What do you think?
Rate this book
The Khaavren Romances #3.3
Sethra Lavode
The oldest person in the Dragaeran Empire. A military genius and master of sorcery whose story stretches back to before the dawn of history. Now, after a long absence, the undead Sethra Lavode, the Enchantress of Dzur Mountain, has reentered the Empire's affairs. And the affairs of Khaavren and Pel, Tazendra and Aerich, and all their descendants, colleagues, and friends.
For since Adron’s Disaster, when Dragaera City was turned instantly into a sea of amorphia, the Empire has been in ruins. Trade has declined, brigands rule the roads, plagues sweep through the population. Now an ambitious Dragonlord means to rebuild the Empire in his own name. But unknown to him, the true heir, the Phoenix Zerika, has already retrieved the Imperial Orb from the Paths of the Dead. Sethra Lavode means to see Zerika on the throne. To do so will entail a climactic battle of sorcery and arms, told with all the swashbuckling flair for which Steven Brust is known.
Sethra Lavode is the sequel to The Paths of the Dead and The Lord of Castle Black , and the culmination of the bestselling epic begun with The Phoenix Guards.
For since Adron’s Disaster, when Dragaera City was turned instantly into a sea of amorphia, the Empire has been in ruins. Trade has declined, brigands rule the roads, plagues sweep through the population. Now an ambitious Dragonlord means to rebuild the Empire in his own name. But unknown to him, the true heir, the Phoenix Zerika, has already retrieved the Imperial Orb from the Paths of the Dead. Sethra Lavode means to see Zerika on the throne. To do so will entail a climactic battle of sorcery and arms, told with all the swashbuckling flair for which Steven Brust is known.
Sethra Lavode is the sequel to The Paths of the Dead and The Lord of Castle Black , and the culmination of the bestselling epic begun with The Phoenix Guards.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
35 people are currently reading
785 people want to read
About the author
Steven Brust
99 books2,305 followersSteven Karl Zoltán Brust (born November 23, 1955) is an American fantasy and science fiction author of Hungarian descent. He was a member of the writers' group The Scribblies, which included Emma Bull, Pamela Dean, Will Shetterly, Nate Bucklin, Kara Dalkey, and Patricia Wrede, and also belongs to the Pre-Joycean Fellowship.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/steven...
(Photo by David Dyer-Bennet)
http://us.macmillan.com/author/steven...
(Photo by David Dyer-Bennet)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
March 30, 2021
Good book. Disappointingly little of the title character. Do yourself a favor and postpone reading the worthless "afterword" until you've had a chance to process the ending, it adds nothing, just spoils the mood.
No energy to write a proper review, sorry. Looking forward to reading the Count of Monte Cristo inspired The Baron of Magister Valley, but after three of these so close together I'll need some SF or mystery inbetween.
No energy to write a proper review, sorry. Looking forward to reading the Count of Monte Cristo inspired The Baron of Magister Valley, but after three of these so close together I'll need some SF or mystery inbetween.
May 12, 2014
reviews.metaphorosis.com
2 stars
The rebel Kana is challenging Zerika's nascent reign. Khaavren and friends (and his son and his friends) try to save the day.
I've previously been a big fan of Brust's writing, but I found The Paths of the Dead, the first part of Brust's Viscount of Adrilankha sub-trilogy, to be almost unreadable. What should have been a one-chapter joke of tortured-but-amusing verbal gymnastics stretched on and on and on. It went quickly from amusing to irritating to painful to tortuous. I finished the book, but had no thought of reading further in the series, no matter how great my interest in the world's history or the characters'.
Still, years went by, and I saw this third volume of the sub-trilogy at a discount store. I almost never read books out of sequence, but I've always liked Sethra Lavode, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm sorry to say that not only has Brust not given up the joke, he seems to have double down on it. The result was just as infuriating as the first time around, and there's remarkably little substance to go with the verbal acrobatics. In fact, it seems the plot is more a vehicle for the word games than the main intent.
