{"id":57,"date":"2005-02-18T17:29:57","date_gmt":"2005-02-19T00:29:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=57"},"modified":"2021-12-16T18:52:40","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T23:52:40","slug":"the-phoenix-guards-five-hundred-years-after","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/57","title":{"rendered":"The Phoenix Guards & Five Hundred Years After"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Phoenix Guards<\/a><\/em> (1991) & Five Hundred Years After<\/a><\/em> (1994) Steven Brust<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Sometimes you just need to read a book that you know is going to make you happy. When those times come upon me, I frequently read Steven Brust.<\/p>\n

The Phoenix Guards<\/em> and Five Hundred Years After<\/em> are two of the ‘Khaavren Romances’ centered around Khaavren the Tiassa, and written in the style of Alexandre Dumas.<\/p>\n

(S)omeone once asked<\/a>, in all seriousness, which was the best translation of Dumas’ The Three Musketeers into English. The two fastest answers she got were “Learn French, as nobody’s managed to make a translation that’s half as good as the original”, and “The Phoenix Guards.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course these books might not be written for everyone, but they are for people who enjoy reading for the sake of reading. As the author notes say:<\/p>\n

Paarfi:…I do not mean that I write for those who simply like a good tale, well told, or for those who use the novel in order to explore what critics are pleased to call “the human condition,” or for those who treat the story as a distraction from the cares of the day, but rather, I write for those who take joy in seeing words well-placed upon the page.<\/p>\n

Brust: Typesetters?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>And it is an excellent escape from the cares of the day. The story always draws me in, and lets me forget whatever is on my mind.<\/p>\n

I have to admit that Tazendra may be one of my favorite characters in the story. Beautiful, and honorable. Not to quick with her thoughts necessarily, but more than quick enough with her sword.<\/p>\n

Tazendra, who had been watching the one called Uttrik as he removed his doublet, drew his sword, and began taking practice thrusts with it, said, “Good Khaavren.”<\/p>\n

“Well?”<\/p>\n

“I do not think this gentleman will give you much sport.”<\/p>\n

“You think not?”<\/p>\n

“Well, you perceive how, in practicing, he strikes only at the air.”<\/p>\n

“That is not unusual, when preparing for a contest.”<\/p>\n

“No, and yet he seems to miss with every third stroke.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I have to admit that I thought that the language, perhaps, was a bit overblown. However after reading Founding Brothers<\/em>, I would like to tender an apology to Steven Brust. Here is an excerpt of one of the letters from the Hamilton\/Burr duel.<\/p>\n

“The length to which this correspondence has extended only tending to prove that the satisfactory redress…cannot be obtained…he deems it useless to offer any proposition except the simple Message which I now have the honor to deliver.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Phoenix Guards: 10\/10
\nFive Hundred Years After: 9\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Phoenix Guards (1991) & Five Hundred Years After (1994) Steven Brust Sometimes you just need to read a book that you know is going to make you happy. When those times come upon me, I frequently read Steven Brust. The Phoenix Guards and Five Hundred Years After are two of the ‘Khaavren Romances’ centered […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,2,291,41],"tags":[544,129],"class_list":["post-57","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-10-10","category-fantasy","category-paper","category-reread","tag-mm","tag-steven-brust"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-V","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":194,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/194","url_meta":{"origin":57,"position":0},"title":"The Phoenix Guards","author":"Michelle","date":"February 12, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The Phoenix Guards (1991) Steven Brust As is typically the case, once I finished reading the Vlad Taltos books, I felt myself consumed by an overwhelming desire to go back and re-read the other Dragaeran books. That is to say, mention of characters and events in the Vlad Taltos books\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "10\/10"","block_context":{"text":"10\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/10-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/The-Phoenix-Guards.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":195,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/195","url_meta":{"origin":57,"position":1},"title":"Five Hundred Years After","author":"Michelle","date":"February 14, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/Five-Hundred-Years-After.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":196,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/196","url_meta":{"origin":57,"position":2},"title":"The Paths of the Dead","author":"Michelle","date":"February 17, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The Paths of the Dead (2002) Steven Brust For me, Steven Brust books are like potato chips; I can't read just one. And so, having recently finished all the Vlad Taltos book, The Phoenix Guards, and Five Hundred Years After, there was nothing to do but read The Viscount of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Paths-Dead.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/19","url_meta":{"origin":57,"position":3},"title":"Sethra Lavode","author":"Michelle","date":"April 27, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Sethra Lavode: Book Three of the Viscount of Adrilankha by Steven Brust Tor (2004) The conclusion to the Viscount of Adrilankha series finishes the story of Empress Zerika\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s restoration of the Empire and the final end of the Interregnum. It also continues the story of Piro (the actual Viscount for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":208,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/208","url_meta":{"origin":57,"position":4},"title":"Brokedown Palace","author":"Michelle","date":"March 18, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Brokedown Palace (1986) Steven Brust I don't know how long it's been since I read Brokedown Palace, but it was long enough ago that I didn't remember any of the story, and I don't think I'd yet read many of his books other than the first couple Vlad Taltos books.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Brokedown-Palace.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":390,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/390","url_meta":{"origin":57,"position":5},"title":"Five Hundred Years After","author":"Michelle","date":"June 10, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Five Hundred Years After (1994) Steven Brust Because I re-read Phoenix Guards, I had to follow it up with Five Hundred Years After But really, I'm not going to re-read any of the Vlad books until I get my copy of Dzur when it comes out in paperback in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}