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Five Hundred Years After

Five Hundred Years After

List Price: $7.99
Your Price: $7.19
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An excellent sequel to a superb book
Review: The Phoenix Guards is one of the few books I would recommend to anyone without reservation, and I think I could do the same with 500 Years After. Stephen Brust, I am certain, took great pleasure in writing this novel, savouring every word in his baroque descriptions of his characters, their intrigues, and the incredible setting of the city of Dragaera. After years of hearing about Adron's Disaster from the Vlad Taltos novels, we finally get to see that terribly tragedy, as Adron makes decent, honourable efforts to do his duty to the Empire as he sees fit. Of course, Khavvren, Pel, Tazendra, and Aerich are there to see it, and to try to stop it. Frankly, I enjoy this series even more than Vlad Taltos, and I hope the third installment will appear eventually (it's been a long wait).

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Dumas-style fantasy swashbuckler with charm
Review: This book continues the adventures of Khaavren and his compatriots some five hundred years after The Phoenix Guards. Brust, an admitted fan of Alexandre Dumas, manages to capture some of the spirit of that author's work in a fantasy setting. While the convoluted language can be a bit frustrating at times, ("Why, do you pretend that you have a review?" "I assure you that I do." "I await your wisdom." "Do you wish to hear it?" "Shards! I have desired nothing else for the past hour!" etc.), it actually grows on you. All in all an enjoyable, if light, read.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Thrilling..haunting
Review: This book is Brust's best...it clearly shows all of the charecters feelings, is easy to follow, and gives you complete coverage of Adron's Disaster.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The days before Adron's Disaster ! Exciting !
Review: This is a sequel to "The Phoenix Guards". The court is upset by a series of murders. Khaavren suspects that the murders are part of a dangerous intrigue against the emperor, and his three friends , Aerich, Tazendra, and Pel, help him investigate, as does the Enchantress, Sethra Lavode. At the same time, the hungry masses are turning against the Empire, and the proud Adron e'Kieron comes to the city with his daughter...The disaster is inevitable ! Plus, we get Khaavren, Aerich, Pel, Tazendra, Sethra and Aliera in one book ! (Oh, and Mario, the legendary assassin, is in it too.)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The days before Adron's Disaster ! Exciting !
Review: This is a sequel to "The Phoenix Guards". The court is upset by a series of murders. Khaavren suspects that the murders are part of a dangerous intrigue against the emperor, and his three friends , Aerich, Tazendra, and Pel, help him investigate, as does the Enchantress, Sethra Lavode. At the same time, the hungry masses are turning against the Empire, and the proud Adron e'Kieron comes to the city with his daughter...The disaster is inevitable ! Plus, we get Khaavren, Aerich, Pel, Tazendra, Sethra and Aliera in one book ! (Oh, and Mario, the legendary assassin, is in it too.)

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Pretty good...
Review: This is better than the Phoenix Guards. I don't think the characters are really Brust's strongest, and the Dumas-derived narrative style can be grating, but it's still pretty good. The part when the city's engulfed in Chaos (I'm not giving anything away here; you know it'll happen from the beginning) was particularly chilling.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An entertaining jaunt into Dragaeran society.
Review: What would the Three Musketeers have been like 500 years after they originally fought together, in say oh, on our timeline, April 2125.

In The Phoenix Guard Brust introduced his three musketeers, and they had a similar parting of ways, but now forces are gathering to cause problems, Mario walks the world, and the friends get together again to save it.

I enjoy the adventures of Vlad Taltos, but this book and it predecessor are perhaps the most entertaining of the lot. Taltos is an outsider in the Dragaeran Society, Khaavren, Aerich, Tazendra, and Pel are within it. Their adventures are no less enjoyable than those of Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan. Written with the same tongue and cheek perspective as the Taltos series, these books provide an intersting view of classical characters.


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