Rating: 
Summary: Where's D'artengen?
Review: I love this book (actually I love the series, but that's another topic). Mr. Brust has done a fabulous job of telling a Dumas story as Dumas would have! If you loved the Three Musketeers, you'll love The Phoenix Guard! Action and adventure are in every page, but like Dumas, Mr. Brust tells the tale in a very verbose method. A solid 4 star book!
Rating: 
Summary: Not so great
Review: I think Brust is a charming and subtle writer (a rare quality in sci-fi). Unfortunately, this book is really not that interesting. It lacks the emotional depth and complex plotting of the Vlad Taltos books, settling for basically flat characters and an uninvolving march through an uneventful plot. The humor, while present, is pretty thin, and lacks the edge of his other work. Read his other books
Rating: 
Summary: Most excellent! I use the characters in my role-playing.
Review: I thought this book had a pretty good plot, if you like intruige and adventure, politics and duels. I think the characters were brilliant, and the so called "unnecessary dialogue" only added to the overall greatness of the story. I use the character names and sometimes the personalities in my role-playing: Dungeons and Dragons, Shadowrun, Mechwarrior, Diablo, Starcraft. I highly reccommend this book, and once you read it, you won't forget it anytime soon!
Rating:
Summary: For Classic adventure style lovers only
Review: If you like old style adventure in the style of Rafeal Sabatini and Alexander Dumas (as obviously I do) this book is for you! If you prefer modern writing styles, stay away. The story line itself is almost straight from a Dumas novel. Khaavren (D'Artagnan) goes to the big city to find fame and fortune in the Guards. He falls in with 3 others Pel (the Porthos character), Tazendra (Aramis character)and Aerich (Athos). They of course all join the guards and have a few adventures including not a few duels. Of course they become embroiled in the palace intrigue and treason surrounding the young king. Throughout the novel Stephen Brust takes on the voice of Parfi of Roundwood a slightly pompous self-style historian who writes in the somewhat stilted style of Dumas. I found this extremely enjoyable reading and I must admit it served to raise Steven Brust in my estimation of his ability within his chosen craft. If however, you do not care for this style I would shy away from this, it can make for somewhat laborious reading if you are not used to it.
Rating:
Summary: If you want Dumas, read Dumas.
Review: If you want entertainment that is intelligent, engrossing, well-written and very hard to find in the land of ever-shortening attention spans, AND at the same time, touches the lasting appeal of literature, read Brust. As an literary cynic, who has also read from most of the major writers in the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre, I continue to be pleasantly surprised by the ingenuity and range of Steven Brust. He is a truly gifted writer and his books, from the Taltos series to the Khaavren romances, continue to provide me with rich satisfying entertainment, well through the third, and fourth readings. Even after experiencing the wonderful characterizations and original plot twistings in the Taltos series, the first of the Khaavren trilogy again showed new levels of imagination and range. If he is not Dumas, forgive us for loving him in any case, because the relish and joy in his writing is apparent to even the most disapproving of readers... and it continues to delight the rest of us.
Rating:
Summary: Fine fantasy retelling of a Dumas classic
Review: The book The Phoenix Guards (and it's sequel 500 Years After) are an excellent tribute to the fine works of Alexander Dumas, being more than loosely based upon The Three Musketeers (originally titled "The Three Guardsmen"). It is based in the world Brust created for his Taltos series, albeit about 1000 years prior. For those who appreciate a good deal of humor along with the Dumas style, and exciting swordplay, this book has the typical Brust quality characters and dialogue.I highly recommend it for anyone who ever loved the French classic.
Rating:
Summary: Very nice change of pace
Review: The brief review: I had a slight smile on my face the entire time I read this book. It is, as a reviewer of the Three Muskateers might have once said, "charming." To elaborate: Brust is very well (some might say "over") educated and knows how to turn a phrase. The plot moves along briskly; the characters, while not fleshed out too thoroughly, do have distinct and effective personalities. I was, at first, a bit lost about the world's/realm's infrastructure of Houses and about the characteristics of each (and what animals the fantasy names correlate to). However, I've not read the Vlad Taltos series, which apparently sheds some light on those matters. This is not a book to be read at breakneck speed, as the dialogue must be savored and as there are plot details that could otherwise be missed. That said, even if one does commit to reading each excruciatingly polite phrase that the characters utter, there are still times when one wants to throttle them for not getting to the point. Brust plays this game nicely, but he perhaps goes to the well one too many times. Nevertheless, in two words, as the wonderfully pompous narrator might say, this is an amiable sabre-and-sorcery frolick, and I plan to check out Five Hundred Years After, the next book, very soon. (Closer to 3-1/2 or 3-3/4 stars, but 4 is certainly not a stretch.)
