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The Lord Of Castle Black

Every time I read The Lord Of Castle Black, and Paarfi says that he went to such pains to represent each of the Houses in Zerika's journey through the Paths of the Dead, I say to myself "Aw shit I forgot he did that, I should go back and reread that" and I never do.

I didn't do it this time, either.

There's sooooooo much more action here - this book absolutely zips by and I was halfway through it before I realized it. I started imagining a lot of the fights all anime-style. It would look sick as hell.

Spoilers below

There's a bit where Paarfi remarks that Zerika had been growing more and more Imperial, and listed several possible factors. It occurred to me this time around that he has been depicting this whole time just how seriously she took the business of restoring the Empire. She has been locked in from day one. But restoration of the Empire was the goal from day one. Kâna just started out acquiring territory because warlord, which then turned into imperial ambitions. The message Zerika got was: you're the last Phoenix, if you don't do this, it's gonna be the Interregnum (or worse, it's not inconceivable that Sethra told her about the threat of the Jenoine) for the rest of time.

I love love love how much Tazendra comes into her own as a wizard over the course of this book. Previously, she'd just been the source of flashstones and some assorted magical effects, but now. One of the first wizards to accomplish a teleport. ACTUALLY BEING the first to levitate an e'Drien castle since Adron's Disaster! Queen queen queen queen queen.

And speaking of that levitating castle... I forget how much the Taltos series talks about Morrolan's circle of witches - I feel like it's barely mentioned at all. But there's a bit where Paarfi mentions that the circle has a whole community "upon which many volumes could be written". So now I have to wonder - who out there has an OC who's one of Morrolan's witches? What do they get up to in their isolated wing of Castle Black, in between their levitation and witch-calling shifts?

And speaking of Morrolan... it's fuckin killing me that I can't remember if he started getting into pre-Empire sorcery in any of Vlad's books. He had to have been, though, at some point. There's a bit in the last chapter, where the gods are speculating about who among them Kâna allied himself with. Verra makes a comment that the reason she made a pact with Morrolan is because "I knew that he would go from the Eastern arts to those of the Empire, and that he will, someday, pass beyond those to the oldest of the magical arts, which are my province."

Was it a plot point in Issola that Morrolan has started using pre-Empire sorcery? It's been too long, I just can't remember. Feel free to @ me, it's gonna bug me for a while.

Anyway, this is probably the most fun volume of The Viscount Of Adrilankha to read. Sethra Lavode always makes me cry too much.

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The Paths Of the Dead

Excerpt from Some Notes Toward Two Analyses of Auctorial Method and Voice

How to Write Like Steven Brust Steve has two theories about literature, and one set of instructions on how to write it. First theory: "The Cool Stuff Theory of Literature is as follows: All literature consists of whatever the writer thinks is cool. The reader will like the book to the degree that he agrees with the writer about what's cool. And that works all the way from the external trappings to the level of metaphor, subtext, and the way one uses words. In other words, I happen to not think that full-plate armor and great big honking greatswords are cool. I don't like 'em. I like cloaks and rapiers. So I write stories with a lot of cloaks and rapiers in 'em, 'cause that's cool." Second theory: "The novel should be understood as a structure built to accommodate the greatest possible amount of cool stuff." How to write like Steven Brust: "It's really simple. What you do is put up a sign on whatever wall you face when you're writing. The sign says: And now I'm going to tell you something really cool."

Spoilery stuff below - it's probably loads of spoilery stuff from here on out, folks.

I had to laugh at Paarfi's bit at the beginning, basically saying that he dgaf about the role of the Dragon-Jhereg war on the events leading to Adron's Disaster, basically because it doesn't involve Khaavren. lols

I keep forgetting that The Paths Of the Dead opens with baby Morrolan. And I love the way Paarfi writes baby Morrolan. And, of course, Teldra gets introduced and I lose all my shit. Also also we get another coachman named Miska. Because of course we do.

The adventurous tone is back, and all the hardships that came with the Interregnum are mentioned but not especially dwelled upon. This is a time for the restoration of the Empire! Sure there's plague and bandits and warlords, but none of that can stand against our heroes! That said, The Paths Of the Dead isn't quite as actiony as you might expect, but then again it really is the first third of a single work. It works as a book, but it works better if you kind of think of it as part of something larger.

I love the seed that's planted with Röanna's dream while she's in the coach. She chooses the path of adventure in the pursuit of fortune and glory. Ibronka, she feels, can have the love and contentment. It feels like a throwaway, until you remember that Ibronka's a Dzur, and Paarfi never gets around to introducing any handsome young Dzurlords for her to fall in love with...

