L.E. Modesitt, Jr. – The Official Website

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Like most authors, I want my readers to have as much background information as possible, particularly about recently released books, and books that will be published in the months ahead. But it’s equally important for new readers to learn about the books already out there. Those are some of the purposes of this site.

Another reason for the site is to acquaint you all with the range of my books. Just because you liked one of my fantasies doesn’t mean, unfortunately, that you will like one of my “hard” SF novels. I’d hope that you would, but another point of this site is to give you more information so that you know more about what I’m writing and what I have written.

Thanks again for reading my work, for supporting me, and for keeping the written word alive and well!

—L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

“Real” Names in Fiction
August 24, 2026

Back almost thirty years ago, after The Soprano Sorceress was published, a small number of readers, and my then editor, the esteemed David Hartwell, thought that the name of one of the characters [Jimbob] was totally inappropriate. For the first three books of the series, Jimbob is a comparatively minor character, but in the fourth book he becomes the ruler of Defalk,

David insisted that Jimbob’s name change, and I did have Jimbob make the change, out of vanity, which certainly fit with Jimbob’s character. My wife, however, thought that the change was totally unnecessary, because of her family background in the mountains of Kentucky, where names such as Billy Joe and Billy Bob, Bobbi Jo are not uncommon. Also, where every farm animal (at least on her grandparents’ farm) has the salutation “ole,” as in Ole Barney (mule), Ole Jers (cow), Ole Butch (dog).

There’s also a personal connection, if attenuated, and a certain irony with David’s dislike of “Jimbob” (which actually exists as a given name in the U.S.). David’s full name is David Geddes Hartwell, which made him a second cousin of Alice Geddes Lloyd, the founder of Alice Lloyd College (given her name after her death) in Kentucky, an institution which provided a college education to my wife’s mother and many others who have double first names and who could not have attended college otherwise. By the way, my wife also has a double first name.

And history is certainly not without odd names, such as Robert Curthose (aka facetiously “Bobby Shortsocks”) who could have been king of England instead of Henry I; Astrolabe Abelard; Victory Birdseye; Styles Bridges; Bob Goodlatte; and many, many others.

Of course, for authors, odd-sounding names tend to fall into a category that might be termed “true but implausible,” where something that actually occurred is rejected by editors and readers as too implausible to be believable. At the same time, David’s objections notwithstanding, how can anyone who’s ever spent any time in the American South find a name such as Jimbob implausible (especially for a narcissistic ruler)?

Maintenance
August 21, 2026

Owning a house requires continuing maintenance, especially if you’ve lived in it for years. We’ve owned our present domicile over thirty years (the longest time either of us has stayed in one place), and during that time, the house has required repairs and replacements of items like the air conditioning compressor, dishwashers, washing machines and driers, as well as repainting and reroofing… and much more.

All this is obvious, but the need for such maintenance doesn’t apparently occur to far too many local, state, and federal officials. The amount of foregone maintenance in the Forest Service and National Park system is staggering, yet the current administration’s present and proposed budgets for the National Park System only address (from what I can tell) less than ten percent of the more than $24 billion of unfunded maintenance requirements.

One GAO report found that DOD was only funding 57% of the necessary maintenance at twelve major military bases. Another GAO report found that 73% of all Air Force maintenance on Air Force aircraft was delayed, up from 31% in 2019.

This isn’t confined to the federal government. Here in Cedar City, roughly twenty years ago, the city built a civic theatre, which was badly needed. That theatre has been essentially booked solid a year into the future, but the city council underfunded maintenance, which resulted in major maintenance work requiring total closure of the facility for months.

The Utah state legislature appropriates funding for new buildings for state colleges and universities, but little or no funding for ongoing maintenance, one reason why the roof of the music building at SUU leaked copiously after any significant rainfall (rare as it is).

Everyone wants the newest whatever – from military aircraft to public buildings – but governments at all levels continue to ignore the maintenance requirements, which just might also have something to do with the problems aboard the Abraham Lincoln, not to mention the fact that the President’s maintenance requirements seem fixated on a ballroom, an unneeded triumphal arch, getting his name on the Kennedy Center, and of course, the slope of the White House helipad.

From the Forest Audiobook 60% Discount
August 13, 2026

From now until September 3rd, Tantor is offering the audiobook version of the firsr Alyiakal novel — From the Forest — at a 60% discount.

Here’s the link:https://www.audiobooks.com/promotions/promotedBook/691547/from-the-forest?refId=262177