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A review by curgoth
The Baron of Magister Valley by Steven Brust
4.0
Paarfi of Roundwood rides again! Like all of Brust's Paarfi books, this is written in stylized language by a fictional writer. I find this delightful, some find it maddening. If that bugged you about Phoenix Guards or Five Hundred Years after, it will bug you here.
While Phoenix Guards was a pastiche of Dumas' Three Musketeers, this is Paarfi's spin on The Count of Monte Cristo. Knowing that going in was interesting, because having at least seen the play and movie, I had certain expectations, and hence was surprised by where Brust and Paarfi take different approaches.
We still have the basic outline of a wrongly imprisoned (or, to be precise, jailed) man locked up for a long time, learning how to be badass and plotting revenge. In the Dumas original, though, the female love interest is sort of a Mac Guffin. Here, she gets a fully developed story on her own that carries the story through the time the male hero is locked up.
I quite enjoyed this, and it left me wanting to re-read all of the Dragaera books again, since there's details that pop up about the world in bits and pieces scattered all over, and I am curious to see how many link in with this book, even if I know we can trust neither Paarfi nor Vlad.
While Phoenix Guards was a pastiche of Dumas' Three Musketeers, this is Paarfi's spin on The Count of Monte Cristo. Knowing that going in was interesting, because having at least seen the play and movie, I had certain expectations, and hence was surprised by where Brust and Paarfi take different approaches.
We still have the basic outline of a wrongly imprisoned (or, to be precise, jailed) man locked up for a long time, learning how to be badass and plotting revenge. In the Dumas original, though, the female love interest is sort of a Mac Guffin. Here, she gets a fully developed story on her own that carries the story through the time the male hero is locked up.
I quite enjoyed this, and it left me wanting to re-read all of the Dragaera books again, since there's details that pop up about the world in bits and pieces scattered all over, and I am curious to see how many link in with this book, even if I know we can trust neither Paarfi nor Vlad.