THE DEATH OF CHAOS

More than a century has passed since the action of The Order War (Jan. 1995), as Modesitt continues his struggle between Chaos (white magic) and Order (black magic). This time, a small dispute caused by Berfir, Duke of Hydlen, and his Chaos wizard, Gerlis, is complicated by an impending invasion by the vast fleets of Sesten, Emperor of Hamor. The wizard Lerris, intervening, will be subjected to a series of ever more challenging trials, culminating in his invention of ``a magic of chaos guided by and sheathed in order,'' whose effect will be to destroy the very basis of magic itself. A rather maudlin installment, although by now fans should be familiar with Modesitt's constant, eccentric, and quite pointless switches in narrative voice and tense.