Others have claimed that Brust is consciously emulating Dumas' The Three Musketeers, and in fact the tone and the structure (a trilogy in which the final volume is so massive that it is broken down into smaller books) are similar. I'm just not sure what the purpose was. We have Dumas' book already; recreating it in a fantasy world doesn't add much. And while I can forgive Dumas' style given its temporal distance, Brust doesn't have that excuse. He's stretched a very thin joke into a vast and unwelcoming journey in which the language is an obstacle that keeps you from admiring the scenery. It's one thing when that's an author's natural style (as with Lawrence Durrell), but another when the author can write well, but chooses cleverness over quality.
I'd still like to know what happened in the middle volume, but I can't see subjecting myself to it any time soon. It's frustrating that Brust, clearly a talented and inventive writer, seems lately to have done so little with his skill - this extended linguistic joke, and the occasional formulaic extension of the Jhereg series. Where is the author of To Reign in Hell, Cowboy Feng's Bar and Grille, or even Brokedown Palace? Maybe at some point Brust will finish having his fun, stop coasting, and write something new.
Roger Zelazny said "Watch Steven Brust." At his urging, I've been doing that, and for a while I enjoyed it. But I'm starting to wonder who took the original, and why they left this smirking jokester in his place.
March 24, 2024
Very Dumas finish
This finishes the trilogy about how Zerika became Empress after the Interregnum, and not only continues the story about Khaavren and his friends and relatives, but brings some storylines to a resolution. Wow — that was a long and epic read!
This finishes the trilogy about how Zerika became Empress after the Interregnum, and not only continues the story about Khaavren and his friends and relatives, but brings some storylines to a resolution. Wow — that was a long and epic read!
January 1, 2015
REREAD (Oct 2014)
Scoring bumped from 2 to 3 stars. It reads better as a consecutive run through the entire Khaavren Romance, but many of the criticisms below still hold true -- a sense of being rushed, a series of convenient deaths, and characterization sacrificed to getting the plot completed.
======
ORIGINAL REVIEW (Jun 2004)
(Original review, scored on a 1-3 scale)
Summary:
[2] A wrap of the Viscount of Adrilankha trilogy, this novel concludes the tale of the reestablishment of the Dragaeran Empire after the Interregnum. Battles are fought, magical stuff happens, characters do things that we first heard hinted about in the Taltos novels, and some people end up dead, often with very little fanfare. The trilogy’s titular character — and, indeed, this novel’s titular character — do show up, but neither are the focus of the tale. The focus, in fact, seems to be getting to a conclusion.
Entertainment:
[2] The same breezy-yet-baroque style of the previous works continues here, though it feels increasingly rushed, as though Brust needed to get the remaining plot threads wrapped up and done with so he could move onto something else. I don’t know if he got tired of the conceit, or found himself painted into a corner, or simply had other things he needed to do, but compared to the initial books in the pentology (starting with The Phoenix Guard), the whole setup feels a little threadbare, capped by an odd epilogue I still haven’t quite puzzled out. The characterization for some of the folks is nearly lacking — some touching scenes between Khaavren and Piro aside, the players feel more like chess pieces moved around to make the story work than people driven by actual emotions. Even the Big Set o’ Deaths at the end feels more functional (having to figure out which people might show up in a future novel, or why we haven’t seen them in previous Taltos books) than there being much of a point to it. The basic idea of the series still works, but there’s not much there there, and it shows.
Profundity:
[2] People make decisions of honor that sometimes conflict. True love may, or may not, conquer all. Small decisions and happenstance can have tremendous effect. Brust doesn’t overdwell on these sorts of heroic lessons, but to be honest, he doesn’t dwell on much here at all.
Re-readability:
[2] Certainly it could be re-read, though it would need to be done as a collection of at least the trilogy, if not the pentology. It was, alas, a disappointing-enough wrap that I’m not sure how soon I’ll feel like doing so.
Scoring bumped from 2 to 3 stars. It reads better as a consecutive run through the entire Khaavren Romance, but many of the criticisms below still hold true -- a sense of being rushed, a series of convenient deaths, and characterization sacrificed to getting the plot completed.
