The prolific Modesitt (The Saga of Recluce; The Spellsong Cycle) delivers a solid, well-paced sequel to Legacies (2002)
With this volume, Modesitt concludes, at least for the nonce, the story of Alucius the nightsheep herder and his battles on the world of Corus. Although released from the military for meritorious--indeed, world-saving--service at the end of Darknesses [BKL S 1 03], Alucius now becomes a commanding officer for a homeland facing enemies on all sides. Madrien has reconstructed some of its deadly weapons that Alucius destroyed in Legacies (2002), and a strange religious movement claims to have the power to restore the glories of a legendary golden age. Even worse, secret foes aim to drain the life from all Corus to benefit aliens from another world. In the trilogy, collectively entitled the Corean Chronicles, Modesitt has portrayed Alucius' development as both man and soldier and created a world original in its details but familiar in the cussedness of its inhabitants, human and nonhuman. It's a notable achievement, best read in sequence.