Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #350076 in Books
• Published on: 1992-06-15
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 512 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Brust's ( Phoenix ) latest does not involve the hero of his ongoing Vlad Taltos series, but it is set in the same world, Dragaera, 1000 years earlier, and shares the wit and exhuberance of the Taltos books. Khaavren, a young swordsman, sets out to join the Imperial Guards under the recently ascended Phoenix Emperor. On the way to the capital, he falls in with three other aspiring Guards, and they form an inseparable quartet of flashing blades and impeccable manners. Unwittingly, Khaavren and company are soon enmeshed in secret plots reaching from the Imperial Palace to the far borders of the empire, with only their skill, wits and blind luck to see them through. In self-conscious homage to the works of Alexandre Dumas and Raphael Sabatini, Brust blends snappy, playful dialogue with circuitous narrative passages. Although the plot's naked contrivance verges on parody, Khaavren and his friends are charming, albeit shallow, heroes whose adventure should win Brust more readers, if his adopted style does not throw them off.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
Fantasy set on the world Dragaera (like Brust's paperback ``Vlad Taltos'' yarns), consciously modeled on Dumas, Sabatini, et al., complete with an irritatingly intrusive author, thudding bodies on every page, and chunks of impenetrable description like those William Goldman happily omitted from The Princess Bride. Four young noble warriors--Khaavren, Aerich, Tazendra, Pel- -meet and, united in their resolve to join the Emperor's elite Guards, become fast friends. In a plot of inordinate convolutions, including a surprise addendum where they are faced with summary execution, the swashbuckling quartet becomes involved in an attempt to overthrow the weak but good-hearted Emperor, though they are never sure whose side they or anyone else is on. The Dumas imitation isn't nearly as appealing as Brust seems to think: where light brushstrokes are required, he lays it on with a trowel. Still, the dialogue is snappy and amusing, the scenario holds many attractions (a preponderance of sword over sorcery; warriors are female as often as male, and attack the opposite sex without a qualm; the survivors live for thousands of years), and a certain charm shines through despite Brust's efforts to pretend that he's really someone else. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review
"Stop. Pay attention. Steven Brust might just be America's best fantasy writer. So what are you waiting for?" --Tad Williams"Shares the wit and exuberance of the Taltos books." --Publishers Weekly"Brust stretches the boundaries of our field--and stirs some unexpected emotions." --The Denver Post"A loving tribute to the swashbuckling adventures of old." --Locus

Customer Reviews

Light hearted fantasy
This is a great light hearted read. The characters are real characters, and a lot of the comedy is slap stick, but when you need a light read to get your mind of things, Steven Brust's work is wonderful.

Hard to read.
All I have to say about this book is that the dialog is RIDICULOUS. And he describes very boring scenes and takes forever to do so. It was so frustrating to read I didn't finish it. He does do a good job describing action, but his characters speak like they have mental illness. I can't tell you how many times I rolled my eyes before throwing this book at the wall. LOL

Not brusts best by far...but good lead in to a far superior sequel
It took me over a hundred pages to really come to grips with the writing style of this book, granted I've never read anything by dumas, so i was taken aback at how the book was written. In other words i wasnt expecting it since i had read nothing about the book or knew nothing of it. The book drags on and its a very tough read especially for the brust fans that love the taltos books. In the end though it was worth the struggle because the sequel, while using the same writing style, is a far superior story full of much more intrigue than this one. I say buy it used or borrow it from someone because this one is a hard read that i think many of brusts fans will give up on before they give it a chance.