Madness in Solidar: The Ninth Novel in the Bestselling Imager Portfolio (The Imager Portfolio) is a stand alone novel occurring 400 years after Quaeryt helped form the united kingdom of Solis and built the Imager Collegium in the 5 book Scholar series. Unfortunately Quaeryt’s successors lacked his skill and drive (or ruthlessness) and the collegium has faded along with the unity of Solis overall. Imagers are weak; training is not rigorous; the collegium takes golds from the Rex but provides little in return. In Solis the Rex alternates between temper tantrums and unrealistic demands. He lacks funds and demands a 20% tax increase and insists the collegium assassinate the High Holders from strongest to weakest until they agree.
Alastar, the new collegium Maitre, seeks a compromise while simultaneously battling his senior imagers to build up the curriculum, re-establish the collegium as a force and find alternative sources of funds. No one wants a compromise and the senior imagers are conflicted with at least one actively against Alastar and his fellows.
It’s hard work to establish – or re-establish – foundations for any organization, and I admire Modesitt for building a book around the work. Nonetheless, it’s not exciting. Alastar spends more than half the book meeting with people, realistic for any leader but nothing that makes enjoyable reading.
Best Points of Madness in Solidar
The plot is better in Madness than in Rex Regis or Antiagon Fire, the previous 2 Imager novels, with fewer pages spent describing long travel days. There isn’t a lot of action but the story keeps moving.
The conflict feels more realistic, incohesion that turns into internal division that turns into treachery. Alastar has no good option when Rex Ryen demands a solution – his solution, his way – and threatens to destroy Alastar and the collegium unless they abet him in murder. Alastar works to a solution, albeit not a happy one, that allows his imagers to survive and patches Solis together.
So-So Points
Like most Modesitt heroes, Alastar is decent, driven, hard working, agnostic, sensitive and individually powerful. He doesn’t feel or read like a real person and I didn’t have an emotional connection to him or any of the other characters.
Rex Ryen and his family members are sketched out enough to be foils for Alastar, not fully developed characters. However they respond consistently and there are no magic turnarounds where villains become good guys or vice versa. The other imagers, High Holders and factors are likewise thin but sufficient. The army commander is the weakest character, drawn so unlikable that I wonder why anyone would follow him.
Not Good Points
The worst part of the book is Modesitt’s interminable word play between characters. It allows us to see how shiny bright and righteous Alastar is compared with the devious and greedy holders, but frankly, it’s boring. After reading the last couple Modesitt books I’ve lost my tolerance for this stuff.
It’s also unbelievable. I don’t know anyone who would talk that way. “Acquiring some knowledge may be more costly than it is wise to purchase.” This is one of the first sentences from the first High Holder Alastar sees.
Overall
Madness is a comedown from the first three Imager books, set several centuries later and from the excellent Scholar and Princeps yet such an improvement on the most recent few novels that I’m hoping Modesitt is back to creating novels full of plot with interesting characters, conflicts, setting, and with fewer verbal dances that show off the hero’s sterling qualities.
Overall I’d give Madness in Solidar a solid 3 stars and will read future books in the series.
Leave a Reply