======
ORIGINAL REVIEW (Jun 2004)
(Original review, scored on a 1-3 scale)
Summary:
[2] A wrap of the Viscount of Adrilankha trilogy, this novel concludes the tale of the reestablishment of the Dragaeran Empire after the Interregnum. Battles are fought, magical stuff happens, characters do things that we first heard hinted about in the Taltos novels, and some people end up dead, often with very little fanfare. The trilogy’s titular character — and, indeed, this novel’s titular character — do show up, but neither are the focus of the tale. The focus, in fact, seems to be getting to a conclusion.
Entertainment:
[2] The same breezy-yet-baroque style of the previous works continues here, though it feels increasingly rushed, as though Brust needed to get the remaining plot threads wrapped up and done with so he could move onto something else. I don’t know if he got tired of the conceit, or found himself painted into a corner, or simply had other things he needed to do, but compared to the initial books in the pentology (starting with The Phoenix Guard), the whole setup feels a little threadbare, capped by an odd epilogue I still haven’t quite puzzled out. The characterization for some of the folks is nearly lacking — some touching scenes between Khaavren and Piro aside, the players feel more like chess pieces moved around to make the story work than people driven by actual emotions. Even the Big Set o’ Deaths at the end feels more functional (having to figure out which people might show up in a future novel, or why we haven’t seen them in previous Taltos books) than there being much of a point to it. The basic idea of the series still works, but there’s not much there there, and it shows.
Profundity:
[2] People make decisions of honor that sometimes conflict. True love may, or may not, conquer all. Small decisions and happenstance can have tremendous effect. Brust doesn’t overdwell on these sorts of heroic lessons, but to be honest, he doesn’t dwell on much here at all.
Re-readability:
[2] Certainly it could be re-read, though it would need to be done as a collection of at least the trilogy, if not the pentology. It was, alas, a disappointing-enough wrap that I’m not sure how soon I’ll feel like doing so.
May 7, 2013
I normally adore Steven Brust. This is one of he "Khaavren Romances," however, and uses a VERY different writing style from his Taltos novels. Where Vlad is conversational, the Khaavren Romances are very courtly. It takes a lot more work for me as the reader to enjoy them...and even then I end up feeling a little like I've been at a fancy dinner. Tons of good things, and yet somehow I'm left wishing for a burger.
January 8, 2023
This is a review of my first reread:
Brust knows how to close a narrative! While he has yet to conclude the Vlad adventures (at the time of this writing, Vallista is still the most recent but not at all lately published), one has only to look to his prolific body of works to confirm this notion. In Sethra Lavode, the swashbuckling epic tale he set forth upon in Paths of the Dead has finished with a wild battle involving gods, demons, necromancers, elves, witchcraft and wizardry and sorcery (yes, there are differences, but don’t ask a sorcerer to explain these to you), historians and literary contemporaries, petty grievances and concerns of empire! While one may be more or less disappointed by the role Sethra has to play here, there’s much glimpsed by way of observing machinations of the players in Vlad’s time. So the reader is gifted with a compelling tale of tragedy and humor while asp delighting in compelling details that satisfy curiosities while allowing for new questions! Truly, the Khaavren Romances do not stop being fun!
You could almost take off half a star because I don’t think this novel could be a standalone, but I haven’t so neither should any of you. If you didn’t or won’t have fun reading this with the others, that’s your own failure, and not Brust’s.
Aside: huge points to this book for securing an Afterwords by the late great John M. Ford!
Brust knows how to close a narrative! While he has yet to conclude the Vlad adventures (at the time of this writing, Vallista is still the most recent but not at all lately published), one has only to look to his prolific body of works to confirm this notion. In Sethra Lavode, the swashbuckling epic tale he set forth upon in Paths of the Dead has finished with a wild battle involving gods, demons, necromancers, elves, witchcraft and wizardry and sorcery (yes, there are differences, but don’t ask a sorcerer to explain these to you), historians and literary contemporaries, petty grievances and concerns of empire! While one may be more or less disappointed by the role Sethra has to play here, there’s much glimpsed by way of observing machinations of the players in Vlad’s time. So the reader is gifted with a compelling tale of tragedy and humor while asp delighting in compelling details that satisfy curiosities while allowing for new questions! Truly, the Khaavren Romances do not stop being fun!
