{"id":8929,"date":"2017-03-15T19:06:41","date_gmt":"2017-03-15T23:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=8929"},"modified":"2021-05-30T20:15:30","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T00:15:30","slug":"the-phoenix-guards-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/8929","title":{"rendered":"The Phoenix Guards"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Phoenix Guards<\/a><\/em> (1991) Steven Brust<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I admit that you have to be in the mood for Phoenix Guards<\/em> and this branch of Steven Brust’s writing.<\/p>\n

It would seem, therefore, that if we were to allow our readers, by virtue of being in the company of the historian, to eavesdrop on this interchange, we will have, in one scene, discharged two obligations; a sacrifice, if we may say so, to the god Brevity, whom all historians, indeed, all who work with the written word, ought to worship. We cannot say too little on this subject.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The writing is completely over-the-top, which is part of it’s charm and joy. But if you aren’t in the mood for it–forget it.<\/p>\n

But if you are in the mood, then it is wonderful.<\/p>\n

The Serioli, who departed the area to avoid any of the unfortunate incidents that war can produce, left only the name for the place, which was \u201cBen,\u201d meaning \u201cford\u201d in their language. The Easterners called the place \u201cBen Ford,\u201d or, in the Eastern tongue, \u201cBen gazlo.\u201d <\/p>\n

After ten years of fierce battle, the Imperial Army won a great victory on the spot, driving the Easterners well back into the mountains. The Dragonlords who had found the place, then, began calling it \u201cBengazlo Ford.\u201d The Dragons, wishing to waste as little time on speech as possible, shortened this to Benglo Ford, or, in the tongue of the Dragon, which was still in use at the time, \u201cBenglo ara.\u201d Eventually, over the course of the millennia, the tongue of the Dragon fell out of use, and the North-western language gained preeminence, which rendered the location Bengloara Ford, which was eventually shortened to Bengloarafurd. The river crossing became the Bengloarafurd Ford, which name it held until after the Interregnum when the river was dredged and the Bengloarafurd Bridge was built.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I mean, that is just utterly delightful. And there are many bits that are simply true. Take this bit on distance:<\/p>\n

It is true, for example, that the distance from the Gate of the Darr to Ripple Point is scarcely a league, while it is a good thirty leagues from the Gate of Iron to Fosson\u2019s Well, yet, because the latter is over level ground with a good road laid on it, while the former is nearly straight up a mountainside covered in loose and crumbling rock, we may in justice assert that each of these places lies the same distance from the heart of Dragaera City, that distance being about thirty hours, or a full day and a night.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Driving in WV is much like that–I consider distances in time, since 10 miles of narrow, hilly, gravel road is approximately the same as 60 miles of interstate.<\/p>\n

Not quite as much in this book as in the second, but Tazendra is my favorite character.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not good with confusion,\u201d explained Tazendra.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I adore how she is the muscle of the group, the one who acts without thinking but who will not stand for injustice.<\/p>\n

But as I said, one has to be in the mood for Paarfi of Roundwood, and I’m not sure I’m up to reading more of his style just now, so the second book will have to wait for awhile I think.
\nRating: 9.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published by Orb<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Phoenix Guards (1991) Steven Brust I admit that you have to be in the mood for Phoenix Guards and this branch of Steven Brust’s writing. It would seem, therefore, that if we were to allow our readers, by virtue of being in the company of the historian, to eavesdrop on this interchange, we will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"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":false,"_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":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[192,13,2,41,39],"tags":[129],"class_list":["post-8929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-5-10","category-9-10","category-fantasy","category-reread","category-sword-sorcery","tag-steven-brust"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-2k1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":389,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/389","url_meta":{"origin":8929,"position":0},"title":"Phoenix Guards","author":"Michelle","date":"June 7, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Phoenix Guards (1991) Steven Brust In the mood for re-reading favorites, I just finished Phoenix Guards. Phoenix Guards is one of the books that falls into my \"pretty much perfect\" category.","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":1562,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/1562","url_meta":{"origin":8929,"position":1},"title":"Phoenix Guards","author":"Michelle","date":"December 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Phoenix Guards (1991) Steven Brust Not feeling up to starting anything new (and hoping for a big pile of Christmas books) I decided to reread Steven Brust's Phoenix Guards I love that book.","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":57,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/57","url_meta":{"origin":8929,"position":2},"title":"The Phoenix Guards & Five Hundred Years After","author":"Michelle","date":"February 18, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"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\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":4,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4","url_meta":{"origin":8929,"position":3},"title":"Paths of the Dead","author":"Michelle","date":"January 14, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Paths of the Dead by Steven Brust Tor (2002) I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and am considering buying the next book in the series in hardback, just so I don't have to wait. (I hate waiting.) Still undecided on that, though, because as I have said once or twice before,\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":10,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/10","url_meta":{"origin":8929,"position":4},"title":"Lord of Castle Black","author":"Michelle","date":"January 23, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Lord of Castle Black, Book Two of The Viscount of Adrilankha, by Steven Brust Tor (2003) I knew that it was going to be a good book when I was laughing out loud reading the first page of the introduction. \"We have been informed by those to whom we have\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":390,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/390","url_meta":{"origin":8929,"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\/8929","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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8929\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}