Thursday, September 07, 2006
Book reviews - Brust
I'm a big fan of Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos fantasy books. See The Book of Jhereg, for the start of the series. I'd rate the series overall as a 10/10, with most of the individual books in the series also being 10/10.
I just recently read two other books by Brust in the same universe. They were also quite good, although not quite as good as the Vlad books, in my opinion.
The Phoenix Guards - 8.5/10 I found it very enjoyable. Written intentionally in somewhat stilted language from the perspective of a Dragaerian historian that others might not find as amusing as I did. It's got a deliberate Three Musketeers flavor--four friends all decide to join the guards, foil plots, etc. It probably would be very confusing to someone who had not read any of the previous Brust books, who didn't e.g. understand the difference between Dragaerians and Easterners, the Dragaerian concept of death, the Orb, etc. I therefore can't recommend it standing on its own, but well worth reading if you have read and liked the Vlad Taltos books.
Five Hundred Years After - 8.5/10. Sequel to The Phoenix Guards. It takes place, surprisingly, 500 years after the events in the Phoenix Guards, and involves the same four companions. This one focused more on palace intrigue and politics, and was less of a typical adventure story than The Phoenix Guards. It was just as enjoyable as The Phoenix Guards was though! Unfortunately, it also suffers from the same potential problems as The Phoenix Guard: (a) wordiness brought on by the tale being told from the persepective of the Dragaerian historian, and (b) many things that wouldn't make sense to people unfamiliar with the setting. They didn't detract from my own enjoyment, though, so again I'd recommend it highly to those who have read and liked the Vlad Taltos books by Brust.
I just recently read two other books by Brust in the same universe. They were also quite good, although not quite as good as the Vlad books, in my opinion.
The Phoenix Guards - 8.5/10 I found it very enjoyable. Written intentionally in somewhat stilted language from the perspective of a Dragaerian historian that others might not find as amusing as I did. It's got a deliberate Three Musketeers flavor--four friends all decide to join the guards, foil plots, etc. It probably would be very confusing to someone who had not read any of the previous Brust books, who didn't e.g. understand the difference between Dragaerians and Easterners, the Dragaerian concept of death, the Orb, etc. I therefore can't recommend it standing on its own, but well worth reading if you have read and liked the Vlad Taltos books.
Five Hundred Years After - 8.5/10. Sequel to The Phoenix Guards. It takes place, surprisingly, 500 years after the events in the Phoenix Guards, and involves the same four companions. This one focused more on palace intrigue and politics, and was less of a typical adventure story than The Phoenix Guards. It was just as enjoyable as The Phoenix Guards was though! Unfortunately, it also suffers from the same potential problems as The Phoenix Guard: (a) wordiness brought on by the tale being told from the persepective of the Dragaerian historian, and (b) many things that wouldn't make sense to people unfamiliar with the setting. They didn't detract from my own enjoyment, though, so again I'd recommend it highly to those who have read and liked the Vlad Taltos books by Brust.
# posted by John Colton @ 8:42 AM 