You could almost take off half a star because I don’t think this novel could be a standalone, but I haven’t so neither should any of you. If you didn’t or won’t have fun reading this with the others, that’s your own failure, and not Brust’s.
Aside: huge points to this book for securing an Afterwords by the late great John M. Ford!
June 10, 2017
Rousing conclusion to the Khaavren Romances! These books are a tremendous amount of fun -- especially if you've read any Dumas at all. As always, I read for the enjoyment of Brust's prose (I always say he writes so well I want to bite my wrists), and for the fun of his characters and situations. His world is so vibrant, so real, it's sometimes jarring to come "home" from Dragaera.
March 16, 2019
MOTS from the previous two books. The writing style is getting pretty annoying by this point, and after the fourth "Are you asking me?" "Why I have been doing nothing but for an hour!" joke, the novelty wears thin.
Any readers hoping for the promised backstory revelations into Sethra lavode will be disappointed.
Any readers hoping for the promised backstory revelations into Sethra lavode will be disappointed.
May 20, 2024
I feel like the story and pacing picked up a bit from the last book. It is fun to learn the origins of things like the apparently eternal party at Castle Black, as well as various other things. Unlike many series, this one actually read like a single long story stretched across several volumes.
January 11, 2026
Not quite as hilarious as the first two Khaavren books, but still really good. Loads of threads are neatly interwoven into a suitably epic finale. Piro’s adventures as the legendary bandit the Blue Fox made for a lovely digression. Really enjoyed Morrolan dealing with the god Tri'nagore.
March 9, 2021
A satisfying end to the tale.
July 26, 2025
the ending of this book made me sad. not only because it was really well written to make me sad but because with it ending it means the khaavren romances are now over for me :(
January 9, 2009
This book made it clear just how much The Viscount of Adrilankha trilogy has been hurt by being divided into three random chunks. It actually did come together somewhat coherently at the end, and I think if I'd been reading one book straight through I might not have been so disenchanted and disengaged with the earlier books. Which, in turn, might have made me 1) like Piro et al better and 2) be okay with the "rocks fall, half the returning characters die" ending.
But the books were divided into three. And do I didn't like Piro et al much, meaning I had no tolerance for him, which meant, in turn, that I pretty much hated him for his decision to turn road agent. (Since when did stealing and killing people make a hero?) It's a bad sign when you hate the title character of a series. And I didn't think this narrative was worth the deaths of Tazendra, Aerich, and Mica. (Not to mention Srahi, who just gets a throwaway mention.) I mean, it was an affecting scene, and I did tear up (they're my favorite characters in the Khaavren set!), but - it was one affecting scene at the end of a lot of poorly organized and exceptionally scattered narrative. If they had to die, I would have preferred it to be in a truly exceptional book.
Still. This book did have something: the last half of it is compelling and interesting and even reminiscent of the old, good days of The Phoenix Guards. Brust finally seemed to settle in and tell his story, and all the characters who had been hanging around for two and a half books not doing much started to do stuff. If the whole series had been this way, I'd have liked it a lot more.
So, basically: this book showed me that the series could have been better than it was, and for that, plus the Dragaeran history, I liked it. For everything else - um, not so much. (Plus, what's with the random titles on these books? I'd expect a book called Sethra Lavode to have slightly more of, well, Sethra Lavode in it.)
But the books were divided into three. And do I didn't like Piro et al much, meaning I had no tolerance for him, which meant, in turn, that I pretty much hated him for his decision to turn road agent. (Since when did stealing and killing people make a hero?) It's a bad sign when you hate the title character of a series. And I didn't think this narrative was worth the deaths of Tazendra, Aerich, and Mica. (Not to mention Srahi, who just gets a throwaway mention.) I mean, it was an affecting scene, and I did tear up (they're my favorite characters in the Khaavren set!), but - it was one affecting scene at the end of a lot of poorly organized and exceptionally scattered narrative. If they had to die, I would have preferred it to be in a truly exceptional book.
Still. This book did have something: the last half of it is compelling and interesting and even reminiscent of the old, good days of The Phoenix Guards. Brust finally seemed to settle in and tell his story, and all the characters who had been hanging around for two and a half books not doing much started to do stuff. If the whole series had been this way, I'd have liked it a lot more.
