administer our mages aren't expecting to have to fight off armies for a sort of inverted Seven Samurai plot in that it's the uninvited incomers who choose to fight. It went down easily without going anywhere new at all. ( )

Awesome! Modesitt continues to link the past present and future of Recluse!

How is it that I have become absolutely gripped by Beltur and Jessyla's efforts to find a place for themselves in a world that turns against them? Maybe because we all want a sense of place in our own reality.
Continuing on from the 'Outcasts of Order', they and their companions have fled from Axalt to Montegren. They have been given sanctuary by the Duchess and under a new charter appointed as the Council for the disintegrating town of Haven. 'A part of Montgren that lies between Certis, Lydiar and a tiny piece of Hydlen.' It inconveniently lies in the pathway of the tyrant Duke of Hydlen's access to Lydiar.
Of course the mages are going to have to fight, cajole and threaten to keep Haven free. Everyone from brigands, sullen innkeepers, to imperious traders, and the Duke of Hydlen's invading forces is a challenge.
All of which was not that clear when the mages took the offer from Montgren's rulers. As Beltur ruefully says at one stage, he should have asked for more resources. It is difficult knowing what the right questions are when you don't know what you're facing. Some help is sent by the duchess but it's the mages who will bear the brunt.
Sympathetic captains, lowly troopers, and those townspeople who want more than to bear the continual attentions of bandits, and captured foreign armsmen help.
Again the idea of one action causing such a rippling effect that it changes the course of history is front and center.
I was glued to the actions and strategies that Beltur and his companions were forced to undertake. I appreciated Beltur's constant consideration of the best way forward.
The battles they are forced into by invading forces are horrific and take a toll on all.
I kept wondering about Haven becoming Fairhaven, and then recalled, circling back to the very first Recluse novel, 'The Magic of Recluse', when Lerris was besieged by apparitions as he rode through part of this area, and that in that time, this place was called Frven. That in turn winds back to the now and the vision from the Chaos Mage Beltur and his companions faced in the first battle with Hydlenese troops. The white Mage "had visions of a great city rising [in Haven] ... with a great shining tower, and that mages would make it great.”
In this novel we see the beginnings of that place and the dream Beltur and his companions have for Haven becoming, “Fairhaven. A fair haven for all, but especially for mages, black or white, and for healers, and others who will build and contribute, no matter where they come from."
So one of my questions is what happens in the future that Haven / Fairhaven became Frven? It looks like I must do some rereading!
I loved, loved, loved this novel. I look forward to more that must come because of Haven's development and for the answers to even more questions I have.
For a look at the maps of the Recluse Saga and to visually understand where stories have taken place and/or intersected with each other, I found a website showing the 'dynamically generated Magic of Recluce saga map' a real treat and a great trip down memory lane.
In June 2010 in answer to a question on his monthly question page Modesitt said this,
"In “real” life, urban myth and rumors grow from small grains of truth, and I’ve tried to allow that to occur in the Saga of Recluse as well."
This is just one of many simple statements from Modesitt from which larger ideas grow. That to me is part of the vital essence that imbues the Recluse Saga.
The beginnings of Haven under the guidance of the new Council is one such grain.
As an aside I keep thinking about the food. Pearapple I'm supposing is something like
Nashi Apples. Indeed there's swathes of interest about the food mentioned in Recluse novels, the request for a cookbook even! All grounding Recluse in a reality that diehard fans like me love!
Hopefully the food in Haven will become more palatable, and Beltur will develop a better yeast for their bread. They seem to be having some small success with their ale requirements.

A Macmillan-Tor/Forge ARC via NetGalley ( )