The Lord of Castle Black (Khaavren Romances, #3: The Viscount of Adrilankha, #2)

From Publishers Weekly Full enjoyment and occasionally mere understanding of Brust's first book in his Viscount of Adrilankha series, Paths of Glory (2002), depended on knowledge of the author's two earlier books, Phoenix Guards (1991) and Five Hundred Years After (1994), inspired by Dumas pere's swashbuckling D'Artagnan romances. This amusing if somewhat pale pastiche makes similar demands. Zerika, the Phoenix Heir, emerges from the Paths of the Dead with the Orb. Thus Zerika becomes empress and the Interregnum ends, but pseudo-Emperor Kuna has two huge armies rushing to possess the Orb. Luckily, the Musketeer-like Khaavren, Pel, Aerich and Tazendra have reunited and-along with Khaavren's son Viscount Piro of Adrilankha, hero of Paths of Glory, and his companions-make up a small but valiant band to defend and reinstate the Empire. Meanwhile, the Dragonlord Morrolan, befriended by the Enchantress of Dzur Mountain, is fulfilling his vision and establishing himself as Count of Southmoor. As before, the author uses the conceit of his being the ''translator'' of the prolix historian Sir Paarfi to narrate and overexplain. Once Brust completes the trilogy, readers will probably be well rewarded by reading all five volumes of this wry high fantasy epic in order, but starting here may prove perplexing. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist Brust resumes his pastiche of Dumas' musketeers saga with this recasting of Le Vicomte de Brantome that relates the adventures of Piro, son of Brust's D'Artagnan, Khaavren. Piro's experiences, the restoration of the Dragaeran Empire, the doings of the young dragonlord Morrolan, and a number of subplots make for a detailed, fast-moving story that ends with another cliffhanger. Readers familiar with the Khaavren romances (start with The Phoenix Guards , 1991; continue with Five Hundred Years After , 1994) and Brust's earlier Vlad Taltos yarns will enjoy this most recent chapter in the long series. A good read on its own, it also discloses the backgrounds of some important characters in the Vlad novels. For those unfamiliar with the series, at least Brust amusingly summarizes this book's immediate predecessor, The Paths of the Dead [BKL D 15 02], and provides a list of characters. Frieda Murray Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved With his bestselling novel The Phoenix Guards , Steven Brust took readers to a time a thousand years before the events of his popular Vlad Taltos novels. Its sequel, Five Hundred Years After , was hailed by Science Fiction Chronicle as the best fantasy novel of the year. Now, in the Viscount of Adrilankha series, Brust has returned to the Khaavren epic, first with The Paths of the Dead , and now with its direct continuation, The Lord of Castle Black ...a novel that gives Vlad Taltos and Khaavren fans alike a new look at one of Brust's most popular characters, the Dragonlord Morrolan. Along the way, we'll also encounter swordplay, intrigues, quests, battles, romance, snappy dialogue, and the missing heir to the Imperial Throne. It's an old-fashioned adventure, moving at a twenty-first-century pace. Zerika, a young Phoenix, emerges from the Paths of the Dead carrying the Orb, which is the source of all the Dragaeran Empire's magic, and Kana, a Dragonlord, vows to gain control of the orb, and the rest of the universe Two hundred and forty-six years after Adron's Disaster, Zerika succeeded in retrieving the Orb.