So, basically: this book showed me that the series could have been better than it was, and for that, plus the Dragaeran history, I liked it. For everything else - um, not so much. (Plus, what's with the random titles on these books? I'd expect a book called Sethra Lavode to have slightly more of, well, Sethra Lavode in it.)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 9, 2016
Kana's defeat at Dzur Mountain hasn't slowed the Dragonlord much. But it has taught him to work more carefully around Zerika's advantages. He's laying the groundwork for a decisive blow. And Grita, together with the outcast Phoenix Illista, is determined to take revenge on Khaavren and his friends.
Meanwhile, Zerika struggles with the realities of running an Empire (at least, those pieces of the old one that now recognize her as Empress). Khaavren cannot make peace with his son's determination to marry outside his House, and he's bothered, as well, by some of the decisions his new Empress has seen fit to make. He's loyal to the Empire, but he's no longer sure about the Empress . . .
This book has a number of nods to various things that come up in the Vlad Taltos books, such as the Teckla on Tazendra's estate, which help with the feeling of the books as a history to the events in those days. Morrolan continued to amuse me, especially when he finally gets his chance to get revenge (and how apologetic the book gets trying to describe his particular method of insult).
The climactic battle with Kana that's been building finally comes to a head. I liked how such a complicated scheme met its undoing in a few simple, impossible to predict, very human interactions. Luck and chance play a small but vital role, as these are not pieces on a chessboard but people who will, occasionally, act out of character (or within character but to an unexpected degree).
Overall this is a good cap on the series, though I think the second book (and the bits with Morrolan in this one) is my favorite of the lot. I rate this book Recommended.
See my reviews and more at https://offtheshelfreviews.wordpress....
Meanwhile, Zerika struggles with the realities of running an Empire (at least, those pieces of the old one that now recognize her as Empress). Khaavren cannot make peace with his son's determination to marry outside his House, and he's bothered, as well, by some of the decisions his new Empress has seen fit to make. He's loyal to the Empire, but he's no longer sure about the Empress . . .
This book has a number of nods to various things that come up in the Vlad Taltos books, such as the Teckla on Tazendra's estate, which help with the feeling of the books as a history to the events in those days. Morrolan continued to amuse me, especially when he finally gets his chance to get revenge (and how apologetic the book gets trying to describe his particular method of insult).
The climactic battle with Kana that's been building finally comes to a head. I liked how such a complicated scheme met its undoing in a few simple, impossible to predict, very human interactions. Luck and chance play a small but vital role, as these are not pieces on a chessboard but people who will, occasionally, act out of character (or within character but to an unexpected degree).
Overall this is a good cap on the series, though I think the second book (and the bits with Morrolan in this one) is my favorite of the lot. I rate this book Recommended.
See my reviews and more at https://offtheshelfreviews.wordpress....
May 19, 2014
The star rating given reflects my opinion within ‘the official goodreads rating system’. (Notice the two important words... OPINION and RATING)
1 star: Didn’t Like it
2 stars: It’s Okay
3 stars: Liked it
4 stars: Really Liked it
5 stars: It Was Amazing
I don’t really give a rat-fuck that there are some who think I ‘owe’ an explanation for my opinion. Nope, nada, and not sorry about it.
Sometimes I may add notes to explain what my opinions are based on, and sometimes I don’t. I do this for me, on my books, in my library and I don’t ‘owe’ any special snowflakes a thing. Fuck off if you don’t like it and stop reading my shit.
Particularly given the ‘modifications’ to reader’s personal content going on (and outright censorship), unless particularly motivated I will not comment in detail.
It would help if GR was forthcoming in the new ‘appropriate’ and would make a site-wide announcement delineating the new focus from a reader-centric site to one that is now for authors and selling.
1 star: Didn’t Like it
2 stars: It’s Okay
3 stars: Liked it
4 stars: Really Liked it
5 stars: It Was Amazing
I don’t really give a rat-fuck that there are some who think I ‘owe’ an explanation for my opinion. Nope, nada, and not sorry about it.
