The Paths of the Dead: Book One of the Viscount of Adrilankha
By Steven Brust
4/5
()
About this ebook
The long-awaited sequel to The Phoenix Guards and Five Hundred Years After
Two hundred years after Adron's Disaster, in which Dragaera City was accidentally reduced to an ocean of chaos by an experiment in wizardry gone wrong, the Empire isn't what it used to be. Deprived at a single blow of their Emperor, of the Orb that is the focus of the Empire's power, of their capital city with its Impe-rial bureaucracy, and of a great many of their late fellow citizens, the surviving Dragaerans have been limping through a long Interregnum, bereft even of the simple magic and sorcery they were accustomed to use in everyday life.
Now the descendants and successors of the great ad-venturers Khaavren, Pel, Aerich, and Tazendra are growing up in this seemingly diminished world, con-vinced, like their elders, that the age of adventures is over and nothing interesting will ever happen to them. They are, of course, wrong . . . .
For even deprived of magic, Dragaerans fight, plot, and conspire as they breathe, and so do their still-powerful gods. The enemies of the Empire prowl at its edges, in-scrutable doings are up at Dzur Mountain...and, unex-pectedly, a surviving Phoenix Heir, young Zerika, is discovered—setting off a chain of swashbuckling events that will remake the world yet again.
The Khaavren Romances, set in the world of Vlad Taltos's Dragaera:
1. The Phoenix Guards
2. Five Hundred Years After
3. The Paths of the Dead (The Viscount of Adrilankha, Vol. 1)
4. The Lord of Castle Black (The Viscount of Adrilankha, Vol. 2)
5. Sethra Lavode (The Viscount of Adrilankha, Vol. 3)
The Baron of Magister Valley [standalone]
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Steven Brust
STEVEN BRUST is the author of a number of bestselling fantasy novels, including the New York Times bestsellers Dzur and Tiassa. He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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Related to The Paths of the Dead
Titles in the series (3)
The Paths of the Dead: Book One of the Viscount of Adrilankha Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lord of Castle Black: Book Two of the Viscount of Adrilankha Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sethra Lavode Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for The Paths of the Dead
213 ratings7 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5(Amy) Beginning some two centuries after the end of the Phoenix Guards books, this trilogy-opener tells of the beginning of the end of the Interregnum, details the adventures of our beloved heroes from earlier books as well as their children, and introduces us to new characters (some of whom are only new in internal chronology, having been integral in works set considerably later in the timeline). Aside from a tendency to require one to fight valiantly against the temptation to write like Paarfi while one is reading it, there really are no drawbacks whatsoever to this book or the others surrounding it.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Maybe I'm just getting tired of the writing style, but I had a lot more trouble paying attention to this one and caring enough to keep the characters straight (there are a lot in this one and not really enough time to get to know any of them). Maybe it will get better with the next two, I gather these three are really just one book broken into 3 for publication.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5While I enjoyed the previous Paarfi books it is withe the three volumes of The Viscount of Adrilankha that I really began to appreciate what Brust was doing with this alternate voice. Each time I reread these books they seem even richer and deeper in character.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The children of the heroes of Phoenix Guards set out to have adventures, and along the way discover new kinds of sorcery, all sorts of plots, and end up helping put the new Empress on the throne. Typical Brust, with a lot of sarcasm (did I say a lot?) and long running jokes and what passes for wit when you're on the road adventuring. Good stuff, if you like that sort of thing. Not excessively violent or face paced.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The story is enjoyable. The narrator, Khaavren, is almost unbearable. That makes for very mixed reading.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Written as pseudo-history, this is an interesting story of the next generation in Brust's complicated and involved world. With people trying to find their place in this world and several people vying for power and the position of emperor the next generation are poised to be heroes.I liked this story, I'm only sorry that I haven't kept up reading in this series but this re-established my interest.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It's all about the writing style. I mean, how can I resist a book that contains such exchanges as: "Well, there is a question I would wish to ask you, if it is no trouble. Do you know a place where a traveler such as myself might secure lodgings in this charming village?""How, lodgings?""Yes,. That is, a place where I might spend the night, enjoying more or less of comfort.""Ah, yes, I see. Well, I must consider this question.""Yes, I understand that. You, then, consider the question, and I will wait while you do so.""And you are right to wait," said Erik promptly, "for I have even now begun considering.""And I," said the young warlock, "have begun waiting."!! The whole book is like this. Just wonderful. I've got to add Steven Brust's First Theory here: "All literature consists of whatever the writer thinks is cool. The reader will like the book to the degree that he agrees with the writer about what's cool." And I agree very much with what Steven Brust thinks is cool in this book.