Rating:
Summary: Very nice change of pace
Review: The brief review: I had a slight smile on my face the entire time I read this book. It is, as a reviewer of the Three Muskateers might have once said, "charming." To elaborate: Brust is very well (some might say "over") educated and knows how to turn a phrase. The plot moves along briskly; the characters, while not fleshed out too thoroughly, do have distinct and effective personalities. I was, at first, a bit lost about the world's/realm's infrastructure of Houses and about the characteristics of each (and what animals the fantasy names correlate to). However, I've not read the Vlad Taltos series, which apparently sheds some light on those matters. This is not a book to be read at breakneck speed, as the dialogue must be savored and as there are plot details that could otherwise be missed. That said, even if one does commit to reading each excruciatingly polite phrase that the characters utter, there are still times when one wants to throttle them for not getting to the point. Brust plays this game nicely, but he perhaps goes to the well one too many times. Nevertheless, in two words, as the wonderfully pompous narrator might say, this is an amiable sabre-and-sorcery frolick, and I plan to check out Five Hundred Years After, the next book, very soon. (Closer to 3-1/2 or 3-3/4 stars, but 4 is certainly not a stretch.)
Rating:
Summary: Witty, well-written, and impossible to put down.
Review: The Phoenix Guards is a witty, skillfully-written novel chock full of adventure and intrigue. Author Steven Brust is a chameleon when it comes to writing styles, and the style most people compare this novel to is that of the old French romantics, and more specifically, that of Alexandre Dumas. While there are certainly stylistic similarities (Brust himself notes this in the afterword), The Phoenix Guards is not without a distinct style of its own, and this is one of many reasons why this novel is such a great read. The plot is this: Khaavren of the House of Tiassa and three friends travel to Dragaera City to join the Phoenix Guards, an elite squad of highly-skilled guardsmen charged with protecting the Emperor and the interests of the Dragaeran Empire. No sooner have they joined the guard than they find themselves embroiled in a blossoming intrigue; it seems that the artist, Baroness Kathana e'Marish'Chala of Kaluma, has killed the Marquis of Pepperfield for insulting her latest masterpiece, causing the Emperor to order her arrest. Khaavren, meanwhile, has fallen in love with a charming young woman named Illista, who reveals to him that the Baroness is her friend. Khaavren promises to find her and ensure her safety, which raises an interesting conflict because Khaavren, being a Phoenix Guard, has also sworn an oath to obey the Emperor. Thus, Khaavren and his friends set out to find the Baroness without knowing for sure whether they plan to arrest her or protect her. Meanwhile, certain high-ranking members of the Emperor's staff have other plans, and the four friends find themselves ambushed at every turn. One of the reasons I like Steven Brust so much is that he has a flair for writing distinct characters. With some authors, it seems like every character is either a stereotype or a one-dimensional conglomeration of attributes, which results in everyone seeming like the same person. Brust's characters, on the other hand, seem real. Each character has a personality, a way of thinking, a style of speech, and good reasons for all of them. In addition to the solid characters, this novel has a plot that just doesn't stop once it gets going. This was a book I didn't want to put down, and when I finally did have to put it down, I spent most of the time that I wasn't reading it wishing that I was. In short: read it.
Rating:
Summary: All for one and one for the Phoenix Guards!
Review: The setting for this wondeful fantasy adventure novel is Dragaera, the same world that the Vlad Taltos novels take place in -- except The Phoenix Guards is set about 1000 years before Vlad Taltos is born. Steven Brust gives us a fine novel that pays homage to Alexander Dumas and The Three Musketeers. Political intrigue, high adventure, friendship and romance are all woven together to create a fantastic story. The characters are all well-realized and each has his or her own unique personality. This book was fun to read. This novel, though set in a fantasy world with dragons and magic aplenty, reads more like an adventure novel, which is just fine. Steven Brust is an excellent writer and The Phoenix Guards is an excellent book and Brust breaks those stuffy epic fantasy cliches, thank goodness!
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