Sometimes I may add notes to explain what my opinions are based on, and sometimes I don’t. I do this for me, on my books, in my library and I don’t ‘owe’ any special snowflakes a thing. Fuck off if you don’t like it and stop reading my shit.
Particularly given the ‘modifications’ to reader’s personal content going on (and outright censorship), unless particularly motivated I will not comment in detail.
It would help if GR was forthcoming in the new ‘appropriate’ and would make a site-wide announcement delineating the new focus from a reader-centric site to one that is now for authors and selling.
January 17, 2013
I think the trilogy finally picked up a little steam here. It was interesting to see some old friends (and antagonists) from earlier ... er, later ... Vlad books. (Thinking of Yendi and Taltos here.) But the ending was definitely bittersweet. In a lot of ways, you need to have read Issola to get this, I think. It's definitely not the place to start with this setting, if you haven't already read the Vlad books. Re-read January 2013.
June 30, 2015
The third volume of the third novel - or the fifth printed - roughly corresponding to "The Man in the Iron Mask" although it bears little resemblance to that novel other than some of the end results for the principal characters. This novel deals primarily with the Battle of Adrilankha and the final settling of the Orb on Zerika and not on Kana. I re-read this sequence as I had read them as they were published with gaps of 1 to 2 years between times and this really suffered for that. I enjoyed it much more this time when I was able to charge right through it as one should. Recommended if you have read the series from the start - however, if you didn't start with Phoenix Guards, please stop and go back there first as it won't make as much sense as if you had started from the beginning.
June 13, 2015
It was an alright story with a very misleading title. Sethra Lavode is a very enigmatic and long-lived character in the Draegaran universe and so one might expect that book with her name as the title would deal with her as a central character and tell us something of her backstory. Not a chance, I think Sethra had more "screen time" in the first book of this series "Paths of the Dead"; a better title for this book probably would be "The Battle of Adrilankha" since most of the book revolves around the things preceding and going on during that battle.
While I enjoyed this series for telling the backstory for a lot of the characters and events in the Draegaran universe, I found the plot cumbersome and the villains unconvincing.
While I enjoyed this series for telling the backstory for a lot of the characters and events in the Draegaran universe, I found the plot cumbersome and the villains unconvincing.
June 22, 2010
This book completes the series of the Khaavren romances, Brust alternate take on Dumas adventures in his fantasy world. Unfortunately it goes off more with a whimper and a series of unnecessary deus ex machina.
The impression that this book gives is that Brust wanted to finish the series at any cost, while setting up things to avoid collisions with the future tales he had already told. Unfortunately that brings short appeareances of the former main characters, and a severe mistreatment when they appear. Not the best ending at all for a series that would be best ended after Five hundred years later.
The impression that this book gives is that Brust wanted to finish the series at any cost, while setting up things to avoid collisions with the future tales he had already told. Unfortunately that brings short appeareances of the former main characters, and a severe mistreatment when they appear. Not the best ending at all for a series that would be best ended after Five hundred years later.
August 27, 2011
"Well, let us see what you are carrying so that we may consider the matter."
The horseman frowned. "You want to see what we are carrying in order to consider how to reduce our burden."
"You perceive, you have only repeated my statement, turning it into the form of a question."
"Well, but it very nearly sounds as if you are proposing to rob us."
"I admit it is something very like."
The saga is wrapped up nicely, but not without pain, as we lose some good friends in the process. Settle in comfortably and prepare to finish this in one sitting; take the phone off the hook, send the kids to grandma's for the weekend, and stock up on microwave food.
The horseman frowned. "You want to see what we are carrying in order to consider how to reduce our burden."
"You perceive, you have only repeated my statement, turning it into the form of a question."
"Well, but it very nearly sounds as if you are proposing to rob us."
"I admit it is something very like."
The saga is wrapped up nicely, but not without pain, as we lose some good friends in the process. Settle in comfortably and prepare to finish this in one sitting; take the phone off the hook, send the kids to grandma's for the weekend, and stock up on microwave food.
December 20, 2012
The story of Khaavren and his associates comes to an end, with a nice transition between the material found in the earlier Phoenix Guards books and the later Taltos stories.
