Legalist: A Novel in the Grand Illusion

L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

Tor Publishing Group, Sep 8, 2026 - Fiction - 576 pages

L. E. Modesitt, Jr., bestselling author of Saga of Recluce and the Imager Portfolio, continues the Grand Illusion, a gaslamp political fantasy series (Isolate, Councilor, Contrarian) with a prequel, Legalist.

Fifty years after the establishment of the Imperium, and 450 years before the events of Isolate, Dominic Mikail Ysella—ancestor of Avraal Ysella—is the grandson of the last king of Aloor. Stripped of most of their land, Dominic, as the third son, must support himself.

Dominic, quietly working as an isolate, someone unreadable by government telepaths, must navigate a period of political upheaval and a sudden list of dead, high-ranking officials to stave off the collapse of the Imperium.

The Grand Illusion
Isolate
Councilor
Contrarian
Legalist

Other Series by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
The Imager Portfolio
The Corean Chronicles
The Spellsong Cycle
The Ghost Books
The Ecolitan Matter

About the author

L. E. Modesitt, Jr. is the author of more than eighty-five books—primarily science fiction and fantasy—including the long-running, bestselling Saga of Recluce, the most recent books being Fairhaven Rising, From the Forest, Overcaptain, Sub-Majer’s Challenge, and Last of the First; The Imager Portfolio; and the Grand Illusion (Isolate, Councilor, Contrarian, Legalist, and Premier).

Bibliographic information

• Title: Legalist: A Novel in the Grand Illusion; Volume 4 of The Grand Illusion
• Author: L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
• Publisher: Tor Publishing Group, 2026
• ISBN: 1250385776, 9781250385772
• Length: 576 pages
• Subjects: Fiction / Fantasy / Action & Adventure; Fiction / Fantasy / Epic; Fiction / Fantasy / Gaslamp