Five Hundred Years After

Five Hundred Years After (1994) Steven Brust

If you have read the Vlad Taltos books, then you already know the outcome of Five Hundred Years After: Adron’s disaster, which lead to the Interregnum. But what we don’t know, is the story that leads up to Adron’s disaster. Why did Adron act in the manner he did? What was the involvement of those who called Adron friend. What about the Enchantress of Dzur Mountain, Sethra Lavode?

All of these questions, and more, does this book answer, as well as the question of, what happens to those for who we have come to have interest, even feelings, and by this I mean Khaavren and Aerich and Tazendra and Pel.

At the start of Five Hundred Years After, our friends have drifted apart. Khaavren has given the past five hundred years to the Phoenix Guards, Pel has studied the Art of Discretion, and Aerich and Tazendra have retired to their estates, Tazendra to further study wizardry. However, several assassinations and an assassination attempt draw the four back together, as the Empire becomes more and more chaotic at the approach of the Meeting of Principalities to determine the Emperor’s Allowance.

But does that really tell you about the book? Not really. For again, like The Phoenix Guards, the delight in this book is in the storytelling and the dialog.

I have to admit that Tazendra may be one of my favorite characters. Beautiful and honorable. Not too quick with her thoughts necessarily, but more than quick enough with her sword. I find it fascinating that the big dumb persona of someone who thinks with the sword first is given to a female character. For some reason that gives an entirely different feeling to the character that might be expected.

I particularly like the scene between Tazendra and Sethra Lavode, where they enter the room of Gyorg Lavode. I am always touched by the way that Tazendra learns about Gyorg through viewing his room. And then there is the discussion of the very nature of the Dzur they have.

Sometimes…those of the other houses laugh, or call the Dzur foolish, stupid, or blind, and there is no good answer to such charges, for to kill for such an insult is often beneath the Dzurlord; yet there is always the sword, whose sharpening breathes of the future, and the glory which is not only in being remembered, but in knowing that one has defied the entire world, and pitted one’s self against the impossible, and proven, to all who are not Dzur, that there is a value and glory in battle, regardless of the outcome.

I very much like that, because I think it gives back something to Tazendra that perhaps Brust has taken away, with his constant poking fun at her for not being as bright as her friends.

As far as the other characters, I appreciate the way that Khaavren has matured, while still remaining himself. Aerich, far more than Pel, remains a cypher to me. He is so calm and so honorable that I’ve always had a hard time quite putting my finger on precisely what he is. It doesn’t mean I dislike him–indeed I like Aerich very much. Especially now that I know precisely how vambraces work. But he is the hardest for me to pin down.

As far as Adron, I think that Steven Brust does a good job of actually explaining why Adron acted they way he did, and more importantly, how many different random events came together to cause Adron’s disaster far more than any feelings or plans on Adron’s part. I also appreciate Paarfi’s final synopsis of his character.

And the bit about Mario amuses me. Not that it is particularly amusing, but that knowing what one knows at the end of this book, shines a whole new light on the Jhereg take of Mario in Vlad’s time.

Because of the disaster that we know occurs at the end of the book, and the limits that placed upon what could happen within the story, the story didn’t flow as well for me as the previous book. It was good, and it worked, but once or twice I was distracted, for whatever reason. It’s still an excellent book. But it doesn’t hold the same place in my heart that The Phoenix Guards does.

If you have read The Phoenix Guards and the Vlad Taltos books, then you absolutely must read Five Hundred Years After, as it ties together so many pieces of history that are dropped throughout Steven Brust’s books. But if you have not yet read any Dragaeran books, I would suggest starting instead with The Phoenix Guards. I am quite sure that the book can be read and enjoyed without knowing the background from the other books, but knowing that background just makes it that much better.
Rating: 9/10

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