It took me forever to get this written, for how little is here. I'm actually nearly finished with The Lord of Castle Black.

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Five Hundred Years After

I swear I love this book more every time I read it. The Phoenix Guards is a fantastic setup for Five Hundred Years After, because it primes you so well for the things that are to come. And then the book itself just piles the tension on, chapter after chapter, then page after page.

Even if you'd only read The Phoenix Guards, you'd have gotten enough hints about Adron and his Disaster to pick up on it at the early stages of the book. And if you hadn't even read that, well. Damn, what a ride.

This latest reread has me appreciating the way Paarfi constantly makes note of the date and time. His audience knows exactly what happened on the seventeenth day of the month of the Vallista of the 532nd year of the Reign of Tortaalik the First. So of course the first line of the book states that it is the ninth day of the month of the Vallista of the 532nd year of the Reign of Tortaalik the First. 8 days until disaster, folks. Here's how it happened...

Spoilery stuff below

It is so good to see Sethra, and she appears wonderfully early, too. Her interactions with Aliera are The Best. Her interactions with Tazendra are PERFECT and make me love them both sooooo much more. I love that Sethra sees Tazendra so clearly. "There has never been a stupid sorcerer who has lived path his five hundredth year." And then Sethra's monologue about being a Dzurlord at the end of the chapter... Incredible.

Morrolan's father and brother, Rollondar and Molric e'Drien, appear in this book, and Morrolan himself is referred to obliquely at one point. I haven't checked the timeline, but Five Hundred Years After was published in the 11th year of Norathar II's reign, so it's conceivable that, if Zerika II stepped down at the right time (or if some other weird shit happens - that's always on the table), Vlad could still be alive to read this. He's read at least one Paarfi book. I could imagine him being ready to give Morrolan shit about how his parents got together, then maybe rethinking it when learning how his father and brother died.

When I get to Vlad's books, I need to always remember Aliera's relationship with Mario whenever she gets bitchy about Jhereg.

AND SPEAKING OF RELATIONSHIPS I love Khaavren and Daro. I love the chapter where they get together. I love that there's a point earlier where you get to see Khaavren from Daro's point of view - how she'd been at the court for some time, seeing him constantly carrying out his duty, reliable and respectable. So while, yeah, they have an hour-long courtship, it wasn't like she had no clue who he was or what he was like.

This particular read through, I got really hooked on the inevitability of it all. The suggestions here and there that things could have gone differently, had the smallest choice been made differently. The points where person after person realized the tragedy that could, would, soon enfold. How they all faced the encroaching doom.

I just really love this one.

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The Phoenix Guards

I absolutely adore Paarfi and the Khaavren romances. I can't remember when exactly I first read The Phoenix Guards, but I had definitely already had a minor obsession with The Count of Monte Cristo and other swashbuckling adventures. If I ever write fanfic, I might manage a passable Dragaera-style version of Scaramouche. That would be fun.

Anyway, whenever I first read TPG, I was already deep into my sword girl era, so this was entirely up my alley. And I eventually made it a point to read The Three Musketeers and the sequels, especially when The Viscount of Adrilankha was released. I gotta say, I think as a pentalogy, the Khaavren romances are better than the D'Artagnan romances. Louise de la Vallière is a fuckin slog, and The Man In the Iron Mask wasn't much better.

This shouldn't really be a post about the other 4 books in the set, but the truth is I didn't take a lot of notes as I read The Phoenix Guards, and I don't have a lot of thoughts about it. It's a wonderful standalone book, but it's also a beautiful first step on the journey that is the friendship between Khaavren, Aerich, Pel, and Tazendra (my beloved).

Spoilery stuff below

I don't know if I ever quite caught before how similar the events regarding Crionofenarr are to the legend of Fenarr as presented in Brokedown Palace. It is interesting to think of the two stories being of the same event - it's a two-sided Rashomon, but with the added layers of time and secondhand-reporting adding to the obfuscation of the truth (my headcannon is that Paarfi only likes to think he's a reliable narrator).

Love the choice to have Devera show up to inform her grandfather that her mom's just been born. Devera's gonna Devera. It does make me wonder, for the first time, how things would have gone had Adron not been called back to Redface. Well, it probably wouldn't have been quite as interesting for Khaavren, anyway. We wouldn't have gotten that great scene with him being questioned under the Orb.

I've already gotten started on 500 Years After. I love the tragedy of it all.

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Brokedown Palace

Brust is such a pro at nailing a distinct voice for his books. I love how this doesn't read like any of his other books (except maybe bits of The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars because there's a bit of fairytale storytelling to that one too).

The amount of stunningly beautiful paragraphs in this book is ridiculous.

