The Paths of the Dead (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "It was on a Homeday in the early summer of the 156th year of the Interregnum that a traveler entered a small village in the..." (more)
Key Phrases: Dzur Mountain, Sethra Lavode, Sethra the Younger (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his latest chronicle of the Dragaeran Empire, Brust (Issola) conjures the spirit of Dumas (the subtitle evokes the Viscount trilogy that includes The Three Musketeers), though he less successfully captures the panache of those classic swashbucklers. The mock historic narrative follows Khaavren and other heroes from the author's earlier books (The Phoenix Guards; Five Hundred Years After; the Vlad Taltos series) and gives the origins of later ones in the course of the epic restoration of the Dragaeran Empire. Piro, son of Khaavren and heir to his father's role of protector of the Emperor, seeks to help a childhood friend achieve her destiny. With polished manners and courteous speech, he must maneuver his way amid a number of similarly equipped folk to escort his friend to the Paths of the Dead, entryway to the Halls of Judgment (where sit the gods), so that she may retrieve the Imperial Orb, linchpin of empire. After that, the real work begins. Brust strives hard to recreate Dumas's charm, including a mix of humorous and tragic elements, a romantic tone, intersecting plot lines, themes of vengeance and return, slightly effete nobles and somewhat clownish (if sensible) commoners. The author might have done better to ascribe comic verbal ticks to only a few characters. Also, since much of the character interaction depends on knowledge of previous books, casual readers will be occasionally puzzled.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Two centuries after the event known as Adron's Disaster deprived the Dragaeran Empire of its emperor and its stability, the descendants of the Empire's greatest heroes set off on their own voyage of discovery, despite the fact that their diminished world contains little in the way of adventure. Their fortunes change when they encounter Zerika, a young woman who carries the lineage of the Phoenix within her and who provides the impetus for a revival of the old days of glory-provided she survives her journey along the Paths of the Dead. Continuing his swashbuckling epic fantasy (begun with The Phoenix Guards and Five Hundred Years After) with a new series and a new generation of heroes, Brust, with his arch humor and quasi-archaic narrative style, pays homage to Dumas, Zola, and other masters of swashbuckling adventure. A good choice for most fantasy collections.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (December 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312864787
• ISBN-13: 978-0312864781
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #745,036 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 3 in The Khaavren Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Inconsistent Fluff, January 20, 2003

By	T. D. Hanshew "Just Some Dude" (Kennesaw, Ga USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The best thing I can say about _The Paths of the Dead_ is that it made me want to go back and read _Taltos_, which I did. Man, that _Taltos_ sure was a good book.

Most of the problems with this book could be summed up by saying "Paarfi", but can we blame an imaginary construct? Okay, there are the two styles of the Dragaera books, the hard-boiled (mainly) first-person Vlad books and the historical, Dumas-inspired Khaavren romances. The later of which is attributed to a Dragearan author named Paarfi, and Brust lists himself as the translator and puts any blame on style, content, etc. on Paarfi. I can accept these differences and feel that they give two distinct flavors to the seperate series in the same universe. "Paarfi's" first two excursions _The Phoenix Guards_ and _500 Years After_ were wonderful, especially _500 Years After_ which gave us an account of one of the most mentioned historical figures from the Vlad books, as well as allowing us to meet the oft-mentioned Adron and Mario. If only _Paths of the Dead_ were anywhere near as good as it's predecessors.

If this book had been a Vlad book, without the flowery writing, it would have been about 50 pages. The writing style, while pleasant in the first two Khaavren, it seemed too much for too little in this one. Secondly, there was too much build up for too little pay off. There were characters who "warranted" their own chapters who were just being introduced in the third-to-last chapter. Zerika's trip in the Paths of the Dead was much less interesting than Vlad and Morollan's and much more poorly written. It seemed like her whole trip was written as it came to mind and went on long enough to fill up a chapter. Granted, this is supposed to be part of one book broken up into three parts, but it should be able to stand on its own.

The biggest problem I had with this book was the inconsistencies. This book contradicts what Morollan told Vlad in _Taltos_ about events regarding Zerika's regaining the orb. Since _Taltos_ is from Vlad's point of view, there is no reason for Vlad to lie about what Morollan said happened, and no reason for Morollan to lie to Vlad. Therefore, one can chalk it up to "Paarfi". However, if Paarfi has done the interviews that are mentioned in the book, then there should be no reason for this dicrepancy. Since the book was "written" during the reign of Norathar, the only assumption that can be made is that key players, about whom events are incorrect, are dead. That presents some interesting questions, but I don't think they were intentional.

