The Paths of the Dead (Khaavren Romances, #3: The Viscount of Adrilankha, #1)

The long-awaited sequel to The Phoenix Guards and Five Hundred Years AfterTwo 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.The Khaavren Romances, set in the world of Vlad Taltos's Dragaera:1. The Phoenix Guards2. Five Hundred Years After3. The Paths of the Dead (The Viscount of Adrilankha, Vol. 1)4. The Lord of Castle Black (The Viscount of Adrilankha, Vol. 2)5. Sethra Lavode (The Viscount of Adrilankha, Vol. 3)The Baron of Magister Valley [standalone]At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied. The Paths of the Dead is Steven Brust's long-awaited sequel to The Phoenix Guards and Five Hundred Years After . 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 Imperial 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 adventurers Khaavren, Pel, Aerich, and Tazendra are growing up in this seemingly diminished world, convinced, 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, inscrutable doings are up at Dzur Mountain . . . and, unexpectedly, a surviving Phoenix Heir, young Zerika, is discoveredsetting off a chain of swashbuckling events that will remake the world yet again. 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 Imperial 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 adventurers Khaavren, Pel, Aerich, and Tazendra are growing up in this seemingly diminished world, convinced, 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, inscrutable doings are up at Dzur Mountain...and, unexpectedly, a surviving Phoenix Heir, young Zerika, is discovered - setting off a chain of swashbuckling events that will remake the world yet again.

In a Dragaera reduced by Adron's Disaster, an experiment in wizardry gone horribly wrong, to a shadow of its former self, the descendants of Khaavren, Pel, Aerich, and Tazendra join forces with a surviving Phoeniz heir named Zerika to once again take on the enemies of their Empire, in the sequel to In a Dragaera decimated by Adron's Disaster, an experiment in wizardry gone horribly wrong, the descendants of Khaavren, Pel, Aerich, and Tazendra join forces with a surviving Phoenix heir to take on the enemies of their Empire Two hundred years after Bragaera City was accidentally reduced to an ocean of chaos, the city's residents struggle to rebuild the ancient empire and overcome an invisible enemy which threatens their future It was on a Homeday in the early summer of the 156th year of the Interregnum that a traveler entered a small village in the East.