20 August, 2003
Five Hundred Years After, Steven Brust (553 pp, MMPB, 1994).
This is the sequel to The Phoenix Guards. Unsurprisingly, it takes place some 500 years after the events of the first book. The four companions have long since gone their separate ways-- Aerich and Tazendra to their ancestral lands, Pel to the Academy of Discretion; only Khaavren is still in the Guards.
The Dragaeran Empire itself isn't doing too well. The Phoenix Emperor, never the sharpest tack in the box, has fallen completely into decadence. He worries about trivialities, appearances, and his own amusement, rather than the droughts, bandits, and political infighting which has left the Empire in such terrible shape. Under normal circumstances, this would indicate that it's time for a new Emperor, and the Dragon Heir Adron e'Kieron is more than willing to step up to the plate. However, these aren't normal circumstances. Five Hundred Years After is the story of the fall of the Dragaeran Empire. (Readers of the Vlad Taltos series will know that the Empire eventually gets better, but it's a pretty darn cataclysmic event, even so.)
At the middle of it all, we find the Fab Four from the previous book. Circumstances conspire to reunite them shortly after Khaavren becomes Captain of the Imperial guard, after the assassination of his boss, G'aereth (and the concurrent assassinations of several other important officials). There is clearly a conspiracy afoot, and Khaavren is determined to discover what it is, and stop it. However, this story, as Paarfi points out, is a tragedy, and events march inexorably onward to the bloody end. It's fair to say that even without the conspiracy, the Emperor's weakness and Adron's pride would have been sufficient to destroy the Empire.
But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Since it is a tragedy and not a swashbuckling adventure tale, Five Hundred Years After is not as much pure fun as The Phoenix Guards. Nevertheless, it is still a fine book. It's always good to read the continuing adventures of enjoyable characters. Tazendra and Aerich are pretty much the same. Pel is still scheming and suave (but in a good way), although his apprenticeship in the Academy of Discretion has had an adverse effect on his wardrobe. Khaavren is the most changed from the impetuous young man we met in The Phoenix Guards. He's very much an experienced veteran, more mature, less naive.
There are also new characters, including some familiar faces from the Vlad Taltos series-- Aliera and Sethra. The new guys are not bad additions, but I was somewhat disappointed in the way they took the spotlight off of the original quartet (save Khaavren). Aerich especially gets relegated to the sidelines, acting as little more than a convenient observer for certain scenes.
The "About the Author" section is pretty good in this one; it consists of a mutual "interview" between Paarfi and Brust:
Paarfi: Then, if you please, name some of your colleagues of whom you are not "awful fond."
Brust: Huh?
Paarfi: Name for us the bad writers in what is euphemistically called, "the field."
Brust: Oh, yeah. Right. And maybe monkeys--Paarfi: I take it you decline to answer?Brust: That'd be a yes.Paarfi: Well. Would you care to speak of any works in progress?Brust: I'm thinking of writing another story about Vlad Taltos.Paarfi (yawning): Indeed.Brust: : Yes, in this one, he is paid an immense amount of money to kill an annoying, stuffy, pretentious historical novelist, but ends up doing the job for free, and, in the course of the book, discovers he enjoys torture, and--Paarfi: I believe this discussion is at an end.Brust: Damn straight.Paarfi can indeed be a drag; I think Brust overdoes it in this book, just a bit. The first few times Paarfi describes some poor writing or historical technique he is determined to avoid, only to immediately proceed to doing whatever it is he was just inveighing against, it's funny. The joke gets old after the first half-dozen times, though. That being said, Paarfi's as much a part of these novels as the actual characters, and the series just wouldn't be the same without him. As proof, I immediately started reading the next book in the series, The Paths of the Dead as soon as I finished this one.