I would say, without question, that this is the worst of the Dragaeran books. If you haven't read ANY of the others, it may stand on its own, I don't know. But the biggest let down for someone who has read all of the others is that it is nowhere-as-good as its predecessors.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't start here! But do work your way up to it., December 23, 2002

By	Paul LoveKing (Atlanta GA) - See all my reviews

If you haven't read The Pheonix Guard and 500 Years After, don't read this one. Brust writes these books in an authorial voice which is, to say the very least, unusual. Paarfi, the narrator, is an overeducated windbag with literary pretentions. He can turn a single sentence into a 500 word treatise, sometimes in a single sentence, and he frequenty starts out such exercises with a disclaimer about brevity or his desire to spare the reader a tedious explaination of the thing he is about to explain. That said, his writing is full of ironic wry humor for the reader willing to dig for it and inclined to appreciate it.

If you have read the previous two books in the series, I don't really have to do too much reviewing here. There's more Paarfi, and it's still just as much fun to read him as it was in the last two books. I could give you the entire plot of the book in two paragraphs, but where's the fun in that? In short, Khaavren is depressed about how well he protected the Emperor in the last book, Khaavren's son seeks adventure, Pel and Tazendra are still having adventures, and Aerich awaits. It may be beneath the notice of a gentleman, however, prudence dictates that we mention Mica's continued presence, not to mention that of his beloved barstool.

Brust gives us a little insight into the origins of Morrolan, Teldra, and the Necromancer. Sethra the Younger and the Sorceress in Green show up as well. The suggestion is that we will see a lot more of these two in the next two books. In fact, this whole book seems like an extended set up for the next one. But that's all fine. I enjoyed it, and I'm sure that doing all this set up will allow for a more complext storyline in the next book.

If I may be permitted two more words, I found the re-emergence of the grudge bearing nemisis to be predictable, and I enjoyed the guide to how to write like Paarfi at the end of the book.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In the Spirit and Style of Dumas, December 16, 2002

By	James D. DeWitt "Alaska Fan" (Fairbanks, AK United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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Stephen Brust has two quite different sets of stories set in his Dragaerean world. The first and older set involves the tales of Vlad Taltos, assassin, crimelord and human - well, Easterner. He lives in a society dominated by tall, very long-lived, sorcerous Elves - well, Humans. Think of Raymond Chandler, but more imaginative and much better written. The second and more recent series is written as a conscious, deliberate homage to Alexander Dumas, most famously the author of "The Three Musketeers." This novel is the third book in that series, and is very much a sequel to "The Phoenix Guards" and "Five Hundred Years After." In this book, those two sets of stories finally begin to merge.

The novel opens with the Drageara and the Elves' empire in chaos. The events at the end of "Five Hundred Years After" have destroyed the empire, and in its place brought plagues, squabbling warlords, scheming sorcerors and invading Easterners. Into this stew Brust brings the story of the restoration of sorcery and the Empire, the end of the Interregnum and the prolix writing style of Paarfi of Roundwood, the fictional author of each of these historic romances.

Paarfi should be a Hungarian translation of Dumas. Except that Brust is more ironic and sometimes hysterically funny in his "translation" of Paarfi. Between the hyperformal courtesy of the characters and their circumlocutions, the narrative sometimes takes some wild tangents.

But the narrative thread is never lost, and if you appreciate sheer elegance in writing and wildly imaginative plotting, you will like this book. Old friends from both narrative lines appear, and a selection of new and equally wonderful characters.

This is the first book of a trilogy, and as is the case in any first book of a trilogy a fair amount of time is spent in introducing characters and laying out plot threads. Presumably the second and third books will tell us why Morrolan (well known to readers of the Taltos books) is involved, and the role Ibronka will play.

One of Brust's finest characteristics is his willingness to experiment. In some of the Taltos books, the experiments involved the narrative voice or view, for example. Combining the Dumas-themed romances with a trilogy is another such experiment. Brust is deft and delightful in this first book. I look forward to the next two.

Don't neglect the essay at the end on how to write like Paarfi. On each re-reading, it is more amusing. The essay, like the hysterical "interview" of Paarfi by Brust at the end of "Five Hundred Years After," is very nearly perfectly written.

If you love good writing, even if you have never heard of Duams, you will like this novel.