Spoilers below.

Devera shows up on page 17 (of course), and mentions that "her friend" told her to visit the East. I can't remember any specific point where Vlad tells her that, buuuuuut maybe it has to do with Jhegaala? Miklós asks her at the end when she reappears if she has seen what she meant to see in Fenario, and she said she had, but with Devera (and the years that passed between their two meetings) that could mean anything.

Once you've read any of the other Dragaera novels, it's hard to not constantly think about how this book relates to the others. The Empire - always referred to as Faerie - is never actually seen here, even though three of the major characters have been there, learned sorcery, and returned to Fenario.

The setting here always gave the impression that it takes place before even the Khaavren romances, but I always forget about certain bits that, during this reread, made me rethink that. I'd need more clues, but some things Devera says at the end feel like they're meant to hint at a closer connection to Vlad.

There is a point where Miklos is reflecting on his time in the Empire, and notes that the Baron he served could teleport ("An effort of will, and he could be miles away"). If I remember correctly, teleportation was not possible until after Zerika returned with the Orb. Or maybe it was simply difficult.

I also don't remember many (or any?) people using telepathy in the Khaavren novels until after Zerika returns as well, and Devera asks Miklós if Bölk can speak mentally.

I find myself wondering so often how magical things in Brokedown Palace correspond to sorcery or witchcraft as it's presented in other books. It's easy to read a great deal into this, while forgetting that this story is, essentially, a fairy tale. Vlad might be something of an unreliable narrator of his own stories, and Paarfi takes "artistic licenses," but BP is a fairy tale, and it's got fairy tales in the interludes to remind you of it. But it's still fun to think about.

I poked around a bit to see if anyone else had more insight on this book - I quite liked bits of this review by Jo Walton.

"Looked at one way Miklós goes into Faerie and labours for two years and comes back as a wizard. Looked at another he goes into the Empire, becomes a Teckla, gets a perfectly ordinary connection to the Orb and learns a little sorcery."

This is a fantastic observation. Sandor is the only one with enough skill in sorcery to challenge Miklós, but we barely see him do anything with it. And while there are witches in Fenario, they are isolated and hiding. The greatest magic in Fenario is whatever is going on with the River and the Tree.

Bölk, of course, is another one of those strong magical forces at play. Maybe the closest thing we've encountered to it in the other books are demons, but that doesn't feel right (admitting here I don't remember a lot of the rules about demons). He is able to be used as a weapon against Verra the Demon Goddess, and that feels more like a peer to her. Can the Demon Goddess be banished with the blood of a demon? Seems unlikely. But they know one another, and it sounds like they have tussled before.

I honestly kind of loved the structure of this book. Miklós chapters, followed by interludes, followed by a chapter from the perspective of one of the other characters, then another interlude, and back to Miklós. The sixteenth chapter takes some of that structure (Miklós; another character; Miklós; the next character) and I think it's very well done that way. The narrative shifts as the action does, and it is satisfying when you catch the pattern.

I do end up wondering if it would have been better without the hints at the connection to Vlad, especially if the hints turn out to be nothing. Devera knows what will happen to Miklós's daughter - "I won't have to watch over her; everyone else will have to watch out for her." That's pretty much all we get. Well, we know of one super dangerous human lady, with no patronymic and a fuzzy history. How does that impact how we look at her story, if we remember that her grandfather may have been a demon?

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Dating sim set during The Phoenix Guards - who you can romance changes depending on the House you choose. There's a secret Teckla option where you die gloriously in a failed revolution.

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Re-reading Dragaera

I picked up my first Steven Brust book in 1996. I was 13, strolling through Shopko, and saw a copy of Orca on the shelves. I bought it, because it had what looked like a dragon on the cover and I was 13 and freshly into my dragon girl era.

It took me several rereads before I figured out what the hell was going on. And, due to some pretty huge spoilers, it is in retrospect one of the WORST Dragaeran novels to begin with. But there was something special about it that made me pick up the other Vlad Taltos novels, and reread the series year after year after year.

Since the pandemic began, I've been getting my latest reads from the library. I'm reading lots of great stuff, but it doesn't give me much time to return to Dragaera. I haven't reread the series since sometime before 2017 (because I've only read Vallista and the later books once).

So now, with only two books to go before the Vlad Taltos saga is complete, I'm going to make the time. And I'm going to take some notes as I go, and I'm going to document them here.

I'll go in as close to chronological order as possible. There will be loads of spoilers (seriously - on page 17 (heh) of Brokedown Palace, I spotted something that I'm going to need to keep an eye out for down the line). I'm thinking I'll do one post per book. I may post short passages that I especially love.