Paarfi's voice is not as strong here as previously, but this may be down to the more actiony content of this volume versus the earlier allowing fewer opportunities for dialogue and banter.
The book does not end happily for all concerned, but the story overall does very nicely indeed. A fitting conclusion.
Rated M for violence, battle scenes, supernatural themes. 4/5
Paarfi's voice is not as strong here as previously, but this may be down to the more actiony content of this volume versus the earlier allowing fewer opportunities for dialogue and banter.
The book does not end happily for all concerned, but the story overall does very nicely indeed. A fitting conclusion.
Rated M for violence, battle scenes, supernatural themes. 4/5
October 5, 2023
Hate the deaths (which means they were well-chosen—although I really never could care about the machinations of Grita and co., and could wish that our friends had died facing more narratively worthy foes), and I wish there had been less hopping around in the denouement. But bb!Dragonlord Morrolan was delightfully ingenuous (he’s the Dragaearan equivalent of what—15 and raised by wolves?) and Zerika’s and Khaavren’s development was perfect. John Ford’s afterward hits it out of the park for abstruse and elliptical meta-mythopoetics.
December 29, 2007
Finally, the fifth of five books in the "Khaavren Romances". It finishes the story of the restoration of the Dragaerean empire after the Interregnum and the Jenoine attack at that time. Disappointing expectataions, it spends little time on Sethra Lavode, the title character. The writing style itself is still glacially slow in particulars, but the general plot moves a bit more quickly as it "races" (turtle-like) to the conclusion. Read only if you are interested in Brust's Dragearean world.
June 20, 2007
Very nice conclusion to a very well written sub-series in Brust's ongoing Vlad Taltos run of books and spinoffs. Most authors continue writing within a 'world' they've created way past the point where they have anything entertaining to say about it. Brust is far from reaching that point of no return despite having written 16 or so books in Vlad Taltos's world.
November 5, 2008
It's a much drier tone than the Vlad stories, and that applies to the humor as well as the actual storytelling. It did make me want to go back and read the first two of the series, so that's a good thing. If the end of a story doesn't make you want to find out what you missed, then you probably didn't miss much...
February 5, 2009
At last, the story we’ve been waiting for through the whole trilogy! Exciting, dramatic action and poignant character developments, with digressions greatly reduced, and a bang-up ending. This series is a classic example of a trilogy that should have been cut to one book. If 60% of the trilogy were slashed, what was left would have been awesome. Where was the editor? I could weep.
November 17, 2009
Another solid series offering from the reliable Brust.
I personally like this Dumas pastiche series better than his Vlad Taltos books- they're less precious. This second trilogy is a step down from the joyful freshness of the first, but still head and shoulders above 99% of available heroic fantasy.
I personally like this Dumas pastiche series better than his Vlad Taltos books- they're less precious. This second trilogy is a step down from the joyful freshness of the first, but still head and shoulders above 99% of available heroic fantasy.
February 24, 2012
This book was SO good. I hate that it's over. 8-( It wrapped up the entire five book series well. Tho I do wonder how Khaavren is still the Captain if Zerika is not the Empress ... did she step down or did something else happen!? And are Piro and Ibronka actually married? Will anyone perform a cross-House marriage? I cried when they all didn't survive. 8-(((
February 28, 2013
My overwhelming feeling when I finished this book was RELIEF...that I wouldn't have to read any more books in this style.
Like The Lord of Castle Black, I found this an easier read than The Paths of the Dead, and was glad for the back story.
There's nothing that can induce me to read the first two of the Khaavren Romances, though.
Like The Lord of Castle Black, I found this an easier read than The Paths of the Dead, and was glad for the back story.
There's nothing that can induce me to read the first two of the Khaavren Romances, though.
February 26, 2015
A nice end to a very good series. I truly enjoyed the style that was presented over these 3 or 5 books, and am glad that I didn't stop like I was about to in the middle of the very first.
I definitely recommend these books. They are very good, and can be extremely funny in places.
Now to read something that isn't Steven Brust...
I definitely recommend these books. They are very good, and can be extremely funny in places.
Now to read something that isn't Steven Brust...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews