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The Paths of the Dead (The Viscount of Adrilankha, Book 1)
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Product Description
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.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #184744 in Books
- Published on: 2003-08-18
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Mass Market Paperback
- 448 pages
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In his latest chronicle of the Dragaeran Empire, Brust (Issola) conjures the spirit of Dumas (the subtitle evokes the Viscount trilogy that includes The Three Musketeers), though he less successfully captures the panache of those classic swashbucklers. The mock historic narrative follows Khaavren and other heroes from the author's earlier books (The Phoenix Guards; Five Hundred Years After; the Vlad Taltos series) and gives the origins of later ones in the course of the epic restoration of the Dragaeran Empire. Piro, son of Khaavren and heir to his father's role of protector of the Emperor, seeks to help a childhood friend achieve her destiny. With polished manners and courteous speech, he must maneuver his way amid a number of similarly equipped folk to escort his friend to the Paths of the Dead, entryway to the Halls of Judgment (where sit the gods), so that she may retrieve the Imperial Orb, linchpin of empire. After that, the real work begins. Brust strives hard to recreate Dumas's charm, including a mix of humorous and tragic elements, a romantic tone, intersecting plot lines, themes of vengeance and return, slightly effete nobles and somewhat clownish (if sensible) commoners. The author might have done better to ascribe comic verbal ticks to only a few characters. Also, since much of the character interaction depends on knowledge of previous books, casual readers will be occasionally puzzled.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Two centuries after the event known as Adron's Disaster deprived the Dragaeran Empire of its emperor and its stability, the descendants of the Empire's greatest heroes set off on their own voyage of discovery, despite the fact that their diminished world contains little in the way of adventure. Their fortunes change when they encounter Zerika, a young woman who carries the lineage of the Phoenix within her and who provides the impetus for a revival of the old days of glory-provided she survives her journey along the Paths of the Dead. Continuing his swashbuckling epic fantasy (begun with The Phoenix Guards and Five Hundred Years After) with a new series and a new generation of heroes, Brust, with his arch humor and quasi-archaic narrative style, pays homage to Dumas, Zola, and other masters of swashbuckling adventure. A good choice for most fantasy collections.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
This sequel to Five Hundred Years After (1994) continues Brust's exuberant, if somewhat sprawling, fantasy pastiche of Dumas. The survivors of the fall of the Dragearean Empire are limping along without magic or capital city or emperor. They retain their taste for plot, counterplot, and general skullduggery, though, and the descendants of adventurers in earlier books of the saga are up to their teeth in all those activities. The stakes mount higher when Zorika, a surviving Phoenix heir, turns up, and the possibility of recreating the empire becomes excitingly real. But a great many more swashes must be buckled before that resolution can arrive, and this book apparently launches a new trilogy. Readers unfamiliar with Dumas need not retreat to Brust's inspiration to enjoy this yarn, though those who have read The Phoenix Guards (1991) and Five Hundred Years After may enjoy it somewhat more. Still, Brust is incapable of writing a dull book, and most fantasy collections should add this un-dull volume. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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.
Super Reader
Paarfi the Historian continues his writings, and this time, his subject is the events of the period of approximately two centuries after Adron's disaster blew up a whole lot of Dragaera.
For those that have read any of Vlad Taltos' books some of this will be more familiar, with Zerika, Sethra Lavode, and others.
The starring roles go to the next generation. Khaavren's son and his friends are bored, they think no more adventure is ever going to happen.
A war for the empire and the various machinations of deities and sorceresesses soon show them that things are not so dull after all.
The Paths of the Dull
This book reads like a "reverse" Cliff Notes. What could have been written in 50 pages takes over 300. Mind-numbingly slow. Loose sample translation in plain English of the type of written exchanges: "I think I'd like to tell you something. "Then do so. "I will. "OK, I'd like to hear it. "Then I will tell you at once. "Please do. "OK, I shall." On and on and on. Randomly pick up ANY other book in the Fantasy section of a bookstore and you will probably enjoy it more. At least it will be more readable.
